One season down

With season A ending yesterday there has not been much for reports of turkey success. Hopefully season A hunters are catching up on some sleep and will post some success stories soon. I plan on taking the daughter out Friday morning for her first hunt. Right now the forecast does not look the best with rain and cool temps for most of the weekend. I had not planned on buying and using a blind but may need to rethink that. My neighbor was up at the land I plan to hunt and said he saw a flock of 13-15 birds on both Sat. And Sun. So that is a good sign. Hope everyone else who gets out has a safe and successful hunt.

A blind would be a good option hunting with your daughter. Once you use one and have sucess you will wonder why you didn’t get one sooner.

 

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A blind would be a good option hunting with your daughter. Once you use one and have sucess you will wonder why you didn’t get one sooner.

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X2 Shappell Tree House 360 is awesome for kids!

Good luck up there. Birds are still together in my neck of the woods, but in the process of breaking up into smaller groups. Yesterday I saw some serious tom-fighting. I’d have to believe a strutting tom decoy and/or aggressive calling right now would do the trick. Good luck for your daughter’s hunt!

Joel

I’ve seen areas in WI where birds are in huge groups 20+. Around the metro area I’ve seen a lot of pairs and lone toms cruising around. Today, I spotted a bird on some public land where hunting wasn’t allowed so I decided to jump out clad with my work attire, a mouth call and a camera and despite my bright blue jeans, I got him to work into about 30 yards before he spotted me! He was coming in on a string, so I have no doubts he would be fully committed! I also am now wearing my grass stained jeans…..well worth it! Good Luck with the hunt!

I always aim for the 1st season in WI. I also live in Northern WI where a smarter guy would not take the first season based on the winter weather the last two years. Also in consideration is the fact that I am also in school this year as well as teaching it. So time hasn’t been on my side. Had several areas where I knew people had been seeing groups of birds even as bad as our winter has been.

I also know that I have been able to call birds in over 400 yards in situations from my coulee hunting days… So I know I was close enough. But the snow in the woods just wouldn’t let the birds navigate to any calling or they just weren’t really interested yet…

So this morning, two days into the second season, one of the groups that I am aware of in my 45 minute drive to Mercer to teach school made their first appearance to me. Of course at 60 mph and going around a corner with traffic, didn’t give me the best view, but there were four toms strutting in a field I had been watching for the last two weeks.

Where were they last week???

Mark

I feel your pain Mark, it’s been a rough winter esp. for northern locales! I talked to Tony Roach who turkey hunts at about the same latitude you do, and he reported much of the same. Really tough about everywhere, but when you find birds, they’re in pretty good groups. He was able to tag, but not until finding an area through scouting ag areas that had available food, along with some south facing slopes/fields that were free of snow for birds to do their business in.

1st season in most areas of the midwest just didn’t reflect the “time-of-year” 1st season usually hits us. Sorry to hear of it, best of luck in future seasons!

Joel

Thanks Joel!!! You know I like to consider everything a challenge… This years was just bigger than others. Lots of other time constraints were in my opinion bigger problems, tho.

Up here in the woods, there is no agriculture really at all… So with the harshest of winters this year, closing in on the best food sources were actually putting you pretty close to someone’s bird feeder.

As much as I have considered the “I’m hunting hungry” mantra, there is a certain amount of delicacy about how to get close to those birds… and you need time, which I didn’t have a lot of, to do it.

As much ice as we have up here yet and with the usual fishing excuse of “I am going fishing, to heck with the turkeys”, I might just pick up a tag for later in the season…

Mark