Practice Makes Better.....Turkey season preparation increases odds for success
By Dick Ellis
With first light of a new morning touching the eastern ridges of Grant County in the mid-1990, I remember the predominant emotion that fell over me as I let the diaphragm call fall over the valley to any Gobblers on the roost. Sheer, total embarrassment. This was my first turkey hunt. I was solo. But was another hunter within ear shot? Was he laughing? Were the Toms laughing? Was my calling even remotely accurate? Or did I really sound like the neighbor cat with his tail in the door. The perception that farmer Joe’s milk cows called back did nothing to ease the doubt.
A week before, my Watertown next-door neighbor’s wife (this is gospel) had hurried out the door as we grilled on our respective decks with the first spring weather to ask Bill what the hideous noise was. “That’s just Dick,” he said without his flipper missing a beat or a burger. “He’s practicing his turkey calling.”
I was really trying to imitate the DNR expert I had watched over and over again on a video tape who had “taught” me how to call. And now, finally, there I was, on the crest of Fennimore’s mountaintops, playing the real game. Two hours later, I walked back down again, a 23 pound gobbler over my shoulder and a load of new-found confidence packed away with my gear.
Farmer Joe, who had allowed it all to happen by giving permission to hunt his land weeks before during a scouting trip, now allowed me to share the story with him as he milked those cows. Joe let me babble on and seemed genuinely impressed as we admired the big Tom on the concrete floor. The closest “Elsie”, though, seemed unimpressed and (this is gospel too) dropped a bomb on my Tom that made photos a bit different and placed a certain…tarnish…on the morning. I went home happy, assuring Lori that cow-pie would not intrude with turkey fry.
Practice…makes better. Preparation (mostly), stops field headaches. My personal failures in between periodic successes since that inaugural hunt include missing and writing about a 25 yard shot on a standing Tom , and forgetting a face mask and discovering the mistake after a mile walk into the woods. Against Tom’s eyesight, I might just as well have forgotten my gun.
The fact is though, six spring turkey seasons are now staring us in the face as we usher in the big winter break-out. Don’t be embarrassed. Be prepared. There is plenty you can do, even as a novice, to increase your odds of going home with a gobbler over your shoulder and a swagger in your strut. That talk with farmer Joe, or anyone who will listen, is your ultimate goal.
First though, leftover kill tags from the 225,729 permits available for the 2011 spring season were sold one day at a time per respective zone March 21 through March 25 for Zones 1 through 6 with northern zones 5 & 6 sold together on Friday due to the few permits available there. Any permits still left over will now be sold one per hunter until the tags are gone. Originally, approximately 145,000 of the permits were taken by the organized hunters who remembered to have their applications in by the December 10 deadline. That’s right; I was waiting in line last Wednesday for an over-the-counter Zone 3 permit which I hope to have time to use near Wausau. I’ll also be calling for disabled youth in Stevens Point this weekend, observing the creator of turkey calls working his product in beautiful Barron of the great northwest, and calling for a never-before successful partner in Grant County.
The turkey season is not the deer season and Wisconsin residents are far less protective with the flock and their land in the spring than they are with the herd and the property in fall. Regardless of which of six zones and periods you drew, you will find permission to hunt if you’re polite, and do your homework. Don’t forget to leave a gift of appreciation. And don’t forget a few other things too.
Practice calling, with the slate, box or diaphragm call. Listen to tapes and imitate. Don’t worry if you don’t sound good. Despite their extraordinary eyesight and wariness making Tom a worthy field opponent, he can also be as dumb as a box of rocks. Tom sometimes responds to even calls that don’t sound like the tapes. Don’t practice calling on real birds if you don’t have a permit, you may be intruding on hunters with valid permits. But, you can find turkeys easily in unhuntable townships that will teach you much about the birds’ responses.
Even when you bring Tom in, even veterans miss. Practice, and be mentally ready to follow-through with what you practiced. Don’t pull your head out until the trigger is squeezed. Do you know your shotgun pattern and how it shoots at various distances? Do you know what range the bird is out of range, meaning, what’s your cutoff between sending a wounding shot rather than a quick kill? My brother and I found out exactly that at McMiller Gun Range Saturday in Waukesha County after John had purchased turkey chokes for each barrel of his over- and- under designed solely to put down Tom in a hurry. John is good to 40 yards.
We also picked up an ultra lightweight hen decoy, which is really optional for the turkey hunter. A decoy sometimes can be the last thing an old wary Tom wants to see. He’s seen it before. Also be aware if you really don’t want to forget anything, Gander Mountain has a free turkey hunting checklist brochure that leaves you with no excuse.
Finally, if you are a rookie, link to the Wisconsin DNR home website on this website under “Outdoor News” and find information on the state Learn to Hunt program. The focus of the “actual hunt” events is to provide opportunities to those who would not otherwise have a hunting experience. It’s perfect for a novice without a mentor.
The bottom line is this. Hunters harvested 47,722 turkeys during the 2010 spring season and 7,394 birds in the fall season. Are you going to be washed over with accolades from Farmer Joe and your family and friends? Or will your performance earn Elsie’s evaluation? Nothing is ever certain in the field. But when you do your homework; your odds of success will climb like a hunter to the bluff country in Grant County.