The Wisconsin Turkey Season is finally upon us. As much as I look forward to hitting the woods with my trusty 12 ga. in hand, I also look forward to the Youth Turkey Hunt. At least I do now.
2008 marked the second annual youth hunt. Any child between the ages of 12-15 can participate as long as they have a valid hunter safety card. Wisconsin is broken up into many hunting zones, and for adults you have to purchase a zone specific tag. This isn't the case for the youth hunt. Young hunters can roam the state for one weekend in pursuit of their trophy tom.
I have the privilege of knowing a gentleman by the name of Tom Bergholz. Tom owns a gun shop/sporting goods store in Marshall WI. I have never met another man that is more content and involved in getting youth's into hunting. Through the help of Winchester, Quaker Boy, the NWTF, land owners and other local organizations, Tom puts together a few different hunts each year for the kids. From what I can see, the spring turkey and fall waterfowl hunts are a big hit.
This year there were over 40 kids signed up to be part of the hunt. Two of mine were in that bunch.
My kids and I were up by 1:00 am loaded the truck and off we went. Hit Marshall around 4:00 am. Now in case you don't know Wisconsin weather in April, it can't decide if it is spring or winter. Most of the drive we were in rain and the temperatures hovered around 32 degrees.
The hunters all met at Tom's place and got teamed up with their guides/mentors. Once a property was assigned, off they went. My roll in the whole thing was to bring enough cameras and able bodies to get the kids hunts on tape and give them a copy when it was all done. As it was last year, Tom sent me out with my own kids, not wanting me to miss one of them getting their first bird.,/p>
As the sun started to light the horizon, the prized trophy we were after made his presence known. Well, not one but three different gobblers blasting from the roost a few hundred yards to our left. The guide tries to strike up a conversation with them and I get the camera rolling. Now a few hundred yards in front of us and across the field another two maybe three decide to join in. Thats about as good as it got that morning, as the winds picked up to about 25 mph and it started to snow. The three birds to our left were quieted down by two back to back shot gun blasts, that almost certainly meant a miss. The birds out in front, two just shut up and one was on his way. As he got closer and closer, the sound of the gobbles got louder. He hung up on the other side of a drainage ditch and then shut up too.
After a hot lunch and warming the kids the guide decided to try another property. First set up was five yards inside a tree line over looking a cut corn field. We were informed that there had been a nice group of birds on display in this field over the last few days. As I pick out a nice tree and settle in with the camera, the kids and the guide settle in some five to eight yards in front of me facing the field.
The calling had not started for five minutes and a thundering gobble echos through the wood lot. Yep, the wood lot. The long beard snuck up behind us and there he stayed. He strutted back and forth for twenty minutes looking for the girlfriend calling to him. Everyone was froze waiting for him to make a mistake and move in front of one of the guns. then all hearts sank as he walked of deep into the wood lot with that familiar put put that means goodbye.
As the light from the sun started to fade we found ourselves on more birds. This time maybe thirty in all. With at least twenty being hens, we knew it would be a tall order to call the toms away. When the hens started to feed in our direction with the big boys following close behind, everyone thought this could be it. With hens inside of twenty yards and my son with his gun shouldered, this was going to be it. Then out of no where, the hens spooked and off they all went. What can you do, that's hunting.
Having a good idea where the birds would roost for the night we eased out of there with hopes of locating them in the morning.
With an extra cameraman along, we set up some sixty yards from the roost the next day. The temperature was only 27 that morning but rain and snow gave way to sunny blue bird skies. Like clock work, the toms started gobbling from the roost. Soon we all heard the familiar sound of wings flapping as the birds pitched down. The down side was, they dropped right into the woods they were in, not into the field we were setting on. With gobbles and clucks from the hens going all morning just inside the woods, we found ourselves puzzled. They just would not show themselves.
By 8:30 my daughter was cold and wanting to call it quits. My son wanted to go chase them down and unload his gun at them.
Including the extra camera person there were five of us in total. The cover was thick and possibly holding thirty birds. The guide suggested trying to get around on them in the woods but with this many people it would be tough. Knowing the kids drew a blank the season before, I opted to stay back with the cameras at the field edge. The decision was made, the guide was going to try and get the kids in close enough to call one away from the rest of the flock as two of us Stayed behind.
I sat near the field edge as I watched my kids fade into the grey timber. A very short time had passed and I realized the turkeys shut up. This couldn't be a good sign. Then I heard the same cadence from earlier and knew the calling had began. Minutes later, the loud distinct goggle came from a hundred yards down the wood lot. I sat helpless listening to the chatter back and forth between predator and prey. The turkey was getting closer, then the sound of the 12 ga. rang out. One shot, did it happen? I tried to wait, but had to go see if one of my kids got their first turkey. As I entered the wood lot fast stepping in the direction the shot came from, I see the hunters and guide. My son has a turkey draped over his shoulder. As I walked toward them I felt the smile come to my face. I felt it grow even bigger when the guide said, "that girl sure can shoot."
See, Nathan has taken wild game before, and hunted more with me simply because he is older. Amber has passed young bucks, missed deer and watched deer that she had no shot at. Even got busted setting up on a big tome the season before. This was pretty special because it was her first harvest of any game animal other than waterfowl. After a few tears from us both and a great big hug. We headed back to he truck as I was treated to the story of how it all unfolded. She couldn't have been more proud, but I think I had her beat. No footage, but we did manage some nice still photos and her turkey cape is drying in the garage. after the memories we created that day, I'm not sure I need to turkey hunt this year.
Who am I kidding. The next 2 1/2 weeks won't go by fast enough, and both my kids have regular season tags too.
