2021 turkey reports

Nice job guys.  I only went out one afternoon.  Birds were acting weird.  Saw some hens initially but they were all alone.  About an hour later I had 7 toms/jakes come through all together, with no hens.  Thought for sure I'd call one in and it was a done deal, but they didn't even react to my calls.  It was as if it were fall/winter, all grouped together in a bachelor group and not vocal at all.  Seen birds both times I went so far but each time they were 20 yards out of range.  Not as much fun when I can't get a response out of them.  Never had that before, especially with multiple birds.  Usually they fire each other up.  Maybe someone spooked them or something.

After that I figured it was over since that was probably every bird in my area that I could shoot.  Wasn't much time left so was going to leave when I saw some large black things in the distance.  Initially I thought fanned out turkeys...ha nope.  Little off, it was 4 bears.  That was fun to see, sow and last year's cubs.  I had moved a little bit a few hours prior and they ran right through where I was.  Glad I moved, they'd have been right on me.

Zone 7 Oneida county. Hunted day 1 on private by the house and only heard a couple distant gobbles. Had a coyote come to my calls. That afternoon I decided to check a couple state properties. Found a nice looking spot and returned the following morning. Had at least 3 Tom’s gobbling til late morning. Only problem they were on private property. I returned to that area Friday but didn’t start til about 10am. Seen a hen almost immediately at had a very vocal Tom. Worked him for 2.5 hrs and changed my setup 3x. He finally came through the thick woods and got him at 15yds. The closest I have ever shot one at. 20 1/2lbs, 9” beard. A very fun hunt. A lot different than the fields and coulees I hunted in Crawford county for 20+ years.

https://youtu.be/BjY3elHrpPE

Watch this gobbler get smoked!

I hunt mostly public land and compared to 10 years ago, definitely less birds.  So many tags in zone 3.  I can basically hunt every period except B this year.  Then in fall you can buy a tag a day all season long it seems.  I remember when you had one tag a year.

I don't take it very seriously anymore, but I did wander out yesterday for some running and gunning.  Had the bead on a tom but he was at 60 yards.  Never came any closer, was henned up and couldn't move him my direction.  Then I thought the flock split up because I heard crunching leaves and yelping in 2 different directions.  Turned out that one direction was the birds, the other was another hunter.  Good ol' public land.

I'll head out this afternoon again and mess around for a while.

Spent yesterday w my 80 year father tackling the first season turkey...the morning had them gobbling in all directions...the hens and Tom's were very vocal so we always new were the birds were in relationship to us...we had probably 50 to 70 birds on a 300 acre property so no shortage of birds...you'd be amazed at how many birds and not one came within 80 yards of us...it was cold..we got snowed on big time...the ground was white again...hunted til 9 to no avail...

Went back in afternoon and it was so windy..again birds were vocal and they managed to work all around us without us seeing them until the last 5 minutes of season when we had one come in with a beard about 6 inches so my dad blasted him or it...not sure if it's a Jake or a bearded hen but he got it...it was great being w him again

ton of hens again this year by me,  always makes it interesting

Good work DDC. As for decline in bird numbers, we noticed a drop when the neighbors sold the cattle. No more recycled corn to get them through the coldest months. Still plenty around to keep it interesting. Good luck in the weeks ahead. 

Was a great opening morning for the Duck Disaster crew. We all bagged out. Birds came at 7am 3pm and 5 pm. 3 different properties All public land south central Wisconsin. We worked many birds. Had as many 5 gobbling back at once. And saw as many as 15 total toms. We put in allot of scouting both b4 and after work. Allot of miles on the boots but all worth it. A day we won't soon 4get. 

I agree in most areas the turkey population is taking a beating. I hunt between two counties and the past few years have been less and less turkeys. While the coyote/raccoon numbers keep growing along with more and more hunters. Also in my area we lost a big section of public land and habitat to endless fields of solar panels. I have a feeling it's going to get worse cause I can't see the dnr going away with all the extra tags. They would lose way to much money.

I agree with all said aswell, I normally see way more toms and turkeys in general in most areas around se wi and in central part of the state in years past, I have also seen less toms out and birds in different fields than I've seen before. which is weird to me, Imo I think after a couple hard winters they are thinning out a bit in some areas, it just seems that everybody assumes turkeys are all over and have a giant population, I  think some more effort should be focused on the turkey population here in the state. 

goodhuntin all and be safe!

Not a report but an observation.  I was trout fishing by Richland center on Sunday, beautiful calm morning 60 deg day,never heard a gobble and only saw 2 strutting toms. May have been a fluke but in most years would have seen alot more driving around checking streams. Noticed I'm not seeing them in the usual spots around the area i live in south central Wi too. Any one else notice this?

Heard a Tom gobbling behind work this morning. Sure made me wish I was in the woods instead of at work but oh well. 

missedagain - I remember about 10-20 years ago, it seemed like nearly every other field I would drive by had 30 to 40 birds in it. 

I'm not seeing anything near that these days while driving around and scouting and also including time spent in the tree bowhunting.

I don’t think overall numbers are down. Definitely think the hen to Tom ratio has gotten worse. Way too many hens. I’d actually be in favor of some either sex tags being issued in spring. 

Does anybody think that Turkey numbers are declining in the southern part of Wisconsin in the last 5 years or so?

Or is it just me?