My wild turkey season in Wisconsin begins Wednesday. I will be hunting with Bob Guditis, who is the father of my first wife, Jennifer, who died of cancer in 1995. I still call him my father-in-law. That’s what he’ll always be to me.
We went out scouting yesterday and enjoyed a fabulous afternoon, with temperatures in the upper 70s. I’m sure the warmth will get the breeding going strong. I talked to one of the landowners, and he says he has been hearing turkeys gobbling along a ridge regularly. I’ve got my blind close to that ridge and near the edge of two large agricultural fields that have some waste corn from last fall.
An area like this is excellent for turkeys and I have killed several birds in this spot over the last six years. I’m confident that there will be birds around, which is what you want.
Another good sign is seeing a few turkeys tracks, plus wild flowers blooming, a sure sign that spring is here. We did see a few patches of snow as we drove around, but it will be gone soon. I think we’ve seen the last of the white stuff.
Bob, meanwhile, got excited when I showed him the piece of land he’ll be hunting. It’s got a nice trout stream running through it, and he’s an avid flyfisherman. So, he’ll have both a shotgun and a flyrod with him. If the turkeys aren’t active, he’ll head to the stream for some trout fishing.
I just hope the weather is decent for at least part of the time. It’s looking like we won’t see the 70s during our week-long hunt, but I would be OK with 50s. After all, turkeys are not nearly as temperature sensitive as humans are. In fact, the most gobbling I ever heard at dawn came on a very cold morning in early April when the temperature was 22 degrees, and only warmed to the low 40s.
This gobbling fest took place on the same property Bob will be hunting. I hope and pray he can get a nice tom to come in close enough for a shot!