The boys and I don't often read the stats to decide when to go hunting. It's more like a yearning that says: "Do it now, before time robs us of the opportunity."
For spring turkeys, we are also aware that, in most cases, the earlier time slots offer the best chance to bag a Tom. The numbers from the 2007 spring season demonstrate that the early bird gets - well, the bird.
In Zone 12 (parts of Iowa, Lafayette, Green and Dane counties), 242 birds were harvested during Period A in 2007, a 32 percent success rate. The next most productive period was Period B with 194 turkeys taken.
Periods A and B in Zone 11 (Iowa, Lafayette and Grant counties) were almost identical. Hunters took 175 turkeys, a 27 percent success rate, during the Period A and 182 birds during Period B.
The harvest in Zone 16 (eastern Green Co. and part of Dane Co.) experienced a rather unusual phenomenon with the last period showing the second largest harvest for 2007. One hundred thirty-two birds were taken in Period F, behind Period A with 151 kills and a success rate of 29 percent.
By the end of the weekend, however, we decided there must be other factors involved for our particular piece of God's green earth. An owl hoot wafting through the pre-dawn countryside from the back deck of the bunkhouse brought little response and any gobbling we heard during the weekend was so faint as to be in another state.
While we will have to wait until a later period to get another shot at it, others had great luck during the early going. Ed and Char James of rural Darlington enjoyed a husband and wife hunt with each harvesting a gobbler. Ed has shot a number of turkeys over the years, but this was the first with a black powder muzzleloader. The bird weighed 20 lbs with a nine-inch beard.
Not to be outdone, Char took her 23 lb. bird with a 12 gauge. The Tom sported a 10 and one-half inch beard.
"Ed took his off the roost; mine took a little calling," she reports.
Jim Schlafli of rural Argyle had his most successful hunt ever when he shot a 25-pounder with a beard in excess of 11 inches. The bird had spurs measuring one and one-eighth and one and three-eighths inches. The gobbler scored an impressive 77 points.
Schlafli doesn't get that much time in the woods, as the pressures of farm chores and a compressed season structure don't allow much leeway.
"I was in the right place at the right time," he said.
"I don't have a lot of elaborate equipment," Schlafli said. "I've been wearing the same old camouflage for years, and I just use an old box call the kids bought for me a few years ago."
"I got up at 4:30 because I had other stuff to do," Schlafli explained. "I made a couple of yelps, and he flew down right away."
"I wasn't ready for him, but then a hen flew down, and I got a chance to get situated."
Schlafli's son, Keith, shot his turkey later that day. Keith's bird was also a 25-pounder with a beard of more than nine inches.
As for us, the chance to get together, talk turkey, relive past hunts and dream of the big that should have come our way, will have to do for now.
- Lee Fahrney can be reached at (608) 967-2208 or at fiveoaks@mhtc.net.
For spring turkeys, we are also aware that, in most cases, the earlier time slots offer the best chance to bag a Tom. The numbers from the 2007 spring season demonstrate that the early bird gets - well, the bird.
In Zone 12 (parts of Iowa, Lafayette, Green and Dane counties), 242 birds were harvested during Period A in 2007, a 32 percent success rate. The next most productive period was Period B with 194 turkeys taken.
Periods A and B in Zone 11 (Iowa, Lafayette and Grant counties) were almost identical. Hunters took 175 turkeys, a 27 percent success rate, during the Period A and 182 birds during Period B.
The harvest in Zone 16 (eastern Green Co. and part of Dane Co.) experienced a rather unusual phenomenon with the last period showing the second largest harvest for 2007. One hundred thirty-two birds were taken in Period F, behind Period A with 151 kills and a success rate of 29 percent.
By the end of the weekend, however, we decided there must be other factors involved for our particular piece of God's green earth. An owl hoot wafting through the pre-dawn countryside from the back deck of the bunkhouse brought little response and any gobbling we heard during the weekend was so faint as to be in another state.
While we will have to wait until a later period to get another shot at it, others had great luck during the early going. Ed and Char James of rural Darlington enjoyed a husband and wife hunt with each harvesting a gobbler. Ed has shot a number of turkeys over the years, but this was the first with a black powder muzzleloader. The bird weighed 20 lbs with a nine-inch beard.
Not to be outdone, Char took her 23 lb. bird with a 12 gauge. The Tom sported a 10 and one-half inch beard.
"Ed took his off the roost; mine took a little calling," she reports.
Jim Schlafli of rural Argyle had his most successful hunt ever when he shot a 25-pounder with a beard in excess of 11 inches. The bird had spurs measuring one and one-eighth and one and three-eighths inches. The gobbler scored an impressive 77 points.
Schlafli doesn't get that much time in the woods, as the pressures of farm chores and a compressed season structure don't allow much leeway.
"I was in the right place at the right time," he said.
"I don't have a lot of elaborate equipment," Schlafli said. "I've been wearing the same old camouflage for years, and I just use an old box call the kids bought for me a few years ago."
"I got up at 4:30 because I had other stuff to do," Schlafli explained. "I made a couple of yelps, and he flew down right away."
"I wasn't ready for him, but then a hen flew down, and I got a chance to get situated."
Schlafli's son, Keith, shot his turkey later that day. Keith's bird was also a 25-pounder with a beard of more than nine inches.
As for us, the chance to get together, talk turkey, relive past hunts and dream of the big that should have come our way, will have to do for now.
- Lee Fahrney can be reached at (608) 967-2208 or at fiveoaks@mhtc.net.
