Just got back from Wisconsin. For the last several months, actually since spring turkey season ended, we have been getting prepared for fall turkey season. For me, I had to enter the Wisconsin lottery to see if I could get a non-resident turkey harvest permit, which I did!! Now I have to find a place to hunt. Since my daughter lives in Wisconsin she said her next door neighbor has a dairy farm in Dunn County and that she would get me permission to hunt. So a couple of months ago our family traveled to Wisconsin to see the grand kids and also do a preliminary scout of the farm. I also got the coordinates so I could do some Google Earth scouting.
The season starts September 14 so we head back to Wisconsin a few days before the 14th to do some on the ground scouting. There are turkeys everywhere!!! Saw lots of poults and some nice longbeards. This morning I get up at 3:30 a.m. brew some coffee and head out to Dunn County which is a 36 mile drive. I was optimistic that I could get a big long beard because they were roosting in the same area every day and I had devised an ads1 plan to bust one of them. So I pack in my decoys, ALF NWTF Hunting Chair, Turkey Blind, and other turkey goodies the day before hunting season. It was about ½ mile one way to my hunting spot and on opening day I walk in without a light. It was a great, cool morning; no wind and very quiet. I will be able to hear the turkeys fly down! At ground zero I set out three decoys hoping that they might help me score big. The gobblers were roosted further away this morning than they had been the previous two mornings, but I could hear them walking in the woods toward me. They were noisy! My hopes were high and the adrenaline was pulsing through my veins. My veins were bulging and my blood pressure was like a fire hose running full blast. This is going to be my big day in Wisconsin hunting turkeys. Two gobblers were about 100 yards away when a truck drove down the middle of the alfalfa field heading right toward the gobblers and past me, but he didn't even see me or my decoys. The driver gets out, unloads his dog and gets two five gallon cans of corn and disappears into the woods. My hunt is over! I thought about going over to his truck and wait for him to return, but decided to take the high road and just see if he notices me on his way out. Interestingly, he drove past me and still didn't notice me. Oh well those long beards will be there another day. I guess the driver of the truck was putting corn out for the deer. Didn't know that was legal in Wisconsin??? I hold tight until about noon and a young hen comes down the other side of the woods. She was a little past my shooting distance of 40 yards and I couldn't get her to come in, so score two for the turkeys and zero for ads1. I decide to move two hundred yards up the wood-line and set up again. Maybe I could entice another bird into my home range. I could hear hen chatter down by the stream in the woods so I thought I might at least get one for Thanksgiving Day. I was tired and sleepy and hungry so after I got set up I took a little nap. When I woke it was 2:00 p.m. and the temperature had increased from a low of 40 degrees to 73 degrees and the mosquitos were swarming. I could hear some turkey talk and some noise down in the woods but no signs of a turkey until about 4:00 p.m. and it started all over again. I was pumped because I still had a chance to score on opening day of turkey season in Wisconsin. I slowly looked to my right and there staring at me was a turkey. I didn't dare blink or this little girl would be gone. Too late, I blinked and she was starting to head out. As she walked behind a tree I swung my 870 around with one hand and lined the red dot up on her head. The rest is history and a successful day of turkey hunting in Wisconsin. I came close to missing this bird because there was no shot in her body and only a few shot in her head. Without the SPS Remington I would not have been able to control the gun and handle this shot. Another plus was the Burris FF3 that allowed me to get on target so quickly. OK, what is next? Maybe I can go down to Fleet Farm and get another turkey permit for a Monday hunt!!!
