Trying to get Wipfli an Early Season Turk

I've never met such ungodly conditions while turkey hunting in my life, and of course these circumstances came when I was trying to guide Wipfli to his first turkey kill.  We hunted hard for three days, and actually had above average action.  Almost every little mini-hunt we executed produced some action, and on two occasions we had a tom move in to within just out of shooting range.  The fact remains that these birds are super henned up right now and it is virtually impossible to call them off their hens to within shooting range.  On one of these encounters, a tom appeared to be coming in perfect to my decoy spread, but just as this occurred, the weather switched from a snowy/drizzle and 15 mph wind to a complete blizzard/white-out situation with sideways blowing snow aided by 35 mph winds.  One of my decoys actually was taken up by the gust and blew away.  The tom eventually lost interest and decided instead to take safety from the weather.

I'm 95% sure I caught a brief stint of frostbite.  When I thawed my left foot out in the shower, a good portion of it was black. 

Moving around in the woods was TOUGH, breaking through the snow up to above my knee every third step, which of course resulted in a good lather of sweat build-up. And after sitting for a time, the lather froze to what felt like ice on my body.  We then came up with the brilliant idea of using snow-shoes, turning out to be extremely helpful. (Never thought I'd see the day when I'd actually need snowshoes to hunt turkeys). 

Our best opportunity came on Saturday when the skies cleared and the birds became more vocal.  I worked this particular bird for a good hour when finally he made a move towards us.  But, of course, he stopped just behind the bushy field-edge about 40 yards from us, never made another sound and disappeared forever.  I know he had a couple hens with him, and I guess he didn't find my beautiful hen decoys sexy enough. 

What are you gonna do?  Good thing my tag isn't until mid-May....should be prime hunting by then.

Inagrual Meeting of Northwoods Chapter of Muskies Inc.

Northwoods Chapter of Muskies, Inc based in Minocqua, Wisconsin.
Visit us online at http://www.northwoodsmuskies.com/

 

Muskie Inc. was founded in 1966 to promote muskie conservation and education in hopes of solidifying a high class sport fishery throughout its range.  There have been several chapters of the organization that have sprung up over the decades, but now, the newest chapter has finally been established in the possibly the most high profile region of muskie angling - the Northwoods of Wisconsin.  Other focal points of the organization include promoting muskellunge research; supporting the abatement of water pollution; maintaining records of habits, growth and range of species; and also to disseminate muskellunge information; and to promote good fellowship and sportsmanship among lovers of the sport.

 

Chapter 61 Membership benefits include: tournaments, contests, social outings and banquets, guest speakers, monthly meetings, "lake learn" sessions, youth fishing and education initiatives and much more.

 

For membership information or questions, please email durkeenick@yahoo.com

Here are some snapshots of the first ever meeting of chapter 61



Back to Fishin Mode

Finally back up in the Great Northwoods, after some much needed r 'n r I figured I should try to get back into fishin mode.  Started by drillin a few holes, and naturally, thy bounty got slayed.  Still a good 20 inches of ice up here which means some excellent spring crappie slaying will undoubtedly occur over the next couple weeks.

Last Day at Purgatory

It's been an epic winter in Colorado, and sadly it's the last day the mountain is open.  Gettin weird and catching some vitamin D is all one can ask for.  Time to hit the road and get back to the Northwoods of Wisconsin for an inevitably epic summer of slaying thy bounty, cuttin trees down, and gettin weird!