Grow the Hunt

Hunting the Ghost Gobbler

-By Brandon Wikman

The nice thing about turkey hunting is that the majority of us don’t have to make a mental beard measurement or guesstimate live body weight before squeezing the trigger. This isn’t whitetail hunting, where judging age and maturity is crucial. A gobbler is a gobbler and that’s that, right?

As much as I said that to myself, I couldn’t bare the truth. I held off pulling the trigger like a savvy buck hunter would, passing on gobblers as I would an immature 2-½ year old buck. I wanted to kill a certain turkey, a long-beard by the name of Ghost Gobbler.

I’ve put my time and efforts into hunting Ghost Gobbler for the past two years. His name reflects his illusive, and uncanny, abilities to make me look like a first time turkey hunter. You may question why I’m so certain it’s the same bird over the last couple years, considering turkeys look nearly identical. I will be more than happy to share his distinct background and bizarre personality.

Ghost Gobbler Facts:

1. I’ve never witnessed him strutting
2. I’ve never heard him gobble
3. Runs away if called to or decoyed
4. Runs out of the field if a car passes
5. Seen in the field for no more than 10 minutes throughout the day
6. Has no set pattern throughout the day
7. Has a thick beard I’d estimate at 11 inches

After nearly ten encounters with this unpredictable turkey, I have yet to fire a shot or even have him within 100 yards of my setup for that matter! I’ve learned that using decoys are as good as releasing a pack of hungry dogs after him. Calling is what you do if you want him walking the opposite direction from you. His uncharacteristic entrances and exits from of the field prove his smarts. His brief field visits are random; it could be eight in the morning or eight at night! There’s no telling.

The only way I’d be able to kill this bird is to sit along the edge of the field all day and not only hope that he shows, but be settled in the right spot. There’s only one problem, there isn’t a ‘right’ spot.

My Memorial weekend was spent hunting this un-killable bird. I spent the entire day of Saturday and Sunday in the field. I felt as if I were whitetail hunting during the rut! Pulling all-day sits, hoping a wandering creature would stroll by. Saturday I saw absolutely nothing. I didn’t see a single turkey, nor hear a gobble. It was quite the dampener for any confidence I had left in straining my mind another long day. Regardless, and against all odds, I sat all day Sunday. The only way to kill the bird was to put in long shifts and have your wish come true.

At approximately 1pm I spotted the Ghost Gobbler. He slinked his way out from a patch of tangled brush and into the field. My heart felt as if it were a pinball, bouncing around in my chest. Mr. Unpredictable stood no more than 80-yards away. He made his way across the field, pecking for bugs and grabbing a fast-food style lunch. The only chance I had was to hope he didn’t get too full before reaching the 40-yard mark!

As he took each step, history documented itself within my mind. He eased closer, his beard grew bigger, and his massive body inflated larger. You’d think I was in line with the next world record whitetail, in my mind I was! The Ghost Gobbler reached the 40-yard mark. I dropped all sense of nervousness, clicked the safety off and exploded a 3.5-inch shot shell into his vitals. I killed him.

The Ghost Gobbler had eluded me so many times. I think I may have had a small impact on making him one of the most intelligent birds on the face of the earth by the countless times I tried using regular turkey hunting style methods on him.

The bird sported an 11-½ inch beard, 1-½ inch spurs and weighed 25 pounds. He wasn’t the new world turkey record by any stretch of the imagination, but in my heart and eyes he was. A little luck, and relentless pursuit surely paid off.

Happy Memorial Day!

This great turkey picture was sent in to us by Tom. It was taken in Southern Missouri by a Moultrie D-40 camera two weeks before the season opened. Tom is unhappy to report that the boss tom made it through the season without becoming dinner. Better luck to everyone who is hunting over Memorial Day weekend.

Last Minute Turkeys

In his recent blog post titled, “Birds at the Buzzer”, for Outdoor Life’s Strut Zone, Steve Hickoff talks about his experience hunting late-season turkeys. Late-season birds are some of the toughest birds to hunt since most of them have been pressured throughout the season. They have heard every call imaginable. Maybe some of you will be trying to fill your tags over this long Memorial Day weekend. Tell us about your experiences hunting last minute toms. If you are one of the ones who is still trying to outsmart that old tom that has been giving you fits all season, GOOD LUCK!

Super Rio

-By Brandon Wikman

School has been dismissed for summer and final exams have thankfully been forgotten. It couldn’t have ended at a better time, considering I was able to squeeze in a last minute turkey hunt in one of the best big game hunting regions in the country: Kansas. Kansas is saturated with gigantic whitetails and tubby-toms!

In the comfort of my hotel room in the quiet serenity of north central Kansas, I write to you, my latest blog. I arrived in Hanover, Kansas Tuesday morning just in time to jump out of my car, change into my camouflage clothes and slip into the shadows of dawn.

I met with my good friend, David Schotte, owner of Blue River Whitetails at his house. I’ve been here three times in the last three years and haven taken six gobblers back to Wisconsin. Kansas has to be one of my favorite hunting locations, considering the abundance of wildlife, awe-inspiring landscape and the goodhearted small town people.

Schotte reassured me that he had pinpointed a gobbler by roosting him the night before with an owl hoot. The gobbler had apparently lofted himself high above the ground in a cottonwood tree on the backside of a field. Schotte felt confident that this turkey was going to be a done deal, but as we all know, a done deal in the turkey woods is something that is few and far between.

Schotte and I tiptoed our way down a small gulch and into the grounds of a surefire roosting area. As light slowly speckled across the horizon, we quietly crunched to a nearby cedar thicket. As I sat down and cuffed my hands around my mask to cover any bare skin, a gobble erupted within a few yards! I instinctively froze and skimmed the treetops for feathers. He was perched no more than thirty yards from the front of my barrel, grasping a limb, strutting and gobbling. I’ve never shaken so badly before in my life. I was incredibly nervous due to his dominant presence within the woods and a beard that swung like an elephant trunk! I could easily make-out his razor-tipped spurs that nearly glare-blinded me when the sun hit it at a particular angle. This was no average bird; this was a super bird that sported a showcase of awesome attributes.

I awaited his fly down departure as a dog would his next meal. Drooling with anticipation, I couldn’t help but crack a smirk at my luck. How easily we could have flushed him if we had shattered a dry twig or lost our footing, yet we somehow did everything right. All of a sudden he began wobbling and skipping limb-to-limb. My barrel followed his swift moves, branch to branch. The Rio spread his wings and plummeted into the depths of ground level. The gobbler distanced himself at the forty-yard range. This was a range I am more than comfortable shooting at. I buried my glowing bead up side his head and jammed a wad full of BB’s into his vitals.

I arose from my snug cedar hideout and jogged my way to the biggest bird I’ve ever shot in my life. He was 24 pounds, sported a 12-inch beard and had spurs nearly 2-inches long.

I have one more tag left for Kansas and won’t head back home until the end of this week. I may not top the Super Rio, but I may strike it lucky with another long beard out in Kansas country!

Merriam Turkey Hunting With Adventures Wild

-By Brandon Wikman

My passion for chasing gobblers through forest and field stretches for miles, literally. This past week I tossed my books, classes, and the memory of school aside to drive 14-hours and nearly 850-miles to southwestern Nebraska. All for a crack at a monster Merriam long beard with the help of my dear friend Chris Vaughn from Adventures Wild.

The majestic beauty of a simple white strip across a band of tail feathers drives the spirit of hardcore bird hunters from across the country. The unique characteristics of the species and terrain variations make the hunting experience one not to be forgotten.

I left Eau Claire, Wisconsin after my Advertising class at 7pm and drove the painstaking 14 hours through the night, a full cup of coffee in hand at all times. I arrived the next morning in a small country town by the name of Benkelman, population merely under 1,000. You know the turkey hunting must be good when there seems to be more of a thriving bird population than people.

By noon I was already in the woods, trekking or just plain sleepwalking, I can’t remember. I was absolutely exhausted, but the urge to kill a turkey gave me enough verve to trudge across the river bottom in search for tracks, scat, and sign. No more than an hour in the woods, I was already on my first setup. A pompous gobbler escorted a harem of hens across an alfalfa field. Not only did every hen in the entire square mile join the parade, but also the long beard marched gobbling away from me. All I could do was watch as my reality piddled into nothing more than a dream.

As I watched from the concealment of a blind, birds began filtering through the green pasture and into the woods. Heavy rain started to crash, which turned into small beads of hail. The weather evolved from a pleasant sunny afternoon into a miserable cold evening.

I sunk my way into the chair as far as I could and shivered a sigh of disgust. The light soon faded thanks to a heaping pile of billowy black clouds, which ended my hunt sooner than I bargained for. All I could hope was that tomorrow would be a better day.

I arose from a tireless sleep and stretched. The itching feeling of anticipation for hearing gobbling, spitting, drumming, and the countless sounds of nature began to escalate. That is until I opened the curtains and peered out the window with my jaw smashing against the windowsill. More than two inches of the color white caked the entire plains. Not only was snow an inhibiting factor, but the wind tore across the valleys ripping trees and sending tumbleweeds airborne. This was some sporadic weather for spring. The entire day I spent sprawled on the bed, watching the Outdoor Channel and wishing I were living it.

I woke the third day with much surprise to see the snow melted and spring greens dominating the countryside. I knew that the gobblers were going to be hollering, considering the day before was most likely spent under a tree keeping out of the wind.

As the orange glow sparkled across the horizon, the race of gobbling began. From the nearest oak tree to the furthest saddle, turkeys roared with thunder. I sat down, called and had a gobbler respond within seconds. No more than ten minutes, I had a Merriam long beard in my line of fire. He stood proud, looking for his mate. As he edged closer I shot him as my cousin, Joe Nawrot, documented the joy with a video camera. It was an amazing turnaround of weather and luck.

It truly made the drive well worth each and every mile, cup of coffee, and pounding headache along the way!

Hunting a Soggy Turkey

-By Brandon Wikman

Weather plays a major factor in the success of your hunting strategy, but don’t let the rain drench your results. It is critical to adapt to the situation at hand.

Last week I spent four days trekking up, down and around the vast country hillside of central Wisconsin in search for a long-beard with my shotgun. The weather was anything but pleasant; in fact, it was pure torture. I spent half of my time under the roof of a hunting blind, due to high winds, rain and even the occasional snowfall. Hunting early-season turkey in Wisconsin has always been sporadic, but this year was absolutely abnormal compared to previous years.

On our first morning’s hunt we were greeted by light rain, which evolved into a total downpour by mid-morning. Defenseless and cold, my cameraman and I trekked our soaked bodies back to the truck. Usually, birds don’t gobble when it rains and you’ll rarely see them scratching in an open field, which turns your turkey hunting strategy upside-down.

We drove back to camp and grabbed the blind, which would keep us dry, and keep the camera functioning properly. Not only did we have to dry the soggy camouflage that clung to our freezing bodies, but also scarf a few more friction calls that weren’t drenched. We decided to prop the blind between a cluster of oak trees and waited for a few hours as water streamed down the windows as the blind seemingly turned into a virtual waterfall. No gobbles. No bird sightings. No sign of luck.

After packing our gear back into the truck that evening, I spun the wheels to the local town and connected Wi-Fi style. I needed to check the weather for the rest of the weekend. I logged onto weather.com and realized that Mother Nature wasn’t going to be easy on us. The predicted forecast detailed high winds and showers for the next two days. This came as a shock, considering the prior week’s weather consisted of bright blue skies. Using websites as sources for weather is ideal because it’s quick and efficient.

The following evening my cameraman and I were stumped and felt like two turkeys ourselves. We hadn’t seen any birds for the past couple days.

It was a conscious decision to make a drastic change in hunting technique to fulfill our objective of killing a tubby-tom. The plan was to conceal a blind near a potential roosting sight by a field and wait for the birds to roam back for their nighttime loft. The blind was brushed with white pine branches, which made us look nearly invisible to the turkey’s keen eyesight.

After settling into our evening scenario hunt, I began tuning a few yelps out the blind window and hoped that the sound would reach at least twenty yards before being muffled by the rain clobbering into the tree tops and ground. The cloud-blocked sun began to sink into the horizon and turned the colors into grey mode.

I knew it was either now or never. Before I began doubting our setup, three gobblers trotted their way across the field and into my hen decoy setup. Each gobbler began eyeballing the fake, which gave my cameraman a chance to roll some great footage as I prepped my gun into position and fired a load of bb’s into the vitals of a long-bearded Wisconsin turkey.

Turkeys are unpredictable creatures without an organized timeframe. This makes them very difficult to pattern and make assumptions on travel routes. The only surefire tactic during a wet-streak is to find a roosting sight and wait for the birds to stroll by during legal shooting hours. It worked extremely well as I soon found out.

Turkey Box Calling Tips

Watch Harold Knight as he demonstrates how best to use a turkey box call.

Spring Turkey Hunting Camo

With turkey season underway across most of the country, chances are that you have your sights set on at least one old tom that you just can’t seal the deal on. You have practiced your calls, know where he roosts, and have a pretty good idea where he spends his days, but you can’t seem to get him into range. Most turkey hunters know the importance of camouflage but one detail you may not have thought about is the pattern of your camouflage. As you know, turkeys have incredible eyesight. No matter how enticing the calling and decoys are, when something looks slightly out of place in the woods it can spook an old gobbler and keep them from coming into your set up. After all, they didn’t get to be that old tom by not being cautious. The spring woods look completely different than they do in the winter during deer season. If you have been using the same camo to turkey hunt that you use to deer hunt, try using something with a different pattern. Use a pattern that blends in with the springtime woods, something that has more leafy patterns and greener colors. The change might just be the key to putting the finishing touches on bagging that old tom.

Wisconsin Turkey Hunting Begins Now!

-By Brandon Wikman

The forest ground has transformed from milky white to a refreshing Irish green! The songbirds have begun chirping tunes of sweet grace, while turkeys are proclaiming dominance with echoes of booming, limb-high gobbles. It is turkey season in Wisconsin.

This past weekend I escaped home, away from my college dorm confinements and into the woods for a quick crash course of turkey scouting. Before starting my walk, I tossed on my camouflage, grabbed a few locator calls and stuffed them into my pockets.

I approached an old logging trail with my eyes glued on any signs of turkey. I noticed a few turkey tracks scuffed into the dirt. Luckily enough within minutes I had already enough proof to know that there were turkeys hidden somewhere within my parents hardwood forest. It made my confidence soar and assured me that at least a few survived the harsh winter.

My main objective was to gather enough definitive turkey information, such as travel routines, food sources, and roosting areas, so when I returned home later this week, I’d be ready to put a bird down.

The afternoon sun began fading behind the clouds and flirting with the horizon. I visited a couple of old turkey-dusting sites before noticing a few deer creep craftily along the edge of the woods en route to a crop field. It seems that when deer leave their comfort zone of the thickets, turkeys enter it 20-ft high. I made my way to a few white pines and stopped to listen for any birds launching off the ground and into the pine needles. I didn’t hear a thing. The only noises were those of the forest; bugs, insects, and wood bearing creatures. Fortunately, I brought my trusty owl hoot tube and struck a note that would send chills up the spine of the infamous James Brown. I was reluctant to receive a snappy response from two toms. That was the only sound I needed to hear before driving back home for the night.

I learned over the past few years that pegging a bird is the best tool in tracking him down the next morning into shotgun barrel range. There’s no guesswork come morning and the anticipation of laying out a solid game plan is exciting. It gives you a concrete chance to toss around ideas with your buddy and make an attempt to figure out his next move.

Wisconsin turkey season is constructed rather differently than many other states across the US. Wisconsin consists of 6 seasons, which last only 5 days long. The season begins Wednesday morning and ends Sunday night. This is a great way to keep the bird’s mindset off being pressured by hunters. The downfall is that it only lasts 5 days. That is why scouting before season is critical to the success of having a tubby tom in your vest by afternoon.

I will follow up next week with my turkey hunt. The conditions look promising. The weather has been warm, birds sound aggressive and I’m about as ready as I’ve ever been. Hopefully I’ll be able to bust into the Wisconsin turkey season with a little edge of acquired knowledge and some luck to show forth.

Tucking a Bird into Bed

-By Brandon Wikman

Roosting a gobbler is critical in the preparation and strategy for the following morning’s hunt. Here are a couple tips I’ve learned from some top turkey experts on how to put a bird to sleep!

• Distance - Listening is the key element in locating a turkey. Situating yourself in the right proximity will allow you to hear the fly-up. I am very cautious to position myself no closer than a hundred yards from a roost site, which in the Midwest is in the pines. If you sit too close, you may alert the birds, but if you sit too far, you won’t hear them at all.
  
  As darkness settles and the forest becomes silent, keep your ears at full alert. The sounds of limbs busting and wings popping are a definite sign that a bird has roosted near. Sometimes hens will cackle as they make their way to their towering bed. This is just another sound to listen for.



• Saying Goodnight - We’ve all seen hunters use the owl-hoot calling method on television and receive a thunderous response from a nearby gobbler. Using the owl call is an effective strategy in locating a particular gobbler. When using the owl hoot, be sure to sound off a cadence such as, “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for ya’ll?” This will oftentimes super charge a gobbler into giving away his position.
  
  Another type of locating call to use during the evening is a coyote call. I love using them when all else fails. Sometimes gobblers won’t respond to an owl hoot and wind can block your ability to hear the turkeys flying up. This is when a coyote call comes in handy. The yip and bark of the call sends shivers up my spine, but has the potential of snapping a gobbler into gobbling. Coyote calls are extremely high-pitched and the screeching blare can travel throughout an entire block of woods.



• Nightmare - I always wait until complete darkness before slipping out and back towards my vehicle. I leave absolutely no chance in giving away my presence to a bird. The last thing you want to do is pinpoint a bird and then somehow unknowingly bust him off his roost by spooking him.
  
  You need to take into consideration that a turkey literally has a bird’s-eye view when there half way up the tree. This enables them to see and hear even better. When leaving your scouting grounds, be quiet, slinky and smooth.



• Disclaimer - A very important point to consider is that not all birds are responsive. I’ve had situations where I used an owl and coyote call the night before with no feedback from any birds, but come morning a strutting tom’s parading around my old footprints! There are no guarantees or precise patterning methods dealing with these unpredictable birds.
  
  It’s always a bonus when you can locate a bird the night before. With enough thought, planning, and luck you’ll be able to formulate a morning tactic to put the bird on the ground and into your vest. Roosting is just another scouting and prep tool that maximizes your chance at a hefty long beard.