Fall and Winter Turkey Hunting in Wisconsin, September 13, 2025 to January 4, 2026

 

Best pictures of the year, at the bottom: 
https://www.turkeydog.org/lucky.html

Red compliments Black

 

Black compliments Red
Some quail dogs the English brought to Virginia became turkey dogs

New Puppies Coming Soon

 

Planning to breed the two best Turkey Dogs we know.
If you'd like to get on the list, call or write soon. 
Hunting Wild Turkey with a Dog

Google Search

 

What bird?

 

What bird interests a dog the most? Tip - they're found in 49 states, but usually flush out of range. If they land, it's often at the top of the tallest trees.

And what dog will teach itself, if the owner gets them out enough, so they learn? And what upland bird hunting has the most growth potential? 

For the First Time in Decades, Hikers Can Walk in Forests of Mature, Wild American Chestnuts

“We don’t go out of our way to advertise this fact,” says Scrivani, “but the public can now hike in and walk through natural groves of healthy [American chestnut trees] and forage for nuts for the first time in nearly a century.” Garden & Gun

Turkey Dog Poult Preserve

Turkey Dog.Org

Is hunting success making turkeys harder to hunt?

https://wildlife.org/is-hunting-success-making-turkeys-harder-to-hunt/

Hunting pressure drives female turkeys to produce more daughters

https://phys.org/news/2025-12-pressure-female-turkeys-daughters.html

We got Lucky

 

The turkey dog in Wisconsin that got to chase more turkeys than any other dog ever has died. The Virginia Turkey Dog

Rest in peace, George Meyer

 

Hunting turkeys with dogs in Wisconsin owes everything to George Meyer, for shepherding it thought the maze of rules and regulations. And navigating through State politics (like hundreds of others he did). 

On 8/31/09 George called to say thanks for this wingbone call, and tell me about the near catastrophe on the Turkey Dog rule. After 5 years of working on it, when it got to the Assembly Legislation committee, there was some controversy on the new bobcat rule and the open water hunting definition that nearly put Turkey Dogs back to Square One. George diplomatically avoided the Chairman's spat with the head committee woman (it was nothing but total politics).

Now all that has to be done is for the DNR to publish it. Because they're rules, the governor doesn't have to sign it. I said you know I never made a donation like I said I would, for the letters he sent on our behalf and was thinking I should buy him some gun raffle tickets? He said buy the WWF calendars, that’s even better, give them for presents. Typical George, always thinking of others. Wisconsin Loses Conservation Legend George E. Meyer

Cats vs Dogs

 Bobcat misses out on turkey dinner

This was probably a young, inexperienced Bobcat.

Wild Turkey Feathers

 

Taxidermists tell me they can't replicate the curved wing and tail feathers to look like a bird in flight, without breaking the feathers. I know a woodcarver who can do it. You wouldn't know if it was taxidermied or not. Matter of fact, a WI-DNR Warden came to his house one time, asking why he taxidermied a hawk, a protected species? So real, it fooled everybody. He had carved it.

Wild turkey in flight

 

Takes a good dog to make them fly.

Wing feathers

 

Wild turkeys have eight to 10 primaries on each wing (I count 8) and 18 to 19 secondary feathers per wing (count 18).

Snow Buntings

 

Think turkeys have a tough time in this cold weather, but there's Snow Buntings everywhere. They spend Summer in the Arctic, fly 2500 miles to Winter in WI. Tough birds.

Trade Black Vultures for Wild Turkeys

 

If you have turkey dogs in Kentucky, Ohio, or West Virginia (or anywhere Black Vultures are, that allows Fall turkey hunting with a dog), you can help farmers deter vultures during calving season, in return for having more land to hunt turkeys on in the Fall. It's legal, guidelines here https://www.turkeydog.org/spring.html
Story here.

What's better than Spring turkey hunting?

 

Hunting them on snow  in Winter.

Everybody wants Turkey for Thanksgiving

Back in 2018 
https://www.turkeydog.org/aboutus.html

 

Happy Birthday Levi!

 Today is Levi’s 6th birthday. We would’ve much rather hunted turkeys today, but pheasants are fun too!

Poor birds

Coldest place in the country.

How economic forces and industrial decline led to a Great Lakes tragedy

 

When Tom Nelson came to my house about 40 years ago, he was running for some office. I asked him why he'd want that job? Liked him ever since. Highly recommend reading his latest work.

Never forgot sitting in a restaurant, having perch dinner in Menominee, Michigan in November 1975. The whole place went absolutely quiet when word got around - the Edmund Fitzgerald went down in Lake Superior. Turned out, with everybody onboard. 
Gordon Lightfoot - "The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald"

City or Country

 

City turkeys got it better than country turkeys.
Less predators and no hunting 😲