Clear Cut Turkeys

 I think everyone can agree that we all appreciate areas that turkeys hangout in consistently. We found a public spot where there are birds basically every time we are there. At the end of season last year, the state had come through and marked trees for a timber harvest in the area.

The cutting did not bother the turkeys and the dogs found them between the harvest area and a creek. We were treated to the sight of watching Lily and Levi chase a group of at least a dozen birds on the edge of the cut. Kaily did get an opportunity on a nice hen. It was an excellent October day!

October is the best month of the year

 

Turkeys vanished in thin air

 

Hunting turkeys is different every time. Today we saw a flock of 8 or 10 at 100 yards. Suki made them fly in another 100 yards. We got a 6 lb. Jenny, but never saw another one. The entire flock of first hatch birds disappeared into thin air. Never had that happen. Mystery.

Longbeard on a limb

 

A few years ago, a gang of gobblers were running Lucky in circles. One jumped up on a log 20 yards away from me, beautiful in the sun. An easy shot, but 'click', forgot to load it. Never forget that picture.

Well today, Red flushed a gang of gobblers, one big tom went up on a limb, 20 yards from my friend. He was one second from pulling the trigger, when the turkey bailed out and was gone. A great picture he'll never forget.

Sexing Turkeys

 

There's a concern when more hens are reported in the Fall Harvest than males (should be close to 50-50). Example of the difficulty Fall hunters can have determining the sex of turkeys - this 7# 11 oz. First Hatch Juvenile had both black and buff tipped breast feathers, about half and half. It had no spurs and the center tail feathers were shorter than the outer tail feathers, so no indication there. Most hunters would register it as female, but this little beard buried in the breast feathers confirmed it was male. Matt says: A hen will never have any type of black-tipped feather on the breast. So this was a male for sure. Join the Club

Wisconsin survey

We harvested birds from all 3 hatches so far:
First hatch May 20 - 7# 11 oz. Jake 10/3/025.
Second hatch June 23 - 5# 2 oz. Jenny 10/7/25.
Third hatch July 27 - 3 lb. 6 oz. Jenny 9/15/25.
Confirmation of the good hatch this year.

When the dog smells turkeys in tall trees -

but hunters can't see them with the leaves still on. 3 of us each saw about 5 different turkeys fly out. Dogs did the hard part. Suki 22.60 miles, Red 16.86. Hunting Wild Turkeys with a Dog

Southern Ohio

 We had a great morning looking for turkeys in the rolling hills of southern Ohio. The 17-year periodical cicadas (Brood XIV) emerged here this past spring and early summer. It appears to be a good year for poult recruitment. We seen lots of sign and broke one flock, but no response. We’ll explore the ridge tops and hollows some more once the temperature cools down.

American Field Sportsman's Journal

 

Turkeys run, dogs bark, birds fly, hunters call.

Suki listening to more turkeys in the trees.

 

History of Turkey Dogs

Barking like a coon dog, but at turkeys.

To bird dogs, turkeys are the big leagues.

Red found them this morning.

Red broke 2 or 3 toms at 9:07am. Good video of the one that went North. Another one went East, might've been a third one. Could sit and call later, maybe get one to come. Sunny, high near 75. SSE wind 10 to 13 mph. Setup at the break, the sound will go right to the one that went North.
Red's daddy was a purebred Red Setter, his mommy was a Pointer.

Suki's turn

 

Suki just before she went on an eight and a half mile run looking for turkeys this morning.

12 Turkeys in the Trees

Brought the gun up when I heard heavy wingbeats from 12 big black birds taking off. Lucky made these turkey vultures fly. Couldn't get to what they were feeding on (walking on treetops from logging buried in swamp grass). Suspect it was a deer. Maybe a cow, for that many TV dinners.

Member Invitation

 
Figured out how to make anyone an administrator:
Once they accept the invitation, they will be listed, and you can then convert an author to an admin by selecting the "Admin" option next to their name in the same Permissions section.
Google limits it to 100 total members including authors, administrators, or readers. Then anyone could start another one.

Re: Trusting Red

 One goose Red flushed made a loop back to land near where it started. Should've been goose hunting.

Trusting Red

Red flushed 5 turkeys to the North, next to a black ash swamp. I walked North to see if there were any in the trees, but it was all dead ash trees, they must've landed in the corn, across the road. I wanted Red to come with me to the North, but he went South. He knows what he's doing, trust him, he is 7 y.o. He flushed 3 more turkeys the same direction as the first ones went. That was enough for the day in this heat, at least we went. By the time we got back to the car, it was 77°. You can't see the birds flying, they were 150 yards away, too small in the picture, but you can hear Red barking:

Hunting turkeys in all kinds of weather.

Been twenty degrees warmer since the opener, Sept. 13. Sunny and warm makes for uncomfortable hunting, but the upside is, late hatch poults have more time to add body fat, to help them survive a rough Winter. Soon enough we'll complain it's too cold. Life is short, be like your dog, raring to go in any weather.

Saw some new country with potential today

Turkeys like to be where they can feed and loaf unobserved, not visible from any road. Took Suki to this new place of hidden woods and fields. She did 10.2 miles, I did 2.06. Right near the end, after we went all the way around, Suki flushes 2 big toms 200 yards away. Look quick in the first second of the video, the second bird followed the first one, flying right to left. Anybody that likes to sit and call turkeys could sit there for a week and call. 2 big toms that flew off together will never come to a call this time of year. 

We saw turkeys around here last year?

500 yards into a Stinging Nettle, Devil's Beggartick swamp, tripping over vines and roots, when my 14 y.o. dog goes back to the truck, she's saying there's no turkeys around here! Interesting trees though.

Red Green hunted 3 places today.

No turkeys but talked to two farmers. One showed us a good spot for rabbit hunting next Winter. The other pointed to where the turkeys come out in the field and what time. Not much corn cut yet, but it's starting.

On The Run

 Watching Suki run on the Autumn Equinox, September 22, 2025.

Killing Porcupines, one egg at a time.

Overharvest by Illinois tourists, collecting and drying rare porcupine eggs for floral arrangements, have made Porcupines an Endangered Species in Wisconsin.

Turkeys aren't afraid of dogs they can see.

They can outrun most dogs, or fly away when they can't. Here's proof of their fearlessness, walking right on Lucky, Suki and Red's turf September 9, 2025. Full Screen!