Need help picking a week for spring turkey
 

I know nothing about when the best time is to hunt spring turkey. This will be my first year andI'm putting in an application for a spring permit. I'll be going after them with my Vectrix. The season runs from April 15 to May 24 all of which are divided into 5day blocks. Iwill only be grantedone block to huntif I even make the lottery. I must also place those 7 blocks in order of preference.Please help meout if you have a decent idea on when the best dates are for Wisconsin. Thanks.

Blocks:

A) 4/15 - 4/19

B) 4/22 - 4/26

C) 4/29 - 5/3

D) 5/6 - 5/10

E) 5/13 - 5/17

F) 5/20 - 5/24

RE: Need help picking a week for spring turkey
 

Always pick the first week, thats what I do. No bugs and hopefully no hot weather!!!!!!! Then you can go after leftover permits for the rest of the units!!!!!!

RE: Need help picking a week for spring turkey
 

Granted I am alot more South than you, but you have them listed in my order of preference:D...the sooner the better for me. Less pressure...and like Joe said, less bugs and hot weather.

What is average weather for mid April up in WI?

RE: Need help picking a week for spring turkey
 

Gee, I don't know why I didn't just text you Joe. duh, ddd, LOL

What I wanted to ask too was when is it best to go after them as in when they're nesting, before, after? And when are those dates generally?

RE: Need help picking a week for spring turkey
 

Trevor, in mid April we can still see temps in the teens and a foot of snow. The average tho is prollyaround 40deg Fwith the last of the snow starting to fade.

RE: Need help picking a week for spring turkey
 

Oh dang..lol Mid april is 70 and sunny here...I am clueless then. Stick with what Joe tells you...not me:D. Also check out the turkey forum for the veterans from up north...they know their stuff. Might try PMing JW, i am pretty sure he is from MI or WI or somewhere up there.

RE: Need help picking a week for spring turkey
 

Hoyt, I'm in the same boat.

Our seasons are:


Dates: April 15-19, April 20-24, April 25-29, April 30-May 4, May 5-9, May 10-14, May 15-21, May 22-28.

Last season I had C. This year I will try and get C or D. I've found they are most vocal, and ready to "rut" closer to the 1st of may. I hate season A if the weather is like what we've had the last couple years.

Season D would have been PERFECT last year.


C I was hunting in 3" of snow the first and second day[&:]Not good for working birds. They were Vocal, just not interested.

RE: Need help picking a week for spring turkey
 

I've only bowhunted them for two seasons (30+ hunts).

What I've learned in my short time going after them here is......Opening day and the next couple days are good. They don't yet know they're being hunted.

After that.....(at least around here) I think the later the better. When the hens get on the nests.....the male birds are more apt to be wandering around looking for hens....instead of with them, already.

I think my chances increase....(after the first couple days of the season) when the hens go to nest.

Rookie advice.

RE: Need help picking a week for spring turkey
 

If nobody disagrees with this I will start there as my first choice then work either way of it. meaning something like...

1)1st week of may
2)4th week of april
3) 2nd week of may
3) 3rd week of april
5) 3rd week ofmay
6) 2nd week of april
7) 4th week of may

RE: Need help picking a week for spring turkey
 

Rookie or not, it's what I'm looking for and is a couple worlds better than what I know which is ummmm... nothing.

RE: Need help picking a week for spring turkey
 

You are totally right...

However, that is one HARD prediction to make (when the hens go to nest). Real hard. Especially when you are dealing with a 5 day slot.

RE: Need help picking a week for spring turkey
 

How long are they on the nests, though?

RE: Need help picking a week for spring turkey
 

It sure is nice to hunt in a season where you can go any day you want over a 3 week period.:D

What are the advantages of having the season broke up into so many blocks as they do in Wi and Mn?

RE: Need help picking a week for spring turkey
 

They aren't always on the nests, they will leave the nests to feed and water. They may even roost a ways away from the nest.

But I think the incubation is something like 20-30 days??

RE: Need help picking a week for spring turkey
 

There isn't one.

We can only shoot one bird too, I don't even get a fall season.

Sometimes I wonder if the MNDNR even steps foot outdoors. Our turkey population is BOOMING in our area. We at least deserve a fall season to whack a hen. There are too many of those[&:]

RE: Need help picking a week for spring turkey
 

If that's true....I'm learning something, here. Cool.

RE: Need help picking a week for spring turkey
 

weeks. For alot of southern guys, for the entirity of the season. Going to nest, for me, is more of a waiting longer in the mornings tactic than time of year tactic. The hens usually hit nest from 9-11am....if a hunter waits it out, the gobblers are alone and a spike in activity can be noticed just before mid day after the hens hit nest and leave them on their own.

My week schedule this spring sucks. Class till 11AM every morning...BUT, this will allow me to hit the woods right as the gobblers are cruising on the lonesome as all hens are on nest. It will also help me break from the habit of those short morning hunts, leaving after the initial burst of activity after flydown when it gets slow around 8 or 9. I will be forced to hunt longer this way, and it may just pay off.

RE: Need help picking a week for spring turkey
 

Oh absolutely. Ill put my truck on this, very common...Ive seen it with my own two eyes too many times. In my experience, alot of hens head to nest after an hour or two of feeding/breeding etcafter flydown.

RE: Need help picking a week for spring turkey
 

I like the first week because of less cover, you can spot them hopefully before they can spot you! I'm not one to sit in a blind, don't like wait around for them to come to me I go after them! I found that the earlier the better, less pressure from being hunted and can catch them with their guard down! The longer the into the season the harder it is to call them in, they heard it all by then and seen every decoy set up there is, pressured! Apply for the first week and we'll go after them together, I'm applying for unit 2, I hope to get a tag this year, I hope, I filled one last year so I might not get one this spring!!

RE: Need help picking a week for spring turkey
 

Another thing that will keep them AWAY from the nest are hot days.

They will feed, water, and spend quite some time at the dusting areas. I LOVE setting up on dusting areas.

RE: Need help picking a week for spring turkey
 

Alright Joe, I'll take the choices in alpha-numeric then. If sitting still in 5 degree weather don't bother me, stalking in 40 is nothing.Hopefully we both draw and can hit'em together.

RE: Need help picking a week for spring turkey
 

Good luck, if you change your mind...

Pick C or D;)