2011 Wisconsin Turkey Hunting Preview

Foremosthunting.com Host Chris Larsen meets with Wisconsin DNR Upland Wildlife Staff Specialist & Farm Bill Coordinator Scott Walter to discuss the 2011 Spring Turkey Season. Topics include turkey populations, habitat, regulations, and the future of turkey hunting in Wisconsin.

I didn't believe it until I saw it but this whitetail buck actually eats a bird.  Check it out:




It doesn't have much to do with hunting but it's pretty crazy!

Just got this photo from Foremosthunting.com's Justin Davis. Justin fired a few shots through his Mossberg 535 this afternoon. A new addition to Justin's gun this year is an Indian Creek Black Diamond Turkey Tube. He shot this target at 40 yards with No. 6 Hevi-Shot. I would be willing to predict this turkey would be pancaked. If this doesn't get you excited for turkey season, I'm not sure what will.

For more information on Turkey hunting and turkey guns, check out our guns and ammunition page at Foremosthunting.com. Justin is working on an article detailing the best way to pattern your shotgun for this season. Keep an eye on our Twitter and Facebook profiles for this upcoming article.

by Chris Larsen

With life's responsibilities pulling at us everyday, most of us don't get to hunt and fish as much as we would like. In the Northwoods cabin fever is beginning to set in. We've been cooped up all winter and when opportunities to get out and do things present themselves, we have to wear multiple layers. One of my favorite activities is reliving my favorite outdoor activities through photos.

I rarely leave the house without a camera. Missing a great photo opportunity is heart breaking. All of these photos were taken with a simple point-and-shoot camera. No fancy aperture tricks and no photoshop work either. Just raw photos taken in my favorite places in the world. Here are some of my treasured outdoor photos with a short description of each.

Sunset On The Mishigami - I snapped this one back in 2006 while fishing for salmon on Lake Michigan near Two Rivers, WI. The water was as calm as I've ever seen on the lake and the evening was beautiful. We put a few fish in the boat too.

Morning In The Marsh - From an opening day duck hunt on my favorite Central WI duck pond. My good buddy, Jason Oswald, just paddled a few of our hunting pals to the other side of the bay we were hunting. I don't remember how we did that day, but I'll cherish this photo forever.

Long Lake Magic - This one was taken by my good friend, Andy Gehrke, of Minneapolis, MN. About five years ago, a group of eight of us met in Phillips, WI for a weekend of fishing and debauchery. Another friend was soon to be married and we all pledged to meet every year for an annual "bachelor party". Most of us kept our word for three years before other responsibilities spoiled the fun. This is one of many memorable photos from the 1st Annual Bachelor Party.

Honkers On The Horizon - My hunting buddy, Jesse Windmiller, took this one. Foremost Outdoor TV ProStaffers Tyler Hinner and Matt Appel keep an eye out for canada geese in a Clark County, WI farm field. We put a few on the ground that day and had a blast.

Echoes of The Edmund Fitzgerald - If you've read enough of my blog posts, you know heaven on Earth for me is Minnesota's North Shore. I took this photo from the deck of a rental house just north of Lutsen, MN. My wife's family rented this house for the weekend for several years until the owners decided to move in. I don't think I'll ever get to go back to this particular spot on Lake Superior, but the time spent there was priceless. To see more awesome pictures from the North Shore, check out my photo essay.

Kayaking The Kinni - I took this one from my kayak on the Kinnickinic River in Pierce County, WI. My wife and I spent an afternoon paddling the river a few years ago. The Kinni is a trout stream of legendary proportions in this neck of the woods. The fish don't get enormous, but surveys show about 5,000 fish per lineal mile of stream or about one fish per foot.

Focus - Here's my best hunting pal, Wilbur. This one was taken on a man weekend at the family cabin last fall. The boys got together to do a little cabin maintenance, early season deer hunting, and target shooting. Wilbur didn't get to do any hunting that weekend but he had his share of table scraps and rubs behind the ear.

Gichigami Fun - This is one of my all-time favorites from 2010. My son, Jack, is finally old enough to enjoy throwing rocks into the water. The shores of Lake Superior obliged with plenty stones to throw. This photo was taken near the Kadunce River, just north of Grand Marais, MN. The vastness of the Gichigami in the background contrasts with the fragility and innocence of the young man with a monkey on his back. Yep, I might have asked him if he wanted the monkey off his back a few dozen times over the weekend.

High Altitude - The opportunity to take a photo from above a hot air balloon is rare. I took this shot at 1,000 feet from another balloon. I was lucky enough to be a guest of the Hudson Hot Air Affair for two years in a row. The Hot Air Affair is a balloon festival held in Hudson, WI. A lot of people are puzzled by winter ballooning but it's actually the best time of the year to go. The balloons are much more responsive to heat and fewer heat blasts are required to keep the balloon afloat. This makes the ride more peaceful. Wildlife viewing is also easier with leaf-less trees and a snowy backdrop. People always ask if it's colder. It's not. The balloon moves with the wind so there is no wind chill.

Traditions - I like to take pictures of my dog. Wilbur and my friend, Jesse Windmiller, are big fans of each other and here they are together. I was lying flat on my back when I took this one. The coolest aspect of this shot has to be the arrow on it's way down range at the perfect moment. I don't think I could get this shot again if I tried it a thousand times.

Hardcore Hound - Jesse took this photo of FOTV ProStaffer Matt Appel's dog. Wes is a big, bruising lab who takes his job seriously. Still, this photo captures his easy going personality. I crack a smile everytime I lay eyes on it.

Rookie Performance - This is without a doubt my most special outdoor photo. Unfortunately, a computer virus has left me with only a lower quality version of it. I have a framed hard copy on my desk but the digital version would have been lost forever had I not uploaded it to the Ducks Unlimited photo gallery. This was a hard lesson in the value of backing up files.

This photo was snapped on my super secret hunting spot in Central Wisconsin on opening day of 2005. Wilbur was just seven months old and this was his first bird. My hunting partner was running late but Wilbur and I were ready for the opening bell. This suzy made her appearance just a few minutes after legal shooting time and I wasn't going to pass up a chance to get my dog his first bird. She hit the water about 20 feet from shore and I sent the yellow dog on his way. I was beeming as he swam right to the duck while dodging the decoy spread. Our summer work was paying off! Then he showed his inexperience. Wilbur swam circles around the downed bird. I waded out and teased him with it until he couldn't take it any longer. He scooped her up and brought her to hand. I had time to snap some pictures as he slithered through the cattails.

I can't put a price on these photos. They take me back to some of my favorite days afield. They will be treasured for the rest of my life. If you don't make a habit of taking a camera along on your outdoor adventures, I encourage you to do so. A lot of people don't understand why we do what we do. Even great photos can't tell the entire story. But if a picture is worth a thousand words, you won't waste any breath arguing with them.

If you're an outdoor blogger looking for affordable photos for your site, check out www.huntingstockphotos.com.

By Chris Larsen

Turkey season is a time of rebirth… I’ve often written about this and it is true. Blankets of snow that dominated the landscape a few weeks earlier are gone. The shades of brown underneath return to green. Animals that survived the harshness of winter have a hop in their step. The going is about to get easier for them over the next few months.

There are many hunters who pursue coyotes and small game all winter long. But most of us haven’t hunted since the final days of deer season. I must admit to missing an entire winter of hunting. Work & family obligations kept me out of the woods all winter long. A planned coyote & shed hunt was put off due to an unexpected surgery. My best hunting partner had to take a four month work assignment in Chicago. The people we enjoy the hunt with are first and foremost in just how much enjoyment we’ll have.


Those are all regrets. I wish I would have made it out a little more. With spring comes a new season and a blank slate. It’s turkey time! The woods will soon erupt with gobbles as winter flocks break up and turkeys begin to form breeding flocks. Jakes and toms will battle for mating supremacy while hens scout for the perfect nesting spot. As the birds do what birds do, hunters will drive country roads looking for them. We will oil guns and pattern loads. Hunting blinds and turkey decoys see the light of day again. Anticipation is running high.

I have experienced great success during fall turkey season the past few years, but my spring turkey seasons haven’t worked out. My blank slate was covered in red ink by the end of the season. In 2009, I suffered some gun issues and was forced to use someone else’s gun. A late morning set up worked to perfection. A dandy gobbler was right on top of my decoy at 25 yards when I tapped the trigger. The bird staggered a bit and I hit him with lead again. The shots were off the mark and we never recovered that turkey. Nothing is more frustrating than not recovering a wounded animal. I’d rather have gobblers henned up or stopping in their tracks out of range. It’s a dismal feeling that I won’t let happen again.

My 2010 season was another exercise in futility. The Mexican Riviera is a favorite vacation destination for my wife and I. Unfortunately, we booked our trip before the Wisconsin turkey season drawing. Our vacation wiped out three and a half of the five days I would have to hunt. I didn’t worry about it. The other members of our turkey camp would have a few days in and they would no doubt be tagged out by the time I arrived. A full day and a half to get a bird? I should be able to do that. I scouted hard for them a few weeks earlier and was confident in a handful of locations. The moment I hit the ground in a US airport, I called the fellas. The weather was tough and the birds were call shy. They were turkey-less. The next morning wasn’t any better. When I arrived in camp my focus was on helping them fill their tag and filming them doing it. I never picked up a gun last spring.

That brings us to this season. Yes, birth is definitely in the air. My wife is eight months pregnant. The doctors say she could go into labor at any time. I will most certainly be sleep deprived on opening day of turkey season, but I won’t be wearing camouflage. In an effort to stay married, I have relegated myself to a late season hunt this year. I’ll wait until May to head into the turkey woods. The greenery will be more mature, the birds will be wary, and the mosquitoes will have developed a finely tuned taste for blood. Yes, this is how you fill a blank slate. The good news is I’ll be used to functioning well in a zombie-like state. Turkey hunting & life… no one said it would be easy, but I’ll enjoy every minute of it.

by Chris Larsen

Like it or not, social media is huge and it’s getting bigger. There are people from every walk of life using social media including foremosthunting.com. Twitter is one of our favorite social media outlets because there is always a conversation going on. There are thousands of outdoors folks on Twitter. Here is a list of some of our favorites in no particular order.

@Foremosthunting
This is our Twitter account. We post all our new articles and once in a while we bring back a few classics for review. Foremosthunting enjoys engaging with our readers, so don’t be shy.

@ForemostOutdoor
Follow Foremost Outdoor TV producer, Chris Larsen. He keeps you on top of new articles from foremost hunting.com and the happenings at Foremost Outdoor TV.

@ForemostCoyote
The newest member of the Foremost family of outdoor websites. Foremost Coyote is the Twitter home of foremostcoyotehunting.com

@Kmurrayhunts
Kari Murray of Northern Wisconsin tweets about her outdoor quests and misadventures on her blog, I Don’t Wear Pink Camo To The Woods. She is one of the first people a new hunter on Twitter should follow. She is always engaging with her friends and followers.

@Ghost1066
Tommy Ellis is an artist and outdoorsman from Tennessee. Tommy writes a superb blog called Following Ghost with lots of great stuff for anglers and hunters.

@BenGOutdoors
Ben Gustafson of Minnesota has a few excellent outdoor blogs. Ben G Outdoors and Abnormal Outdoors chronicle Ben’s outdoor lifestyle and weird stories he finds. Ben’s Twitter account is a great place to find the best stories on the web at any given time. He frequently Retweets great content from other users.

@Fowled_Up
One of the best new blogs on the web. A Missouri native tells the story of becoming a waterfowler with his new Chesapeake Bay Retriever on his blog, Fowled_Up.

@ladysportsman
Michelle Scheuermann does Communication Outreach for the Sportsman Channel. She also writes a great blog on outdoor television and business called BulletProof Media.

@FoggyMtnMeander
Justin Morell of West Virginia writes a great blog known as Foggy Mountain Meanderings. It’s a personal blog but Justin isn’t afraid to tackle the tough issues either. He just wrote an excellent blog on Sunday hunting laws.

@CoyoteAssasin
Duane Fronek is a trapper from Northern Wisconsin. He writes a superb blog called Wild Wisconsin. If you’re looking for information on trapping and predator hunting, look no further.

@Centexhunter
I recently found Josh Verdoon on Twitter. He’s from the Austin, Texas area and he hunts just about everything. He’s also got some cool buck fighting footage on his blog right now.

@BobStPierre
Bob is the Director of Marketing and Public Relations for Pheasants Forever in St. Paul, MN. Bob is a big contributor to the PheasantsBlog as well. He doesn’t do a lot of engaging but his content is first rate.

@Huntography
huntography.com is a site dedicated to capturing hunting and the outdoor sports on film and video. Very cool posts and is definitely worth a follow.

@Hank_Shaw
Hank lives in Sacramento, CA but he has also lived in the Twin Cities, MN area. He is a big waterfowler and angler, but what sets him apart is his cooking. You can find some incredible wild game recipes and ideas on his website, honest-food.net.

@OBNetwork
The Outdoor Blogger Network is a centralized location to find the best outdoor bloggers on the internet. They share a wealth of information for getting started in blogging and making an established blog better. Rebecca Garlock, known as @Outdooress on Twitter, is the chief contributor.

@NorCalCazadora
Holly Heyser is one of the best bloggers I have found on Twitter. She writes on a wide variety of hunting pursuits but seems to specialize in waterfowling. She also has some great posts on women-specific hunting issues.

@HeyBJK
Brian is an Air Force Veteran and a heck of a writer. His blog covers hunting, fishing, shooting, and more. Brian is a very friendly guy, so don’t be afraid to start a conversation with him!

@Muskokaoutdoors
Bill Anderson is from Ontario, Canada. He’s got a superb outdoor blog called Muskoka Outdoors. What makes Bill a must follow are his Twitter newspapers. Bill has compiled an incredible list of outdoors accounts that his daily papers are compiled from. Great stuff!

@Mikehanback
Mike is the host of The Buck Stops Here on Versus TV. He also has a superb blog with the latest news and fascinating op-ed style articles. Very few national outdoor TV hosts regularly converse with average, everyday Tweeps. If you’ve got something interesting to say, Mike engages.

@DanSchmidtDeer
Dan is editor and author of one of the best hunting magazines on the newstand, Deer & Deer Hunting. He posts very interesting content on his Twitter page. If you’re a deer hunter, Dan Schmidt is a must follow.

@TovarCerulli
Tovar is one of the most interesting people I’ve met on Twitter. He is a vegan-turned-hunter. You read that right. He brings a different perspective than most when it comes to hunting. His blog is one of the best written blogs on the net and he has a book in the works.

@FirstLightGear
First Light Gear is based in Michigan. They promise the best deals on gear, period. But it’s not your typical sales site. You will find awesome blogs and videos. These guys enjoy a wide variety of outdoor pursuits and their storytelling allows you to go along for the ride.

@Lukekujacznski
Luke is part of the First Light Gear crew. He always has a conversation going or is sharing first rate information.

@GooseDownGC
These guys are call makers out of Southern Illinois, but we won’t hold that against them. They love to chat about all things waterfowl and especially calling. They are a must follow for goose hunters on Twitter.

@DaveRichey
Dave hails from Traverse City, MI. I have never seen Dave have a conversation with anyone on Twitter. That’s usually a one way ticket to Twitter purgatory. But Dave’s writing is so good, you just can’t miss out on it.

@Jim7226
Jim Braaten hails from Minnesota and operates the hugely popular SportsmansBlog. Jim has been in the outdoor writing biz for a long time and is one of the best on the net. He is also organizing the Midwest Fishing & Hunting Outdoor Blogger Summit with Michelle Schuermann of the Sportsman Channel. If you are looking for high quality outdoor content, Jim is a must follow.

@SPORTSMANchnl
This is the Twitter account for the Sportsman Channel Outdoor Network. They keep their followers abreast of all the latest happenings in the outdoor world and have one of the best daily papers on Twitter. The best part about them is they regularly engage with their followers. You can literally have a conversation with the people in charge of the best outdoor network on the air. Try that with some other networks!

@A_Reel_Lady
Glynn hails from Oklahoma and has a blog by the same name. She is a multi-talented outdoorswoman with a talent for telling a story. I highly recommend following her.

@mgaryhanson
Gary Hanson of Anniston, Alabama is about as passionate about fishing as a guy could be. He also shares a wealth of information on hunting and other outdoor pursuits.

@Rbwrightoutdoor
R.B. Wright is banker by day, outdoorsman by choice. His outdoor blog is first rate and he is an outgoing, friendly guy. This North Carolina hunter and angler requires a follow.

@BryanHansel
Bryan is a photographer and kayak guide from Grand Marais, MN. Grand Marais on the North Shore of Minnesota, less than an hour away from the Canadian border. If you’re looking for tips on bagging your next whitetail buck, he’s not for you. But if breathtaking photography from my favorite place on the planet interests you, Bryan is your guy.

@WellsRobb
Robb Wells of Knoxville, Tennessee is a diehard waterfowl hunter. He shares a lot of great links on hunting and waterfowl… and he is always up for a conversation.

@Ilcornfed
Bryan Anderson of Fulton County, IL is one of the few outdoor Twitter recommendations who doesn’t have a blog. However, he is consistently sharing photos and information that any hunter would appreciate.

@KerryMackey
Kerry writes about the outdoors from a Christian perspective. His stories of pursuing game with his young sons are inspiring. Great follow for any spiritual hunter.

@BullsandBeavers
Chris Burget runs the website BullsandBeavers.com from beautiful Sun Valley, Idaho. Chris engages all of his followers and retweets anything interesting he finds on Twitter. He is one of the good guys of the Twittersphere and a must follow.

It’s impossible to include everyone in a list of 35 favorites. If I missed someone, I sincerely apologize and would appreciate it if you made some recommendations in the comments below.

By John Simeone

My revenge against the media hype of commercialization is to give the secret of the Manhattan Project of turkey calls to the people for free.

There are amazing turkey calls made by ingenious individuals who have been generations in the business of outsmarting turkeys, I salute them. Sometimes I have to ask myself about the simplicity of what genius actually is. Is genius highly complicated rocket science or is it as simple as the person that thought of a pet rock collection and made a million dollars. Personally I think it deals with observation and the relationship of knowing what to do about what you see. “Necessity is the mother of invention,” never rang so true.

There are only two things that will attract a turkey, one is food and the other is another turkey. The not so ethical turkey hunters of my state, not all, but so many as to cause an epidemic, have mastered the art of baiting, no pun intended. When I first explored the idea of my new call this weighed heavily on my mind as turkey baiting is not cricket in the ethics of turkey hunting. But what if you could make a call that sounded like turkey food. Didn't I just mention cricket, and not the British form of baseball?

OK, so how did I come up with this brilliant idea? I came out of the woods a few years ago after a gobbler beat me fair and square as they usually do, subsequently meeting up with a very disgruntled turkey hunter. Evidently getting beat by a turkey to some people excites the revenge factor in some humans about like Captain Ahab vs Moby Dick. He swore out loud to me and the whispering pine trees of Louisiana, that he had a gobbler dead to rights, when a swarm of what he described more vividly as “fricken crickets,” started sounding off and the turkeys all went to them. Have you ever noticed how some people take things more seriously than others?

Well the minute I heard this it struck me like a bolt of lightning. Make a turkey call that sounds like a fricken cricket. The name of the call certainly was easy enough, but how would I make it legal, market and sell it. Also it came to mind why no one had ever thought of it before. Maybe they had and it didn't work. “No, it will work,” I thought as I know turkeys hunt by sight and sound, not smell. So in essence I had a call that sounded like turkey food, no one had ever thought to do that. If they had, obviously it would be on the market.

I knew before hand I couldn't make a recording of crickets as this would be an electric call and would be illegal. It had to be a percussion or wind instrument just like any other turkey call. That was not difficult as I found a ready made cricket sounding device that was in fact a musical instrument for a symphony orchestra to emulate the natural sound of a cricket.

It was there for the re-marketing if I wanted it. Of course no one believed me except one man, a state game warden, who also made custom turkey calls. He seemed worried that it would work so well as it would wipe out the turkey population. Knowing well the wild turkey, I seriously doubt it.

So I decided to hint around on websites to see if anyone else had the secret. I told them I had a call that sounded like turkey food instead of another turkey. The only response I got was from the mass of master turkey baiters that thought the only thing that would attract a turkey was a pile of corn. I got summarily accused of making a call that sounded like a deer feeder turning off and on. But no one knew of, hinted to, or had any idea of what it really was.

I actually had one fellow that intended to invest and partner up with me, but during the negotiations he made some serious racial slurs as well as comments against another religion on an open forum that was enough to put anyone out of business, so I parted company with him. I looked into commercial marketing with game call companies and once again got sloughed off. One company genius tried to tell me everyone knew about it, so I asked why it had never hit the market. Never got an answer on that, what I figure it was the standard slough off for all the crackpots with a new turkey call, including me. One owner of an outdoor company didn't even know what a turkey call was and had never been hunting, go figure.

By the end of the day I was fed up with humanity again. I'm a hunter and an outdoor writer, not an entrepreneur. So I decided to get even with all the commercial hype in the outdoor world and let everyone know about the Fricken Cricket turkey call and how to use and get one.

First, to get one, all you have to do is find a large music company and ask for a cricket sound effect instrument by L. P. It looks and works like a baby rattle, it is that simple.

You use the call when you have a hung up gobbler or he is with hens. You use your cricket in concert with your regular turkey call. If the whole flock is hungry they should all come. But that's not the whole set up. If fake rubber turkeys can be used as decoys, fake rubber crickets and grasshoppers can be used too, if you haven't figured this one out yet, try the words fishing lures. There are plenty on the market designed as crickets and grasshoppers. Put a little stick on glue and remove the hooks and you add them to your all ready set out turkey decoys.

If you live in the country and know someone that has chickens, go through a live grasshopper in the pen and watch them go for it. Then throw in a rubber cricket and you will find they will go for that too. You can get them in any large bait shop.

Once it appears that other turkeys have found crickets and the target turkey and friends see this along with the decoy crickets, it should cause a feeding frenzy like a school of sharks.

Is it legal? These are the things you can't do turkey hunting. You can't use grain to bait them, a live decoy or an electric calling device (in most states). You can use artificial decoys in most states. Check your regulation for specifics. My state doesn't say anything about making cricket sounds in the woods and considering it can be done with the human voice it would require a game warden behind every tree to enforce it.

Is it ethical? It depends on who you are talking to. Some hunters think, using scopes on a shotgun is wrong, using a 3 ½ inch shell is wrong, setting up an ambush is wrong, sitting on a chufa patch is wrong...and so on. What is really wrong is sitting on a pile of corn or using an electric caller. Why? Because it's illegal, otherwise it becomes opinion.

Will it work? Yes it will, just like any other turkey call. It is just different, no more than making a new fishing lure. If a turkey wants to come to it they will, anyone knows that. There is no such thing as a perfect turkey call, that's what makes it interesting.

Why don't I try to market it? I prefer watching all the outdoor companies out there silting each others throats trying to outdo each other, now that's as much fun as shooting a turkey to me. If it does become popular I only want to be known as the person that thought up the idea and like I always do, I ….Pass it on.