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 Thursday, February 26, 2009
Preseason Eyes Stay Peeled
Posted by TTH Staff
by Jake Edson, F&W Media Outdoors editorWisconsin's spring turkey season is still seven weeks away, but I can't stop thinking about it. Maybe that's because for the past four days I've watched every morning as a pair of over-anxious toms puff and pirouette in a snowy cow pasture for a group of about 25 hens. The presumptuous pair might be in for a rude awakening though, because we are forecast to receive 6 to 10 inches of snow starting this afternoon. I wonder if they'll make it five days tomorrow, or if they'll sulk back to their roost like a pair of sophomores who just realized they won't be able to make the beach party because they don't have driver's licenses.
Thursday, February 26, 2009 3:17:02 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00) 
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Monday, February 23, 2009
Turkey Calls Nashville's Best Music
Posted by TTH Staff
by Brian Lovett, editorThere’s nothing like some good ol’ Nashville music — turkey music, that is. I just returned from the 2009 National Wild Turkey Federation Convention in Nashville, Tenn., and my ears are still ringing from all the sweet yelping, cutting, clucking and purring at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. 
Legendary caller Eddie Salter of Hunter’s Specialties shows off the
company’s new Ring Zone friction call at the 2009 NWTF Convention.The show is a celebration of all things turkey, and from all indications, people were ready to celebrate. The floor was very busy Friday and jam-packed Saturday, as folks checked out all the great turkey gear available from the smallest custom call-makers to the largest manufacturers. The convention also featured awesome taxidermy displays, outfitters from across the country, calling and call-making contests, and seminars from the best-known turkey hunters in the industry. Of course, many attendees enjoyed fellowship above all else. I was fortunate to spend some time with Turkey & Turkey Hunting contributors Jim Spencer, Ron Jolly, Tes Randle Jolly and Kathy Butt, and also managed to meet some of our regular T&TH forum users. 
Mike Pentecost, founder and owner of Woodhaven Custom Calls, makes turkey music on a box call. I missed the calling contests, but they were good ones. In the Senior Division of the NWTF/Wild Turkey Bourbon Grand National Calling Contest, Jim Pollard of Charleston, Ark., won an incredible fourth title by nipping two-time Grand National and two-time World Champion Chris Parrish Centralia, Mo., by one point. 
Chris Kirby yelps on Quaker Boy’s new user-friendly Firebox box call.Pollard won three straight Grand National titles — the top prize in competitive turkey calling — from 2002 through 2004. Only five-time champion Walter Parrott has more Grand National titles than Pollard. The convention really got me fired up for spring, and with turkeys weighing so heavily on the brain, it will be tough to endure the final few weeks of winter.
Monday, February 23, 2009 7:55:52 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
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Friday, February 06, 2009
Wisconsin Turkeys Intentionally Poisoned
Posted by Brian Lovett
Officials with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources are investigating the intentional poisoning of about 200 wild turkeys in a wooded area near a farm in Oconto County, in the northeastern portion of the state. Wardens found the dead turkeys after responding to a citizen tip to the agency’s hotline. “The responsible party has been identified and will be referred to the district attorney for charges once the investigation has been completed,” said Regional Warden Byron Goetsch. The suspect could face civil and criminal charges. Also, the court could assess statutory wildlife restitution surcharges of $175 per turkey. DNR officials said they believe the public, pets and the environment are not at further risk of exposure to the poisoned bait that was used. The substance is being confirmed by lab tests. “Once the substance is confirmed, we will make further evaluation and take appropriate steps,” Goetsch said. Preliminary indications are that numerous other surviving turkeys in the area were not exposed. The DNR has taken steps to protect the birds against further exposure. Aerial surveillance did not find other affected wildlife. The investigation is continuing. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the 24-hour DNR hotline at (800) 847-9367.
Friday, February 06, 2009 9:22:19 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
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Thursday, February 05, 2009
Deep Snow Hurts More than Cold Temps
Posted by TTH Staff
by Brian Lovett, editor Winter-weary Northern turkey hunters might be wondering how much their birds can stand. Turkeys are resilient, of course, but record snowfalls and weeks of frigid temperatures have many folks concerned about bird survival in the Northeast and Upper Midwest. Here’s what Lovett E. Williams Jr., noted turkey biologist and contributing editor to Turkey & Turkey Hunting, had to say. “Prolonged deep snow the turkeys can’t scratch through is much worse than cold temperatures,” he said. “If they can get enough to eat, turkeys can stand extreme cold indefinitely. It’s when they can’t get to any carbohydrate foods that they die. Icy, crusty snow might prevent them from scratching through to the ground. In deep snow, turkeys sometimes congregate around spring seeps, if they can find one. “(Biologist) Wayne Bailey, when he was in West Virginia, was of the opinion that turkeys can endure four or five weeks of deep snow if they are able to obtain some food.” In agricultural areas of the Midwest and prairie states, turkeys often key on crops during winter. “Ag practices can help turkeys in deep snow, depending on what the practices are,” Williams said. “Grain farming and cattle — with grain coming through their feces — would be helpful.” Some research indicates how much turkeys can tolerate before they start to die. “There was a study … about starvation of game-farm turkeys,” Williams said. “Two birds, at 0 degrees with the wind at 5.8 mph, survived seven and nine days without food. They lost 25.75 percent of their body weight. Two other birds in a calm atmosphere at 0 degrees survived 11 and 16 days. Their loss of weight was 67.8 percent. The conclusion was that a turkey can endure a week of severely cold weather without food. “It points up the effect of wind. Evidently, the wind and cold had an independent effect that killed the turkeys before they actually starved to death.” Time will tell how Winter 2008-’09 affects Northern turkey populations. Hunters can take solace in the fact that the birds are tougher than most people believe. They just don’t want to see turkeys pushed to the limit.
Thursday, February 05, 2009 9:07:07 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
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Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Turkeys Frequent Bird Feeder
Posted by TTH Staff
Turkeys are opportunistic feeders, but this might be taking things to the extreme. We recently received an e-mail from Linda L. Bischoff of Grand Haven, Mich., who said the local turkeys took quite a liking to her back yard in October. “We have had quite a time lately with the turkeys visiting our bird feeder,” she wrote. “It is very funny to watch. A couple of them have figured it out, but most will fly up and not be able to get the sunflower seeds we keep in (the feeder). It’s just amazing to watch the 13 to 17 birds that mosey through our yard. We even have a short movie we filmed with them flying up to the feeder.” Thanks to Linda and her husband, Gary, who took these photos.   
Wednesday, February 04, 2009 3:23:07 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
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Tuesday, February 03, 2009
New Products from the SHOT Show
Posted by TTH Staff
The 2009 Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show, which took place Jan. 15 through 18 in Orlando, Fla., featured plenty of great new turkey hunting gear. Here are some of the highlights.  Hunter’s Specialties introduced its new Ring Zone friction calls, which were tested with an oscilloscope so they match the pitch and frequency of a live hen. The calls have an outer ring that keeps your fingers off the surface to eliminate dampening sound. The Ring Zone comes in slate, ceramic and starfire crystal. It has 200 percent more resonating surface than most pot-and-peg calls. www.hunterspec.com  M.A.D. Calls added the Cherry Bomb pot call to its Bomb Squad line. It is custom-designed with a unique pot made of gunstock-grade cherry wood with unique sound ports designed to produce realistic yelps, cutting and purrs. It comes with a Dymondwood striker. www.flambeauoutdoors.com  Knight & Hale’s new Hammerhead box call has a sound board within the box, essentially creating a sound board within a sound board. The sound board system has raised ribs of specific length, height and width, as with the company’s Hammer Series friction calls. That softens the highs and lows, creating a more nasally tone similar to a live hen. www.knightandhale.com  Primos’ Box Cutter box call has thumb-hole grooves that positions the thumb so it acts as a spring, letting the user make sweet cutting. Also, the company offers the Box Cutter Lefty, designed for left-handed callers. The calls have a jatoba lid and solid mahogany box. www.primos.com  Quaker Boy’s new Firebox is custom-crafted from cherry and eucalyptus wood. The call is waterproof and features Curved Lid technology, which makes it easy to operate. www.quakerboy.com  TruGlo unveiled its Gobble Stopper sight, which can be used as a red-dot or green-dot. There’s an illuminated ring around the dot that represents 24 inches at 30 yards, which helps you judge whether a gobbler is in range. The Gobble Stopper is waterproof and fogproof. It comes with a camo or matte black finish. www.truglosights.com  Woods Wise introduced the Steel Wheel 2x2 Flipsider, a two-sided friction call. One side of the call is shrill stainless steel, and the other is raspy-shrill aluminum. The body is stainless. The 3-inch stainless steel top exceeds 15,000 hz for pitch and tone. The flip side 3-inch aluminum bottom plays a raspier shrill. Both sides are waterproof and play when wet. www.woodswise.com.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009 4:33:28 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
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