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Al Brown | Tracking the Seasons
Tom turkey no match for ladies
It was the kind of morning every turkey hunter dreams about: A cloudless blue-black predawn sky. Air so clean and crisp you could actually taste it. And, if you looked closely toward the heavens, you could still see a few stars, those reluctant to leave on such a fine morning.
Unless you were hard of hearing, the stillness of the morning was a blessing, allowing you to sort through the various sounds of a waking countryside.
Male cardinals, a farm dog, Canada geese, sandhill cranes, big trucks growling, the wing beats of low-flying wood ducks and finally, the tree gobble of a tom turkey.
Your breath quickens and you pick up your pace. Suddenly the big shotgun you're carrying isn't so heavy and the landscape appears more clearly.
The turkey gobbles again and your feet move even faster.
The safety's on, the gun is loaded. Your partner cranks out a soft hen yelp on the turkey call and whispers "Get ready."
Another loud gobble and suddenly, there he is, just 13 paces away.
In retrospect, the next few moments are a blur. But once she sees that 22 pound tom with a 91/4-inch beard laying barely 12 yards away, it's for real.
That's pretty much the way it went last Saturday morning for Learn to Hunt Turkeys student Julie Widholm, 25, an ecology major at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and her mentor, Lori Kilian, 54, of Waterloo.
A seasoned turkey hunter, Kilian has been mentoring for the past three years.
The two women were among 37 pairs of mixed-gender student hunters of all ages and their qualified mentors who took part in the mandatory four-hour pre-hunt course March 31 at Milford Hills Hunt Club near Johnson Creek.
The special course, co-sponsored by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the National Wild Turkey Federation, is offered free to anyone who has never hunted before and is limited by the availability of qualified mentors and places to hunt.
According to Dave Walz, DNR warden for Jefferson and southern Dodge counties who oversaw the program, "This is a way to introduce individuals to hunting without them having to invest a lot of money and time to find out if they want to continue in the sport.
"This is a one-time, one-weekend program. No license is required, no age restrictions and you don't need a hunter's ed certificate."
"One of the biggest problems we're faced with," said Scott Kirchoff, Watertown area hunter safety instructor and organizer of the Milford Hills Hunt Club program, "is finding qualified mentors and places to hunt. There's just too many things going on this time of year. Having this program one week earlier than the Youth Turkey Hunt helped because a lot of otherwise would-be mentors want to be with their own kids during the Youth Hunt."
For more informaation, call Kirchoff, (920) 206-0095.
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- Not for lack of trying
- Here ducky, ducky …
- Oh, deer
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