Western Gobblers Henned Up, Lone Toms Seeking in Midwest

Quite a few toms in the Midwest are lonely, especially during midday. Meanwhile, Western toms still seem to be pretty henned up. Image by Tes Jolly.

Work and a lack of tags kept me from hunting this past week. But I observed gobblers, jakes and hens every day around home in central Wisconsin. I’ve noticed that the jakes are paying special interest in hens, and they’ve been pushing away solo toms. I also watched two toms fight really hard. In my travels, I saw two pairs of adult gobblers feeding alone in fields around midmorning.

Solo hens are commonly moving about at any time of day. All indications are that it’s late season, and most of the hens have been bred. The toms are looking hard for hens to breed. Be sure to hunt the late morning and midday, when toms are most likely to be alone and seeking.

DON’T MISS: Why Do Velvet Racks Look So Big?

Melissa Bachman, of Winchester Deadly Passion, reported similar observations in South Dakota. “Groups are starting to break up,” she said. “We’re seeing more and more lone toms running around. For decoys, we’ve been using a jake and two hens. We’ve had toms come in and fight the jake.”

Scott Kuhn, of Deer Meadows Outfitters in the Nebraska Sandhills, said his hunters are being successful despite somewhat challenging conditions. “The turkey numbers seem to be strong in the Panhandle,” he said. “But due to the mild winter and lack of moisture in spring, the hens are nesting unusually early this year. The birds are strung out, which makes hunting tougher, but the harvest is about the same across the board.”

Speaking of Nebraska, Realtree Editor Will Brantley has been kicking around in the Cornhusker State for the past few days. “This is my 14th spring hunting Nebraska turkeys,” he said. “We hunt on some public ground, and some landowners we’ve gotten to know over the years let us hunt on their ground. The hunting this year has been a bit challenging. There are lots of turkeys, but there's a huge crop of jakes. It’s a great thing, but they’re giving the longbeards fits. I watched a group of six jakes this morning run 600 yards across a field to whip up on a gobbler.

Editor Will Brantley found the Nebraska gobblers henned up over the last few days, so he parked along a field and waited, calling periodically. This gobbler sneaked in silently, and the rest is history. Image courtesy of Will Brantley

“Besides that, the longbeards are very henned up; most of them seem to have groups of five or more hens. So, we're hearing a little roost gobbling, and then it's mostly quiet the rest of the day. But there have been some windows of action. I called up and killed a big bird yesterday evening at about 5 p.m. I'd been sitting on the edge of a field — basically deer hunting for turkeys — and occasionally hitting a shrill glass call. I looked over my shoulder, and he was silently sneaking in behind me.”

DON’T MISS: Changes Coming to Oregon Mule Deer Hunting

Brantley anchored a second Nebraska gobbler Tuesday morning. It was with some hens, and he used the terrain to get within 75 yards before coaxing the gobbler with some strategic calls, which brought the big bird within range. He believes Nebraska’s hunting will only improve as May progresses and the hens leave lonely gobblers on their own. He also said traveling hunters should remember that some of the tagging requirements have changed, and you're now required to call and get a confirmation number for your turkey.

Brad Harris, an expert hunter and game caller, recently traveled from his home in Missouri to Wyoming, where he and friends Gary and Rick dropped some Black Hills Merriam’s gobblers.

“Gobbling on the roost was pretty light,” Harris said. “But it picked up around late morning through midday. The best gobbling was in late afternoon up until the birds roosted. Lots of toms were henned up. Getting in tight and calling aggressively paid off for us.”

And back east in Pennsylvania, Nate Hosie of HeadHunters TV checked in. He said, “Temps were cool during the first week, so the turkey action was a little hit and miss. But the weather and daytime temps are improving and becoming more seasonal. And that has the gobblers acting better and being more responsive to calls and decoys.”

Check Out Our Latest Camo Pattern: Realtree APX

I tried like crazy to get some input from Indiana, but my contacts there didn’t come through before this week’s deadline. Regardless, we have one more week to go with the Northern Region Strut Report, so if you still have tags and will be in the field for the next week or two, be sure to check back here May 20 for the season finale Strut Report. Until then, I’ll be hunting Wisconsin’s Time Period E in Zone 4. Good luck this week.