An Outdoorsman’s Journal

By: Mark Walters

Dodge County Youth Turkey Hunt

Hello friends: This week I took part in Wisconsin’s youth turkey hunt. I spent about 48 hours with some very fun kids in Dodge County near Burnett on my good friends Rod Bensley’s and Wendy Vicks’ 212 acres of pure paradise.

Friday, March 11 High 14, low 6 windchill minus 23 There would be three kids hunting the connected properties and all three of them were very into it. Today I met Conner Thiede, who is 10 and would be taking part in his second turkey hunt and I would be his mentor. Eleven-year-old Carysn Thiede would be hunting with her dad, Tyler, and both Carysn and Conner attend Mayville Elementary School.

You may remember that I have written a couple of stories about Rod having terminal rectal cancer and, in reality, Rod has outlived his diagnosis by about six months. Nothing slows this guy down and before he passes, he has made the decision with Wendy to build a new house on their property and Tyler is the ramrod running the show on the project.

Our other hunter would be 11-year-old Hunter Mass, who is in fifth grade at Waupun Intermediate School. Hunter would be teamed up with his father, Nick, and this would be his second hunting season.

All three of these kids had the day off from school as it was Good Friday, and it was pretty obvious to see that they were into the hunt as we set out blinds and explored the property.

Saturday, April 16 High 40, low 23 Tyler and Carysn would be on an adjacent property owned by Darwin Berndt, who along with another neighbor, Randy Henkyn, had opened up their land as long as it was just for kids. This morning Conner and I were making the hike at 5 a.m. and it was cold as it seems to be every year in April these days. As soon as we were in the blind, we could hear five toms gobbling from their roosts and it was game on. Reality struck when the toms flew down. We could not see them and they headed in the opposite direction. Tyler and Carysn had a bit of a crazy show from the get-go as a flock of turkeys came from behind and a large tom got in range, but blind/turkey positioning did not allow a shot. Nick and Hunter did not see any birds but had some gobbling close by. My goal in these situations is to teach and to be fun. We had a pond close by and our world was nonstop duck, goose and deer action. One experience that Conner witnessed was a pair of wood ducks that were peacefully swimming in the pond. A stray drake wood duck flew into the pond, beat the bajeezs out of the drake that was with the hen, and the hen kept hiding on him by going underwater.

I had told Conner that when the toms we had heard from the roosts got bored with their hens we may be able get a visit. About 9, we truly were having a good time when out of the corner of my eye I spotted a very large gobbler heading our way. I had hen decoys in two spots in the picked cornfield that we were hunting, and he was not super interested.

It kind of looked like he was going to vanish, so I told Conner I was going to try to call him in. I gave it a try with my dad’s Quaker Boy “Little One Sider” box call and that’s all she wrote. The tom saw a jake/hen setup that I had and, kind of like the wood duck story, wanted to kick some butt. There was a very large jake with the tom and it kept getting in the way. The gobbler was close and should have went to heaven, but a young hunter had a heck of an experience and his quarry escaped.

Toward dark, Carysn was hunting with her dad and had a couple of dozen turkeys give her quite the show as they were fighting, but once again the bird did not make it to the oven.

I had a blast with these kids and was really impressed with Hunter and Nick as they quietly sat in their blind for nine hours without a heater.

For myself, there was lots to think about. Several friends were hunting with kids, and we did some texting. It seems the .410 is becoming very popular and some birds were harvested with it.

One friend paid $73 for five shells. With Conner we occupied ourselves with a deer, turkey and coyote spotting contest and watching the non-stop show called nature and, of course, I pretended I was a crazy man, and it seems I was rather convincing.

Get kids outside! Sunset

Ten year old Conner Thiede of Mayville putting out turkey decoys

Eleven year old Carysn Thiede enjoying her time in the turkey blind with her dad, Tyler.

The memories created on hunts like this last a lifetime!