Imperfect timing

I had to make a difficult and painful phone call on Friday. I was scheduled to go turkey hunting in Missouri this  week with Bishop Joe Charron and his friend, Joe Lane, a Minnesota native who lives in Des Moines, Iowa, and invites Bishop Charron down to his 220-acre piece of property nearly every spring to hunt  turkeys.

All week, I had been feeling like the timing wasn't right for this trip, for several reasons, including a heavy workload and a persistent chest cold that wasn't going away. So, on Friday, I called Bishop Charron to say I wouldn't be able to come down. I was really looking forward to going, but I felt staying home was the right thing to do. Bishop Charron agreed and we talked about rescheduling for next year.

However, that does not mean I had nothing to do with turkey hunting over the weekend. On the contrary, I went down to Goodhue County on Saturday to do some preseason scouting for my Minnesota hunt, which begins May 10. I took my brother, Paul, who has hunted this property several times and got a bird each time, including last spring.

We pulled in and were preparing to walk up the hill to his favorite spot when we heard two toms gobbling at the top of the hill. When we reached  the top, one of the gobblers was out in the field and ran off when he saw us. We heard the other one gobbling in the woods and I'm pretty sure I spotted him as well. Needless to say, I was pretty excited. The first day of my hunt is on a Sunday and Paul might join me. That would be fun.

Then, when we got back, we had a wild game cookout at my house, featuring grilled wild turkey and elk burgers. I had half a breast left from my Wisconsin gobbler that I shot last year and it tasted delicious. The elk came courtesy of a friend of ours who had shot one a year-and-a-half ago. Both the turkey and the elk were delicious. Then, yesterday, I used another portion of the wild turkey breast to make our family's favorite recipe -- wild turkey/wild rice casserole. It was fabulous, as usual. I'm hoping to put more turkey in the freezer this spring so we can make the casserole again.

The birds appear to be very active this spring in Minnesota and I'm optimistic about my hunt in two weeks. Just three days after my Minnesota season opens, I go to Wisconsin for a hunt there with my oldest son, Joe, and my Dad. It should be a fun week!

Young turkey hunters enjoy success

A special youth turkey hunt was held over the weekend in various locations throughout the state. More than 300 first-time turkey hunters from 12-17 were drawn in a special lottery and went on guided hunts with volunteers who are local members of the National Wild Turkey Federation.

When I read about the hunt, I made some phone calls to friends with sons who qualified. Two dads ended up sending in applications for their sons and all three of their boys got picked. I went to high school with both fathers -- Bernie Schwab and Marty Willard -- and we graduated from Totino-Grace High School in 1979. Bernie's son, Dan, hunted near Red Wing and Marty's two sons, Jonathan and Simeon, went to Belle Plaine.

The first to connect on a gobbler was Jonathan, hunting with guide Dan Townsend, who attends Our Lady of the Prairie in Belle Plaine. Two big gobblers came in at about 6:20 a.m. and Jonathan shot one of them. Not too far away, Simeon had a close encounter with a tom later that morning, but the bird would not come up over a small rise to give him a shot.

Meanwhile, Dan Schwab had to wait until the next day. He was out of town on a mission trip and did not get back until Saturday afternoon, leaving him just one day to get his bird. The time factor, plus some rainy weather on Sunday, gave him and his guide a sense of urgency.

They moved around quite a bit to find some active birds and finally struck up a gobbler at about 9 a.m. The bird came to within 30 yards and Dan made the shot. His bird weighed 23 1/4 pounds. He used my 12-gauge, which we had sighted in a few weeks before the trip. I have killed birds all the way out to 55 yards, so I was confident the gun would work well for Dan, and it did.

At about the same time Dan killed his bird, Simeon and his guide, Chad Selnow, were trying to call in a group of toms, seven jakes and one mature gobbler. All eight birds ended up coming in and Simeon was going to try to take the mature bird, but it was so close to another jake that he couldn't shoot for fear of killing both birds. So, he looked and saw a jake separated from the others and he took it.

I couldn't be happier for the boys. And, I'm very grateful to the guides who worked hard to give the boys such a great experience in the woods. Many of the guides are landowners who allow the youth to hunt on their land. I think that's very generous, considering that this is land that they themselves hunt. My hats off to all who were involved in this special hunt. I hope to be a part of it someday. Next year, my son, William, will be 12 and eligible for this hunt. I would love for him to have this opportunity.

Wild turkeys in Venezuela?

One week ago today, on Good Friday, I participated in the longest and most unique religious service of my life. It's called "Via Cruces Grande" and it took place in the City of San Felix, Venezuela, home of the archdiocesan mission parish, Jesucristo Resucitado.

Starting at the church, a group of about 300, myself included, walked in procession through all 11 neighborhoods -- or barrios -- of the parish. It lasted five and a half hours and covered several miles. It would have been hard enough in moderate climate, but was all the more difficult in the tropical heat, with temperatures reaching 100 degrees.

About halfway through the event, I was jolted by the sight of a wild turkey in someone's yard. Actually, I use the term "yard" loosely because there is very little grass in front of many of the houses, this one included. Yet, there was the large tom, in full strut and gobbling at us as we walked by.

Naturally, that got me to thinking about the upcoming turkey hunting season. Minnesota's opening day was Wednesday, with my five-day season beginning May 10. However, I will start turkey hunting on Monday, April 27 in Missouri with Bishop Joe Charron of the Diocese of Des Moines. I met him last spring when I came down with one of our reporters, Maria Wiering, to do a story on the diocese before Bishop Richard Pates was ordained its new bishop.

Bishop Charron and I discovered a mutual interest in turkey hunting and he invited me to join him for a hunt in Missouri this spring. I will drive down to Des Moines on Sunday, April 26 and then we will go from there to a farm owned by a friend of his south of Kansas City. I'm not sure what to expect. The turkey reproduction has been down in Missouri the last few years, but there are still plenty of birds around. I hope to have a face-to-face encounter with one of them.

Meanwhile, I'm continuing to sort through all of the pictures I shot down in Venezuela. I probably shot about 1,500 to 2,000 photos total and have had a chance to go through them this week. Three from Holy Week appear in this week's edition of The Catholic Spirit, plus I have put more into a photo gallery.

I have two more things planned in terms of coverage of my trip. First, I will write my upcoming monthly outdoors column on a fishing trip on the Caroni River. Second, I will put together a feature on the mission in Venezuela, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2010. Stay tuned!

Next stop, Venezuela

I have been spending the week tying up some loose ends before I leave Sunday for two weeks in Venezuela to visit the archdiocesan mission there, run by Father Greg Schaffer, a priest from this archdiocese who has been on assignment there for 11 years.

I will spend Holy Week and Easter there, which should be very interesting. Catholics in Venezuela do much more elaborate things during Holy Week than we do. They will have several processions throughout the week, with some lasting four or five hours. Then, the Easter celebration begins early Sunday morning and continues throughout the day.

Several months ago, Father Greg invited me to come down and take pictures of the mission, which will have its 40th anniversary in 2010. I asked if my wife, Julie, could come with me. When he said yes, I accepted. She will go down for a week, while I'll stay for two. She's really excited about the chance to see the mission and the twin port cities of San Felix and Puerto Ordaz. As a photojournalist, I'm looking forward to the photographic possibilities.

We'll be packing feverishly tomorrow to get ready for the flight down to Caracas, after which we'll board another plane for a short flight to the mission. We've tried to take care of things this week like getting our tax return filed. Also, last night, I picked up my bass from the taxidermist and brought it into my office today. It's nice to be able to look at it as I begin to think about this year's fishing season.

Speaking of fishing, Father Greg said I should have a chance to do some fishing while I'm down in Venezuela. San Felix, where the mission is located, is at the intersection of two rivers, and Father Greg has found someone who will take me fishing. It will be quite different from anything I have experienced up here and I'm looking forward to it. I plan to write about it in my April outdoors column. Stay tuned and pray for me!

Bagging turkey tags

This week, the state of Wisconsin started selling surplus wild turkey tags that didn't sell in the regular lottery. After computer crashes the last two years, officials revamped the system this year.

I'm happy to report that it worked just fine. This morning at 10 a.m., surplus tags for my area, Zone 4, went on sale at 10 a.m. I bought one each for my two oldest sons, Joe and Andy, plus an extra one for me. That will allow me to shoot two birds during my season, which takes place May 13-17. Zone 4 sales will continue until midnight, with Zones 5 and 6 going on sale tomorrow (Friday). Then, any remaining tags from all zones go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday.

I don't want to be greedy, but on one farm that we hunt, we have called in multiple gobblers two years in a row. This time, I'll be able to take a second bird if I want to. Another bonus is that the boys' grandpa, Bob Guditis, is coming into town in late May and says he'd like to buy a tag and hunt with us. That would be great.

It could be an exciting spring for turkey hunting. I start off hunting with Bishop Joe Charron of Des Moines in Missouri in late April. I met him last spring when I went down to Iowa with one of our reporters, Maria Wiering, to do a story on the Diocese of Des Moines after Bishop Richard Pates was assigned there. I got a chance to talk to Bishop Charron and found out we both like turkey hunting. He said he goes to Missouri every year with a good friend of his, Joe Lane, and would talk to Joe about having me hunt with them this spring.

Well, a few weeks ago, Joe Lane called me to give me the dates of the trip and invite me to come along. He owns 220 acres south of Kansas City and said he's got a good bird population there. So, I'm excited about the trip.

It's got to be better than my last trip, which I took two years ago with Father Joe Classen near St. Louis. In three days, we only heard gobbling one morning, and that was just for about 15-20 minutes, then nothing after that. The birds did not respond to our calls at all and we both got skunked. However, I very much enjoyed meeting Father Joe and spending a few days in the woods with him.

After I get back from Missouri, I hunt Minnesota for five days starting May 10. That overlaps with my Wisconsin hunt, which starts May 13. I hope to get a Minnesota bird before then and then try for two in Wisconsin.

In all honesty, I'd be happy if I got one bird from those three hunts. If I take more than that, praise God!

Double bonus

Some good news came on Saturday for my two oldest sons, Joe and Andy. First, they both got their youth tags for elk and deer hunting in Montana this fall. The state issues them to youth under age 18 and the boys got them for the second year in a row. Like last year, we will be going out west the week of Thanksgiving.

Both Montana residents and nonresidents are eligible for the youth licenses, provided they have a resident sponsor. Their grandfather, Bob Guditis, lives in Great Falls and filled out the necessary paperwork and sent it to us. The tags went on sale March 1 and were available first come, first serve. He was concerned they might get taken in a short period of time, especially when the state reduced the number available this year.

So, it was a nice surprise to get them in the mail on Saturday. An even bigger surprise was when Joe got word that same day that he had won first place in an essay contest sponsored by the Minnesota chapter of Safari Club International. His prize will be a $2,000 trip to a youth hunting camp in Texas at Indianhead Ranch in Del Rio. Part of the package is a chance to shoot an exotic animal at the camp. Joe is very excited about the trip.

The Safari Club started its Apprentice Hunter Program in 1992 as a way to help educate and train youth in outdoor skills. Topics covered include environmental education, wildlife management and conservation. I suspect this camp will produce wildlife managers someday. Perhaps, Joe will be one of them.

Helping young hunters

I got a chance to do a little turkey tutoring last night. My son Andy's friend, Jake Druffner, spent the night and I was able to help him learn the art of turkey calling.

Jake is a very serious outdoorsman and he will go on his first spring turkey hunt this year on his family's land near Hudson, Wis. I demonstrated a variety of turkey calls and was able to help him develop his technique.

Over the last 20 years of turkey hunting in Minnesota and other states, I have become somewhat of a call freak. I carry about eight or 10 turkey calls in my vest when I'm out in the woods and I like to use many of them. Sometimes, a turkey won't respond to one call and will go nuts over another. Don't ask me why, but I have witnessed this phenomenon firsthand and other hunters have, too.

That, in fact, is what makes the game so intriguing. And, it's what makes variety so important, not just in terms of having different types of calls, but also in terms of being able to make all of the different turkey sounds.

Every hunter will hear from the experts how important the basic yelp of a hen turkey is. But, other calls, especially the softer ones like clucks and purrs, can be just as important, especially when turkeys are close or if they're not responding to yelps. I remember the first Minnesota longbeard I shot back in 2004. He would gobble intermittently, but never right after I yelped.

He was getting closer, but I could not tell if he was coming to my call or not. He only gobbled three or four times on his way in and always at least a minute or more after I called.

Finally, he started gobbling like crazy behind me and to my left. He was only about 40 or 50 yards away from me, but out of view. He was walking back and forth and gobbling continuosly, but he wouldn't come any closer. Finally, I picked up my slate call and did some soft clucks and purrs. He went nuts at the sounds and walked to the edge of the field in front of me. I saw him in full strut to my left and he started walking to the right toward my decoys.

Just when he was just about straight in front of me, he came out of strut for a brief moment and lifted his head up slightly. I fired quickly and brought down him down. He ended up being the largest bird I have ever shot. He weighed 24.98 pounds and is only the second bird over 20 pounds that I have taken. Last year, I got a Wisconsin gobbler that weighed 20.5 pounds.

I'll never forget that Minnesota bird and how I was able to pull him into range with the soft calls. I don't think enough turkey hunters realize the effectiveness of softer calls. They also can fall into the trap of over calling.

Hunters should remember two things about gobblers: 1. Their hearing is so good that they can pick up even the softest of calls most of the time, except on windy days, and, 2. Gobblers are used to the hens coming to them and hens usually yelp so they can find out where the gobbler is and come to him to breed. So, when you shut up, it can make the gobbler think the hen has lost interest, which may make him come over to investigate and check out what happened to that hen.

The tricky part about this is it can take a long time for the gobbler to get curious enough to leave where he is -- sometimes an hour, or two, or even three. My brother, Paul, is very patient when it comes to sitting and waiting for a turkey to come in. Consequently, he has shot more birds than anyone else in our family. In fact, he rarely gets skunked. I used to wonder why he always did so well. Then, it finally occurred to me that he is willing to wait as long as it takes for a turkey to come in.

Nearly every hunting season, his patience is rewarded. Sadly for him, he did not get drawn in the Minnesota lottery this year, so he will not be going turkey hunting, even though he has a chance to buy a surplus license, which go on sale today at 5 p.m. for those who did not get picked in the lottery. Although Paul will not be out in the woods this spring, I hope to bring some of his patience with me as I attempt to pursue gobblers in both Minnesota and Wisconsin.