NWTF, Cabela’s celebrate restoration of turkey population in Wisconsin
NWTF member and Cabela’s events coordinator Randy Christensen was one of several speakers during the dedication at the Cabela’s store in Prairie du Chien on Saturday, July 27. (Steve Van Kooten/Courier Press)
The bronze cairns were placed on the Cabela's property and unveiled to the public on Saturday.
By Steve Van Kooten
Outside the Cabela’s store in Prairie du Chien, donors, spectators and members of the National Wild Turkey Federation gathered to get the first look at three bronze cairns that will stand next to the flagpoles in front of the store’s entrance.
“We’re dedicating this event to the restoration of the wild turkey in Wisconsin because the it didn’t come about by God putting them here,” said Tom Glines, an NWTF director of development. “We had to trap them and move them all around the state.”
The event, which took place on Saturday, July 27, at 2 p.m., is the second dedication ever done by the NWTF. The first happened last year in Caledonia, Minnesota. Dedications can be done for restoration projects, tributes to recognize people or events.
The three cairns will be a permanent fixture outside Cabela’s, a major supporter of the NWTF. Two of the cairns acknowledge donors and contributions that support the organizations mission, while the other details the bird’s complex history in Wisconsin.
Glines said, “The Mission statement is the conservation of the wild turkey, and the preservation of our hunting heritage. We are one of the only conservation groups that include hunting in our mission.”
Zac Morton, NWTF director of development, said Wisconsin’s restoration efforts, which had a checkered history between the 1950’s and 1970’s, turned a corner in the early 1980’s. In 1979, there were 410 wild turkeys in Wisconsin, but the population grew after turkeys were imported from Missouri, and by 1983, the first spring harvest took place. The first fall harvest followed in 1989. By 1999, there were more than 300,000 turkeys in the state, and that numbers has increased to more than one million.
According to Morton, the explosion of Wisconsin’s turkey population led to an inevitable increase in hunters, which went from 2,200 in the 1980’s to more than 200,000. He credited the work of the NWTF and other partnerships through out the state, including the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
“Tens of thousands of people — young and old — have gotten exposure to the life-changing experience of the outdoors,” said Morton.
“It’s a testament to the partnerships throughout the state,” said Sam Jonas, WDNR wildlife species section specialist. “We regularly provide top five harvests in the entire nation.” In 2024, Wisconsin recorded 50,000 harvested birds.
The NWTF board and speakers thanked their donors, and the organization received $40,000 in donations accrued from banquets and other fundraising events in Wisconsin.
Along with Glines, other speakers at the dedication included Randy Christensen, events coordinator for the Prairie du Chien Cabela’s; Al May, Wisconsin Chapter State Board president; and Rob Keck, former NWTF CEO, among others.
Glines acknowledged the hard work of the Bluff Country Long Spurs, the local chapter of the NWTF, for their work to make the event happen and get the cairns installed.
