On Jan. 21, 1976 the first flight of 29 Missouri wild turkeys landed at the La Crosse airport. It was met by about a dozen people, including Nicklaus and wildlife biologist Carl Batha, local rod-and-gun club members and UW-Madison professor Tom Yuill, an expert in wildlife diseases.

Yuill took a blood sample from and inspected each turkey. After the birds were pronounced healthy, Nicklaus, Batha and a crew of other DNR staff and volunteers drove the birds to Vernon County and released them on the farm of Butch and Iva Lee Baumgartner near Romance.

More turkey transfers followed. The success is now seen in all 72 Wisconsin counties.

Wisconsin started a spring turkey hunting season in 1983 and a fall season in 1989. By 2000, the DNR had earned a reputation for one of the leading turkey management programs in the nation. Wisconsin regulations spread hunting pressure over time and space and have helped reduce hunter conflicts, improve hunting quality and protect the turkey population, all while providing ample hunting opportunity.

It’s become common for the Wisconsin spring turkey harvest to be in the top three in the nation.

Pendleton, who was a UW freshman in 1979 when the flamingos were planted, hatched the idea for a wild turkey flock on the hill.

“I’ve always thought that in celebration of one of the anniversaries of the 1976 successful reintroduction of wild turkeys to Wisconsin a group should get together and cover Bascom Hill with gobbler and hen turkey decoys,” Pendleton wrote to me in October 2017. “Would be even better [and more germane to Wisconsin] than the 1979 covering of Bascom Hill with the pink flamingos.”

He and I corresponded about it over the years and it came together for the 50th due to the NWTF’s expert and enthusiastic staff and volunteers.

When I suggested it to Al May, state chapter chairman, his immediate response was: “Let’s do something!”

Scott Chandler, NWTF regional director, and Brian Dalsing, Wisconsin NWTF board member, took on lead roles in the planning and execution. More than a dozen other NWTF staff and volunteers pitched in.

Decoy manufacturer Avian X donated 50 dekes for the event, most of which were raffled off at NWTF banquets to help sponsor the 50th celebration and will be used in future years at Wisconsin learn to hunt turkey events.

The donated decoys arrived in an NWTF trailer wrapped with turkey images and information on the organization’s “Roots to Roost” program, a Midwestern initiative to provide landowners and others with training, tools and resources for forest management, prescribed fire and conservation best practices.

Those donated decoys were joined by dozens of others brought by attendees to help adorn Bascom Hill.

After group photos, the celebration headed indoors to UW Memorial Union for lunch, speeches and raffles.

Award winning turkey call makers Heather van Doorn of Glen Flora and Dave Constantine of Durand donated hand-carved and painted turkey calls.

Van Doorn’s wild turkey hen was made of basswood and nested on a northern Wisconsin red oak burl and a maple base, accompanied by a hand-turned red oak pot call including pyrography art and a bit of color depicting an alert hen with a spring trillium flower.

Inspiration for the call was “based on my appreciation for the wild turkey hen and her dedication which is unwavering for ensuring the continued existence and survival of the wild turkey population,” van Doorn said.

Pendleton, who earned a history degree from UW and a law degree from the University of Minnesota, said the turkey reintroduction is “a great example of the Wisconsin way.”

“We’ve got the university, a private conservation organization and the DNR, which I’ve always thought is the governmental agency that’s closest to the people, in this tremendous success story,” Pendleton said. “Everybody should know about it and take inspiration from it.”

Nicklaus and Nelson, the retired DNR biologists who were blazing the reintroduction trail in 1976, were humbled by the attention.

Fifty years have passed and the signs of their success are visible daily around the state.

“Working on the turkey reintroduction was one of the greatest privileges of my life,” Nicklaus said. “I hope it helps people realize what good can happen and also to make sure these birds, and other native species, will never get wiped out again.”

Here’s a look at May 30, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from May 30 drawing

01-27-35-44-52, Powerball: 12, Power Play: 2

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Winning Pick 3 numbers from May 30 drawing

Midday: 9-6-3

Evening: 3-8-5

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Winning Pick 4 numbers from May 30 drawing

Midday: 1-5-3-1

Evening: 3-7-8-8

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Winning All or Nothing numbers from May 30 drawing

Midday: 02-04-05-07-08-11-12-15-17-18-22

Evening: 02-04-06-08-12-13-14-16-19-21-22

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Winning Badger 5 numbers from May 30 drawing

06-15-22-29-30

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Winning SuperCash numbers from May 30 drawing

07-12-22-23-24-37, Doubler: N

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Winning Megabucks numbers from May 30 drawing

04-16-22-34-46-48

Check Megabucks payouts and previous drawings here.

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Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize

• Prizes up to $599: Can be claimed at any Wisconsin Lottery retailer.
• Prizes from $600 to $199,999: Can be claimed in person at a Lottery Office. By mail, send the signed ticket and a completed claim form available on the Wisconsin Lottery claim page to: Prizes, PO Box 777 Madison, WI 53774.
• Prizes of $200,000 or more: Must be claimed in person at the Madison Lottery office. Call the Lottery office prior to your visit: 608-261-4916.