I don't know what's going on but there seems to be a strange lack of wild turkeys around my area. I usually have a lot of turkeys around but haven't seen even 1 turkey since last Deer season. Starting to wonder if something bad has happened to them like the Bird Flu or something. Just wondering what the population is like in your area.
Any Wild Turkeys?
- Thread starter nekvermont
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BearBiologist
Hunter
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2021
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- 2,984
Check with your local state bird biologist. Here in eastern WA, populations seem good.
Biggfoot44
Blackhawk
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2009
- Messages
- 829
As usual around here .
powder smoke
Hawkeye
Here in Maine I have been seeing them pretty regularly. Toms should be on the move soon!
Plenty of gobblers here in Central California, minus two toms. We went out this morning and were able to call in three close enough to take the two largest. Nothing to write home about size-wise but the thrill of the hunt says it all. Smoked turkey breasts on the menu!
I saw a flock of at least 25 here in Iowa two days ago. Foraging on a harvested corn field.
I could have sniped a few. They were only about 100 to 150 yards away. But of course, that would be illegal, as they are no longer in season. And, I was looking through the scope on my heavy barrel 10/22. So it wouldn't have been legal anyway.
But I absolutely could have harvested a few...
I could have sniped a few. They were only about 100 to 150 yards away. But of course, that would be illegal, as they are no longer in season. And, I was looking through the scope on my heavy barrel 10/22. So it wouldn't have been legal anyway.
But I absolutely could have harvested a few...
Did you use your new shotgun?
They are constantly roaming through our yard in South Yarmouth on Cape Cod.
Do you have bobcats? Do/did the turkeys frequent areas of ankle to knee high grass?
I watched the scenario over 2 weeks as a single mature bobcat caught and ate 6 of 7 gobblers that had been foraging grasshoppers in one of my hayfields. Around here turkeys don't gobble except when in wide open bare crop fields due to the bobcat depredation. The gobblers sound off on the roost and then fly to an open field where they can see a cat coming.
I watched the scenario over 2 weeks as a single mature bobcat caught and ate 6 of 7 gobblers that had been foraging grasshoppers in one of my hayfields. Around here turkeys don't gobble except when in wide open bare crop fields due to the bobcat depredation. The gobblers sound off on the roost and then fly to an open field where they can see a cat coming.
43north
Bearcat
None right here since a pack of coyotes came through in December. 2+ miles down the road in either direction, there are flocks of 8-25 seen daily.
bobski
Hunter
55 in my back yard in ct.
ronto
Hunter
I'm hearing a lot of gobbles around here. It's starting to warm up so they should be on the move soon.
OP
We have plenty of bobcats and the other usual predators but I can't imagine they would have such a effect on our flocks of turkeys. A couple of days ago my wife and I took a ride down through the Conneticut river valley and came back up on the NH side. There are a lot of corn fields down there and we usually see a lot of turkeys foraging this time of year, we didn't see any.
Last winter the coyotes killed 2 turkeys at the end of our driveway, they were using the intersection of the roads and the high snowbanks to ambush them from behind.
I'll try to contact someone from the state and see what they have to say.
Last winter the coyotes killed 2 turkeys at the end of our driveway, they were using the intersection of the roads and the high snowbanks to ambush them from behind.
I'll try to contact someone from the state and see what they have to say.
Thumbcocker
Blackhawk
One flock in our woods. Whole rack of them at the liquor store.
bookemdano
Single-Sixer
Like these in front of my house: You can see my garage on the hill. I keep corn and scratch feed out for
them and my deer.
Dano
them and my deer.
Dano
Bob Wright
Hawkeye
The river bottom lands around Memphis in Southwest Tennessee are plentiful with wild turkeys. In fact, the population here allowed wildlife biologits to transplant flocks of them in several parts of the country to re-establish flocks. My niece's home joins the Wolf River Conservancy's land, and she has turkeys in or near her yard.
Bob Wright
Bob Wright
It's easy to answer. Cheaters start baiting and poaching them. Then the predators learn what the cheaters know. Pretty soon the population of easy food noticeably diminishes.
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Texgun
Bearcat
Maybe the pigs are eating their eggs.
JPGLSG1234
Blackhawk
Here in east central GA we had several flocks wonder up from the river through the back woods, could sit and have coffee and watch the show. For the past couple of years have seen zero. I'll have to check with the game and fish folks and find out what is going on.
Of course I did! I was sad that I only took one shot with that beauty. Not that I wanted to take more shots at the bird, but I did want to squeeze off a few more rounds! Can't hardly wait for dove season followed by quail. Might get a chance at some chukars this year...
Just a few of them on our side yard.
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It would take a pretty dumb coyote or bobcat not to figure that out.
Rook
Blackhawk
They know when it's hunting season. After the season closes they're every where.
ss
ss
Guy across the road raised 13 and released them, all Eastern birds, just to see if he could restart them here, this year we had 30 come up on our back forty. These came right up to the back deck day before yesterday. Good to see them out and about again. I do not hunt them, they come to eat the duck food and scratch around for bugs and worms.
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bookemdano
Single-Sixer
You mean like this:
When you gotta go, you gotta go! These 3 hens didn't seem to be impressed with Wiley's bathroom
etiquette. This was taken the same morning as the other one. I do my best to keep the coyote
population down but I can't be everywhere all the time.
Here's Miss Kitty I had to run off a year ago. She had kittens and I needed my squirrel population
curtailed so I let her hang around for a couple months but when she got so bold as to lay on my
front porch to ambush squirrels or doves, I had to run her off. Emptied a full mag of BB's on full
auto into her butt to run her off but that didn't last. Finally had to scatter her face with gravel from
firing a 9mm round into the gravel in front of her. She took the hint that time. Seen her on the
property a couple times after that but she would detour around the yard.
Dano
reuben_j_cogburn
Buckeye
There were two here the other day..... I woke up the next morning on the floor with a screaming hangover, and they were layin on the floor next to me.... I evidently killed them both.........
"I'll try to contact someone from the state and see what they have to say."
Well, you can certainly try that but I'll tell what the response will be before you even ask. You'll be told this is a 'natural occurrence' as populations of both predators and prey fluctuate. They won't admit that a well practiced bobcat will concentrate it's efforts in one area until turkeys are either killed out or just don't go there. If this is a feeding area, the turkeys will be negatively impacted for months.
Bobcats are far more efficient predators of turkeys than coyotes but fortunately for the turkeys, the bobcat populations are much lower. Coyotes are a 'chase and catch' predator while bobcats have patience and will wait in ambush for long periods until the prey is close enough.
Well, you can certainly try that but I'll tell what the response will be before you even ask. You'll be told this is a 'natural occurrence' as populations of both predators and prey fluctuate. They won't admit that a well practiced bobcat will concentrate it's efforts in one area until turkeys are either killed out or just don't go there. If this is a feeding area, the turkeys will be negatively impacted for months.
Bobcats are far more efficient predators of turkeys than coyotes but fortunately for the turkeys, the bobcat populations are much lower. Coyotes are a 'chase and catch' predator while bobcats have patience and will wait in ambush for long periods until the prey is close enough.
OP
I emailed the biologist Mon. Morning and haven't heard back yet, I'm not holding my breath.
I just found this info about the Avian Influenza in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. I hope it hasn't gotten in our wild turkey population.
https://vtfishandwildlife.com/learn...etin?msclkid=f7303d3bab6d11ec9d32ae74c21157c1
A couple of years ago we had a flock of about 60 turkeys around here. It was quite a sight watching them making their way through the back field chasing and eating grasshoppers.
