Habits of the quary

[ncboman]

I guess I just don't know all that much about the habits of the wild turkey because several days this spring I just could not find them even though they were in good numbers throughout the area and sign was abundant.

Is there a source for reliable information about the daily habits of the birds, how large an area they roam, their spring routine, etc?

I know deer very well. At any given time I can usually go find one within minutes. Wild turkeys are a different story and I'd like to learn more about them.

[BillCartwright]

NC,
I don't know of any press that really depict an in-depth view, but the NWTF site has had some decent articles in the past. There are certainly a different breed and you'd think they would be easier to find than a whitetail. I have a particular property that will load up in the fall/winter with birds for the place to be totally void come April. I mean, not 1 freakin bird. I've learned that a turkey's range may vary 5-6 miles between fall and spring and believe it.

I had the fortune of killing a radio collared bird a few years ago and was provided the data. This particular bird was only about 1 1/2 miles from its capture site, but just more evidence of their movement. The study revealed several birds that moved 6-7 miles from where collared. During the summer around these parts, turkey almost become ghosts. You just don't see them.

[ncboman]

I was reading this again and happened to remember a morning in Illinois several years ago.

You sometimes see things sittin up trees and this particular pretty Nov morning I watched 2 hens work along the woodline staying just inside the woods. They scratched and putted their way on by me passing perhaps 30yds at the closest point. They went on along a little and entered a pocket of very thick stuff perhaps 20 to 30 yds square and I lost sight of them.

Well, I had a pretty good view all around it and the field beyond and kept my eye out but didn't see them anymore. Couple of hours later I heard pheasant hunters blowing a dogwhistle and coming down the field edge from the direction the turkeys were headed.

They came on along, one inside the woods and one in the field, with a very well trained setter working the area between them as they came on.

You know the deal. As soon as I heard the hunters coming, I went on full alert as I've often seen deer move before and behind bird hunters. They worked on up to the pocket of thicker stuff and sent the dog thru several times without any indication of game and they moved on around the field edge and got out of sight.

After a while I heard them shoot a time or two and shortly a doe came bouncing across the field from that direction and entered the woods right into that thick spot and just stood there for the longest time.

I had no intention of shooting her but I was watching her none the less. Imagine my surprize when those two hens got to puttin and came back out of the thick and worked on down and over the break of the hill in front of me.

They had been in there the whole time in spite of a bird dog going thru it 2 or 3 times and two hunters in orange within 20 yds!!!

I've never heard tell of anything like that but I saw it with my own eyes. I can see em ducking the hunters easy enough, but I still do not see how that dog didn't roust em.

I remember thinkin turkeys must not run every time something comes up in spite of what I'd seen field birds do.

Those turkeys in Md often just couldn't be found till 11:00 or so. It's almost like they knew the hunting hours because I saw many birds when I was walking around afternoons lookin at deer sign.

[BillCartwright]

I've often had birds around me deer hunting during the early season or hours. Seems they get into a place they feel comfortable and just loaf around.

While I was in Nebraska this spring we were driving back into our hunting area and came to an alfalfa field that had 3 huge toms standing in the dirt road. At this point we were about 150 yards from them. We stopped the truck and 2 of the birds took off running. A 3rd simply walked out into the Alfalfa, which was not all that high. Maybe 8-10 inches. We began to drive toward the turkey. As we did the turkey stopped and started lowering itself in the alfalfa. We got about 30 yards from the tom and stopped. He was clearly visible to us but he thought he was hid. The wind was blowing his feathers around and all, but he kept his head down. We started to drive off again and when we did he finally jumped up and ran off.

I have also seen birds fly up into trees while fishing during the summer or deer hunting during the fall during midday and sit there for hours. I think their patterns are much like deer outside of the breeding season, they key in on food sources and their activity is dictated by their stomachs and not the need to breed or secure their place in the pecking order.