Wild Turkeys anyone?

[teejk]

My problem with wild turkeys is that they never come around in the summer when the grasshoppers are really bad. We feed sunflower seeds to the birds and that really helps reduce the grasshoppers in our yard, but the garden is not so lucky. Maybe I need to put a bird feeder down there to attract birds. Grasshoppers are smart enough to stay away from high bird populations. I could get some guineas, but then the bobcats, and owls all sit in the woods waiting for the sun to go down so they can raid the guinea roost buffet.

After the hatching process, I don't think you will see many birds in the open (they hug the ditch lines near trees here...the little ones aren't that smart so Mom needs to get them into cover in a hurry). Come winter time they will be visible everywhere (I guess they have the APP that tells them all about legal hunting seasons). Given all that, if you have a bumper crop of grasshoppers like we did, you can be sure that your garden hosts no more than the remote fields where they don't have to worry about "bang" or dogs or other things.

We had a late hatch this year due to weather but I think it must have been a good one because they are everywhere (12" high and up as of now).

 

[jinman]

When we see turkeys, they are almost always in groups of 20 or more and may have chicks. They tend to wander around and drop by the deer feeder several times per day when they come to that part of the circuit. It's fun to watch the flock (rafter) move around. When they get close to the feeder a single hen will suddenly race toward the corn feeder and start eating. This triggers a stampede toward the feeder, but they all soon lose interest, even in the presence of corn, and move on. They'll repeat this routine 5 or 6 times a day as the browse the ground and grasses. The dynamics of the group is fun to watch.

 

[KennyG]

We've seen a steady increase in turkeys and they seem to be getting more used to people. We have a flock of a dozen or more and in the last year they have been walking right up to the house when they feel like it. They are not to be taken lightly. At my last house my neighbor had a large bird feeder and, when it was snowing, deer would come to feed on the spilled seed. Sometimes a turkey would come and chase the deer away to get the seed. They didn't think twice about charging a full grown deer.

 

[300UGUY]

We have quite a few here, but they are a bit shy. If they see a person, they start moving. If they see a dog, they will run or fly up in the trees. I have had to run them out of my chicken enclosure, they were making a terrible racket, and all my birds were piled up in a corner of the coop.

 

[jinman]

My neighbor had a sliding screen door on his patio door wiped out because the turkeys would see their reflection in the window through the screen and try to peck at it. They shredded his screen.

 

[dave1949]

I know this was posted before in a thread, but just a reminder...it's a dangerous world out there. :laughing:


Wild turkeys terrorize Massachusetts town residents - CBS News

 

[RobertBrown]

Lots of wild turkeys here but they don't act like yours. You get close and they are gone. They instinctively fear humans.

 

[chickenman]

The ones here avoid human contact, what snobs.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I know this was posted before in a thread, but just a reminder...it's a dangerous world out there. :laughing:


Wild turkeys terrorize Massachusetts town residents - CBS News

Sounds like a good excuse to have another traditional Thanksgiving...pop some corn, open a keg of Wild Turkey, cook up a couple hundred of these badazz buggers...

 

[sseelhoff]

Now I'm intrigued about wild turkeys. I already know how to smoke a turkey. The trick is catching and cleaning. Do I need a hunting permit to shoot one on my own property? How hard are they to clean?

 

[jymbee]

We're pretty much surrounded by turkeys here in the hills of upstate NY. Pic below of two of the more brazen ones around our bird feeder last winter. Our dog has been trying to catch one for years but unless he learns to fly, or gets better at sneaking up on them, he's not likely to catch one any time soon. Amazing how they can fly when spooked. Walking through some tall grass last week I had no idea there were turkeys very near-- until the pooch spotted them. Two dozen or so wild turkeys blasting out of the grass headed into nearby trees in all directions is quite a site.

View attachment 337528

But back to turkeys...anyone else have this experience? They are so tame, that they almost ignore you, and nonchalantly step out of the way when I am trying to mow. They leave their messages all over my drive way most every morning...they roost in the creek in back of my house and I can hear them in the evening calling. It's no wonder the early settlers dispatched them in record time; they are not very afraid of people, and certainly not afraid of the feral cats that hang around here. Now they will scatter when a dog comes on the scene, but they would be an easy target for a 12 gauge...but I consider them my pets and am glad to see them every day.

 

[dave1949]

Sounds like a good excuse to have another traditional Thanksgiving...pop some corn, open a keg of Wild Turkey, cook up a couple hundred of these badazz buggers...

There you go. Turkey block party. :laughing:

 

[sseelhoff]

There you go. Turkey block party. :laughing:

That sounds like a flocking good time.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Now I'm intrigued about wild turkeys. I already know how to smoke a turkey. The trick is catching and cleaning. Do I need a hunting permit to shoot one on my own property? How hard are they to clean?

Looks like you have to have a license to hunt anything on your own land in Texas except feral hogs.

PARKS AND WILDLIFE CODE  CHAPTER 42. GENERAL HUNTING LICENSE

 

[Larro Darro]

Back when I spent a lot more time at my river camp {behind the hayfield, a couple of miles from the house} I would see turkeys every few days. Sometimes as many as twenty five birds at once. The chicks would be a little bundle of fluff when you first saw them in the spring. Then you would see them grow all summer and fall.

I don't allow the folks who hunt on my land to shoot the turkeys, but the farmer across the road to the west has a couple of thousand acres, plus 200 more he leases to the north of me. All his farm workers hunt the land, so each fall the turkeys get thinned out.

Now I don't get to the woods very often, but I still see a few turkeys crossing the road as I go to work. Very rarely do I see over three or four on the road.

 

[teejk]

Now I'm intrigued about wild turkeys. I already know how to smoke a turkey. The trick is catching and cleaning. Do I need a hunting permit to shoot one on my own property? How hard are they to clean?

First off, if you can "catch one" I wouldn't eat it!!! It is going to involve some activity that PETA would not appreciate. Most people use a shotgun although bowhunting is starting to take hold as well. Around here the spring breeding season is by far the most popular. You sit in a concealed spot in full camo and make the sounds of hen turkey using one of several types of calls. Spring is limited to bearded turkeys only (generally males but once and awhile a hen will sprout a beard). Don't forget the bug spray and do check for ticks when you get home.

Re-introduction of the bird everywhere has opened up a multi-billion $ business that didn't exist 30 years ago (clothing, calls, etc.). As such, you don't want to put a price/lb. on the meat. Lobster would be cheaper. But around here it is a good chance to get into the woods after the long winters.

Cleaning isn't a big deal. Most people skin them and peel the breast meat from the carcass. A filet knive works as does any true skinning knife but it is largely a peeling process. Move onto the legs and thighs if you want...same skinning/peeling process. All in all maybe a 10-15 minute exercise.

 

[bullbreaker]

Of course most of us know there are differents types/breeds of turkeys for every region. Eastern, Rio Grande, Merriam's and Osceola (Florida) birds just to name a few.

Boone

pics of Osceola turkey out back behlnd house-suppose to be native from Lake Okeechobee and south

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I am attempting to post a couple of pictures of the turkeys that frequent my yard.



Wow! I did it!

 

[dmccarty]

I never saw or heard turkeys when we first bought our land, but over the last few years, we have started to hear and see them. We don't see many, maybe six at most, but that is better than none. I never saw a wild turkey as a child. They really have rebounded in numbers.

A farm I drive by has a bunch of turkeys. One year I saw them and stopped behind a barn to try to get a photo of them. I saw TWO of them but I did not see the third bird but he saw me! :laughing::laughing::laughing: I got a blurry photo of them heading for the woods.

The farmer's son is in the earth moving business and they have stored fill dirt on the farm fields which has scared off the turkeys. :confused3: They brought in the fill dirt a couple years ago and pushed it into two small hills. There is plenty of field left of the turkeys but I have not seen them since the fill was brought in.

Later,
Dan

 

[teejk]

Of course most of us know there are differents types/breeds of turkeys for every region. Eastern, Rio Grande, Merriam's and Osceola (Florida) birds just to name a few.

Boone

pics of Osceola turkey out back behlnd house-suppose to be native from Lake Okeechobee and south

Turkey hunting has certainly become the wild-life success story in our life-time. From virtually nothing 30 years ago to what is is today. The sub-species you name have resulted in the quest for the "grand-slam" and I know a lot of people that travel to achieve that distinction. Jury is still out on whether they have killed the ruffed grouse population (food competition). Farmer's early complaints around here seem to be mostly unfounded (most likely deer damage and lately sandhill cranes as their numbers have sky-rocketed).