question about turkeys

[quilbilly]

I have a question for all you turkey hunting experts.
We are not supposed to have turkeys in my area but this spring I saw a jake not too far from the house standing in the road. This afternoon while driving down the gravel road to the house, I saw a half dozen baby turkeys about 8" tall picking gravel along the road. I am loving this concept but do these baby turkeys have a chance to survive the winter if we get about five more weeks of relatively warm, dry (by Olympic peninsula standards) weather.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

why not we have a lot of turkeys here in Illinois now they do just fine with our winters

[wallenba]

Turkeys mate in February through April here. Can't say how old an 8'' tall poult is. But I'm sure your winters are milder in the NW if you are coastal. Call your DNR or equivalent. Also > http://www.n***.org/

[10 ga]

Sure they'll do OK if they're able to roost in the trees. Here in VA I've killed turkeys in December that were less than 10#. Late hatch and they were just fine and fat. They could fly like grouse and were good table fare. If they can get off the ground and roost in the trees they will be just fine. If they have good feathers and have survived the cold and rain of your summers they are pretty hardy to begin with. The hardest things on young turkeys are cold rains and free roaming pets and predators. With lots of insects and seed to eat they grow really fast. For adult or larger turkeys the worst things are deep crusted snow and poachers. They are really easy to call and kill when bunched up in the fall. They become tame very easily and when you see how easy they do become "tame" you understand why they were one of the few domesticated animals of the "Americas" when Columbus arrived. They are really easy to get on feed or "bait" or come to home bird feeders so if there are any in your area they will find them pretty quickly and go there regularly if not scared off. Lucky you to have them so close. Best, 10 ga



x

[quilbilly]

The weather here on the Olympic Peninsula is harsher than most would think and much harder than just cold. That is why our local Roosevelt elk tend to be significantly larger in body size than Rocky Mountain elk. It takes a larger body mass to retain heat in 34 degree daily rain/snow mix than in plain snow. Even our blackmail deer have adaptation similar to the Sitka blacktails of SE Alaska. Anyway, those turkey have a pretty good place to be due to a recent logging clearcut nearby to provide a food source with heavy rainforest nearby (including our place) to roost. Hope to see more of them in the future.

[Plinkster]

Blackmail Deer!? Man I hope they don't have any dirt on you! Sorry I couldn't resist

[smoked turkey]

Everything works for or against game populations. By that I mean weather, whether too hot or cold, wet or dry. Also as has been stated some of turkeys natural predators includes house cats on the prowl, and coyotes. But on the positive side, they adapt pretty good. The population here goes up and down depending on the above but they usually spring back after a while. Me thinks that good turkey hunting is in the offing for you in the future.

[Got-R-Did]

Absolutely love hunting Wild Turkeys. I have traveled to Florida, Texas, and New Mexico seeking them out. Of course, KY has a fantastic population with enough birds to support a spring and fall hunt. Two birds per season(4 total per yr), Gobblers and Bearded Hens only in the spring. I agree, your weather/habitat will be the determining factor of survival rates, but it certainly is encouraging to hear they have moved into your area. Like IL, it gets pretty harsh around here as well, with -20 temps periodically, but KY has had spring harvests in excess of 23,000 birds even when the winters have been brutal. I have not had the success in the fall like our VA Brother, and have had virtually none by calling during the fall. It must be our particular region, but I have learned to pattern them like the Whitetails. That was my epiphany while bow hunting, as long as the deer were present, the birds felt comfortable enough to come out and feed in the foodplots as well. The movement of the deer distracted a mature tom just enough for me to get drawn on him, but I miscalculated the distance (have a laser rangefinder now) and planted the arrow at his feet. He never even noticed; but I was shaking from adrenaline so bad that I couldn't even nock another arrow much less take another shot. One of my best hunts ever.
The greatest threat here are skunks, possums, and racoons. They will raid a nest every day once they find it and have on occasion caught the hen on the nest and killed her. Coyotes are our biggest threat once they hatch, and I do my best to mitigate that threat.
Best of Luck if you get to go after them!
Got-R-Did.

[quilbilly]

Blackmail deer. Oops missed one. My spell check always turns blacktail into blackmail but I catch them most of the time. Housecats won't be much of a problems in this neighborhood because we have so many of the 80-200# kitty cats. Two years ago the state had to come in and take out five cougars within 1/2 mile of the house over a six month period. We currently have a young one that visits our backyard weekly on our trail cam and I think she just went into heat a couple nights ago.
The good news is that big kitties decimate the coyote population (not just your pet Fido is on the cougar menu) so the turkey won't have to deal with them much and the trees are 200+ feet tall if the birds fly that high. I am excited to have turkeys in the area. The small peninsula just east of us has always looked like prime turkey habitat with its unusual microclimate.

[MT Gianni]

Turkeys in the harsher parts of MT do good but occasionally have to get in with the cattle for feed if the snow is deep. I know that a wet spring is really hard on roosting birds as well as young ones but winter seems to treat them OK, as long as it doesn't come on too suddenly.

[hithard]

If your worried about them, help them out