Turkeys, turkeys, turkeys

[TNsailorman]

My wife came into the study this morning just after it got daylight and told me to look out the back window. Looked and there were 36 very large turkeys in the back yard, none of them over 50 feet from the back door. There was 4 large gobblers strutting and another one nosing around some hens. Boy, talk about a set up for turkey dinner. Only thing wrong---turkey season is not open yet. My 870 was begging to go out and play. My next door neighbor called me one day and told me to look out back. He said he had quit counting at 58 turkeys and that was only about 2/3's of the turkeys in out 2 properties. Sure enough, they were spread across both our properties feeding slowly toward the woods. Good day indeed, james

[MUSTANG]

We have about 22 of them that have been poaching grain and scratching through hay for the horses all winter.

[Finster101]

In a few months when season opens you will wonder where they all went.

[Dom]

Me too!!

[rbuck351]

We don't get them every day in the winter. In the summer I have counted up to 35 or so in the yard. About 15 came through the yard a couple of days ago while I was testing my brass 410 shells. They all made a big fuss but didn't leave. The neighbor lady feeds turkeys and deer and I sometimes throw grain to my chickens so when I'm feeding the chickens I have to try to keep the deer and turkeys away.

[dverna]

I have never hunted them. The ones we have here are not that afraid of humans so do not understand the need for camo and such.

I get them in the yard. Anywhere from 3-12 or so depending on the season. Seems like a waste to use a $1+ shotgun shell to harvest one. Not legal to hunt with a rifle or pistol, but my .22 PCP would be adequate at the ranges I see them at. And no pellets in the meat with an air gun.

[TNsailorman]

The turkeys that hang around here are not too afraid of humans either. Back about 5 or 6 years ago, I use to feed the turkeys and deer shelled corn. One huge gobbler got to following me around in the back yard as I left handfulls of corn on the ground. He would follow about 8 to 10 feet behind me and every once in a while he would extend his head up full and make a soft cackle like sound. He never attempted to fight me and would stop when I stopped. One day I wanted to see if he would come closer so I eased down into a squatting position and put a handful of corn on the ground and sat there. He would not come any closer, he just stopped and kinda cocked his head a little and watched me until I finally moved on. Before this valley built up a little over 45 years ago, we had quail, rabbits, grouse, squirrels and even a black bear that roamed the valley in the late evening occassionally. Since the older generation died and their large farms were sold off by the kids, subdivisions and houses have took up the whole valley. Not much of the farm land is left. All the quail, grouse and rabbits disappeared because of the cats that now roam all over the place. It is against the law to let them run loose like that but the law has never been enforced. It is also against the law to shoot the cats. We do have a coon and a possum come down after dark to find food (we leave them food scraps from the evening meal) but even they are not in the numbers they were back in the 70's. People are flooding into Tennessee from California and from northeaster and midwestern states and the farms and vacant land is fast disappearing. Most of the farm land that I use to hunt is now covered in housing. Houses are even being built up in the mountains where I use to hunt. Years ago you could fly over the mountains between east Tennesse and western North Carolina at night and never see a light. Now when you look down on the mountain when you fly over, it looks like a Christmas tree it is so lite up. Quite a few of the hunters are forming "hunting clubs" and leaseing every good hunting area they can find. I hate to see it but I can't really blame them the way land is disappearing. I don't hunt myself anymore but I do still enjoy the wildlife and will continue to do so the few years I might have left before The Lord calls me home. Take care guys and forgive the nastalgic rambling of an old man, james

[GregLaROCHE]

That’s why high power air guns with silencers and good scopes have become so popular.

[Texas by God]

It was good to see some hens today. I haven’t seen any on the game camera since October last.


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[ascast]

TNsailorman- that is happening here as well. Everybody wants to live in the country, they move in and the country is gone. My road to village( 6 miles) had 5 houses in the 60's. One was seasonal and one was a single old man. Now, it's 22 houses with families and cars and one farm welding repair shop.

[jonp]

My wife came into the study this morning just after it got daylight and told me to look out the back window. Looked and there were 36 very large turkeys in the back yard, none of them over 50 feet from the back door. There was 4 large gobblers strutting and another one nosing around some hens. Boy, talk about a set up for turkey dinner. Only thing wrong---turkey season is not open yet. My 870 was begging to go out and play. My next door neighbor called me one day and told me to look out back. He said he had quit counting at 58 turkeys and that was only about 2/3's of the turkeys in out 2 properties. Sure enough, they were spread across both our properties feeding slowly toward the woods. Good day indeed, james

Im quite sure they were destroying some crop or other so open to culling to, you know, save your crops

[schutzen-jager]

none in the entire state a few years back when some were imported from Virginia - now serveral times a year get reports of them attacking kids waiting for school buses -

[Dom]

These turkeys have no shame. They will hang out with anyone..

[schutzen-jager]

in post #12 above - not too long ago i had to drive an hour to hunt deer - now they are walking the streets here in daylight

[curiousgeorge]

James,
I live in a very rural area of central Kentucky and the Northern / West coast / East coast invasion is in full swing. All the scrub woods are getting cleared for houses, and why do all the newbies think that if you live in the cointry you MUST have horses? Loss of habitat, loss of wildlife. New imports quickly discover really not much to do around here, so now several abandoned eyesores as they move on to more "happening" parts of the country. The ones that stayed pay little in tax, but demand more government services which cause everyones taxes to go up, especially on our property because they generally paid 3 to 4 times too much.

Sorry, my rant for the day.