Turkeys in the mist

thecfarm · February 16, 2019, 08:54:30 PM

I had about 4 turkeys for 2 mornings eating what was left over from me feeding the deer. Which is not much.The 3rd morning I had 20-25 turkeys.

This went on one other year too. But that year,the turkeys found the food as soon as I started to feed the deer. This year,the turkeys have not even been here a week.

WV Sawmiller · February 17, 2019, 10:25:05 AM

We got up late this morning and the first thing my wife noticed was a turkey trapped between my backyard chain link fence and my pasture fence. I have a marshy area from a spring runoff that is too soft to walk in so I fenced it off in a triangle shape. The turkey evidently crawled under my back gate that is 5-6 inches above the ground on one end, walked into the mouth of the triangle all the way to the funnel shaped tip at the other end but could not squeeze through. She was about 15-20 yards from our bedroom window. we watched her for 15 minutes or so as she got more and more excited and anxious trying to get out. She would walk past the willows nearly to the opening then turn around and walk right back into the confined area. I can't see a beard and it may be a big hen or a small jake. It is so dark I am inclined to believe it is a jake.

This is as far as it can go. It ran into this point several times.

It ran this fence line many times looking for an opening to crawl under. Could easily have jumped up and flown over but they don't do that unless pushed real hard.

Turned around and headed back to the corner again.

You begin to wonder if it is learning impaired.

Yep. Anybody walking up from behind could have chased it into the corner and caught it.

My wife just commented - "See what all those city kids are missing by not getting up to see stuff like this."

Old Greenhorn · February 17, 2019, 11:10:30 AM

We get them around here like rats when they are in the mood to browse the area. I get tired of culling the photos from my trail cam by the mill. Then, all of a sudden, they are gone for months on end. One of my cats will get a week or more of good play time with one of their feathers. Have to go find some more for him.

mike_belben · February 17, 2019, 12:33:02 PM

Quote from: Magicman on February 16, 2019, 03:13:17 PM
My Dad chased one into a briar patch with his tractor. Hopped off of the tractor and walked the briers down and caught that rascal. They had it for supper that night.

Now thats being a man. Tackle your dinner in a thicket.

WV Sawmiller · February 17, 2019, 01:45:43 PM

OG,

We had an old bobtailed housecat who used to get out and stalk the turkeys above the house. They would let him get within about 5 yards but no closer. It looked like he was herding them around the hillside at times. I never saw one attack him or him try to catch one although I always hoped he would. I figured it would be a real site watching a 4-5 lb cat and a 13-15 lb turkey fighting.

Several years later we raised a little doe whose mother got killed by a car. We'd milk the goats and feed it to Spot. She'd get milk all over her face and Morris, our big yellow tom cat who was about the same size as Spot, would lick it off so they grew up as friends. When Spot was about 35-40 lbs she'd be browsing around the pasture near the house and Morris would see her and go into stalking mode and sneak up on her like a leopard stalking an impala. Spot would see him out of the corner of her eye. When he got close enough he'd charge and she'd kick a hoof past his ear and they'd run a few circles around the place then stop, sniff noses and go their separate ways. It was neat to watch. Spot was always free to come and go and she'd go play with the wild deer then come home for her bottle. That year we had an antlerless season and I walked up the hill and a little yearling jumped up and I shot her in the head. Then Spot jumped up about 30 yards away. I kept an orange collar on her so everyone would know she was tame. I had not seen her and felt real guilty for shooting her friend in front of her but she followed me home and I gave her an apple or fortune cookie and she forgave me.

mike_belben · February 17, 2019, 02:28:04 PM

Youve had an interesting life bud.

WV Sawmiller · February 17, 2019, 02:41:56 PM

Yeah and I have the scars and many pictures to prove it. Up to and including being charged by a Silverback gorilla in the Central African Republic and chasing down a Black mamba in Ethiopia so my wife could take his picture.

thecfarm · February 17, 2019, 08:17:12 PM

Some wheres I have a picture of a wild turkey in with my tame ones. It flew in and flew out.

WV Sawmiller · February 17, 2019, 08:41:39 PM

My son and his buddy when teenagers went up to a friends place during Spring season. They came home around noon so I asked them where was the turkey. They answered "He'd have come if he could." I asked what they meant and they said they got on an old gobbler that would answer every time they'd cluck but he would not come so they decided to try to sneak up on him. After about an hour of careful stalking with periodic clucking and answers they finally found him locked up in a local farmers pen.

WV Sawmiller · March 15, 2019, 10:31:18 AM

They're back! We've been invaded by turkeys again. A little hen flew down and landed in the pasture next to my yard about 9:45 am this morning. She walked the fence line pecking and scratching. I thought she was going to walk under the low spot under the gate at one point. I checked the back yard and neighbors pasture across the road but did not see the rest.

Her head is between the post and gate to my yard

Standing behind my well house - an old Spring house now used to house my pump and water filter and such.

Okay, lets mosey down toward the barn and see what we find down there.

Suddenly the rest of the flock joined in. Some in the yard, some in the pasture. I guess they were higher up on the mountainside in Sonny's pasture across the road. They pitch up, fly a few strokes and lock their wings and glide like a quail. There were two nice gobblers and about a dozen hens. The gobblers were at the rear like they were herding the rest.

Gobbler in the yard.

Gobbler in the pasture behind the well house.

More detail on my yard gobbler.

Sort of half strut

Full strut now - he actually gobbled right after this shot but I did not get the picture. Probably scared Sampson half to death.

Both gobblers and couple of brazen hens

And the rest of the flock head down towards the barn too.

My wife sneaked around to the front porch and got a few nice pictures with her big Canon camera and telephoto lens which have lots more detail She will add them to her file and maybe sell a few or enter them in next months local photo competition with the neighboring photo club. She repeatedly says she can't see how people live in the city and miss all this.

Edit/Add-on: Well, I guess them hens were not as cooperative as they expected and the boys came back alone a few minutes later.

Back behind the well house

Okay, Dang them women anyway! Who needs 'em! At least now both gobblers are in the pasture anyway. Heading on up the hill to the spring to see what tasty tidbit washed up lately.

Old Greenhorn · April 26, 2019, 11:00:10 PM

I work in a TSA secured facility. Wednesday morning when I got to work there was a plant wide email waiting for me about a 'stranger' attempting to gain access to the facility and everybody should be aware and on the lookout. The photo supplied was indeed a tom turkey that had been pecking on office windows. Well, about 1/2 hour later I looked out my office window to see the suspect strutting his stuff for a hen that was out of view. After this display, he wooed the hen in and then led her around the building picking on his reflection in all the low office windows he came across. I did my duty as a dedicated (and bored) employee and notified our TSA security Officer so she could look into it and call for backup. (She really needs something to do.)

GeorgeFindlay · April 27, 2019, 09:27:10 AM

Turkeys migrated north from Maine into New Brunswick, Canada ~15 years ago. They're established here, and now there's a debate about opening a hunting season.

Here's some in my yard last week.

WV Sawmiller · June 07, 2019, 09:51:13 AM

We are still seeing turkeys here pretty often. I went out to clean some catfish Tuesday and an old hen was just outside the backyard fence. While I cleaned fish I could hear her up in the pasture cackling excitedly. I guess something got to close to her nest. An hour or so later I heard her clucking on the other side of the pasture.

We still have these 2 young gobblers (Beards about 8" long) showing up together a couple times a week, especially after a rain. I took this picture last week of them. This morning about 6:30 we were rudely awakened, I assume it was one of these 2, by a confused young gobbler out by my woodshed putting on a show. He gobbled, he yelped, he clucked and he purred. I guess somebody forgot to tell him mating season ended last month - well, it was supposed to. Maybe he knows something we don't know. It had rained during the night and I guess he was turning over the pieces of bark getting worms where I had cut firewood.

Last night my wife took the garbage out (I should write that rare event down on my calendar) after putting a bunch of fish trimmings in it after she cut and packaged the 33 lb Flathead catfish from Wednesday morning's catch. On the way back she heard a bunch of squeaking and such and came in and told me we had a fawn in the pasture. I went out to collect some nightcrawlers and shined the light up in the pasture and saw the old doe nervously walking along the wood line looking our way then up by the gate about 40 yards away I saw the eyes of the fawn. I left them alone and collected my worms and heard the fawn bleating several minutes till they got further up the hill.

A customer about half a mile up the road stopped by yesterday and was telling us another neighbor came by on his way to work yesterday and saw a big bear in her garbage can. She said they did have to pick up scattered garbage when they got up. Life is seldom dull around here.

thecfarm · June 08, 2019, 06:19:36 AM

The chick are hatched. Look about only a few days old. I was digging an overgrown place and saw a turkey come out of the bushes. I got a bucket load and left. Came back the next day to do some more digging and the turkey come out of the same place. Must be a nest close by. I got off the tractor and found it. Never saw one before. I got out of there and did something else. I will keep checking on it each day.

WV Sawmiller · September 19, 2019, 10:18:48 AM

These 5 have been hanging out together. I saw them in the pasture about 60-70 yards above the house then 30 minutes or so later I looked out and they were in the front yard. There are 3 hens (One not shown in the picture) and 2 jakes.

Second and 4th are jakes - note stubby little beards about 3" long. The ones with the light blue heads are the hens.

thecfarm · September 21, 2019, 06:03:12 AM

I see 4-5 turkeys just about every day when I come home. We will go somewheres and come home and we will see them. Don't matter if we come back at 10am or 2pm. I come home at 6:30pm and they are mostly in the same field.
I have no idea what happened to the chicks. We saw them for a while and then none. As we drive around we use to see small turkeys. So I know did not go from chick size to full size in one month. :D