Turkey time in WV

WV Sawmiller · March 15, 2020, 11:16:42 AM

I looked out a back window this morning and spotted 2 nice gobblers in full strut prancing around in front of my old goat barn and behind my woodshed. They had about 6-8 hens rambling all around them. Our recent warmer weather has them feeling their oats. Recent rains has them all over my pasture picking up drowned worms and such. A little hen just outside the yard fence woke my wife up this morning.

Our spring gobbler season is still a month away. By that time the hens will all have mated and be on the nest and the gobblers will be hard to call in if the past couple of years are an accurate lesson.

BTW - Beware the Ides of March

btulloh · March 15, 2020, 11:36:17 AM

Looks like the dance has begun. Nice pic.

Yes, we're smack dab in the middle of the ides. Julius Caesar better wear his kevlar toga when he visits the Senate. And maintain social distancing. :D :D

There's a herd of nineteen turkeys here that are out and about. I haven't seen any fanning and strutting yet.

btulloh · March 16, 2020, 08:50:29 AM

I saw two turkeys consummating their marriage this morning, so mating season has officially started. No Pics, 200 yds away.

WV Sawmiller · March 23, 2020, 12:00:45 PM

The 2 gobblers were back without their hens this morning. We had more showers last night and the pasture is full of drowned nightcrawlers and they are feasting on them. These 2 were about 35 yards from the house when we spotted them. One has already gone on ahead and I only got a picture of the straggler. Hard to see in the picture but their beards are about 8-9 inches long. I am pretty sure they are the same 2 I had hanging around last year.

You can see him here just inside the pasture fence about 15 yards from Sampson's dog house and you can see the front of Becky's truck about 20 yards from him.

thecfarm · March 23, 2020, 08:07:55 PM

Them things are around here too. I feed the deer and they clean up what the deer missed. Getting bare around here, the deer will stop feeding pretty quick and the turkeys will have to find a meal some place else.

WV Sawmiller · March 23, 2020, 11:04:00 PM

They are sure getting fat here on the drowned worms. When there are larger groups we usually have a fox squirrel or two hanging around with them and I can only assume the turkeys expose nuts and such too big or too hard for them to eat but the squirrels feast on them.

WV Sawmiller · March 30, 2020, 10:50:30 AM

These 2 got left a few yards behind. My horse and mule hang out by the gate waiting for me to come feed them. I assume the turkeys are scratching through the droppings.

Here are the other 5 on the back side of my well house. I am surprised the ladies are separated from the boys on a bright sunny day like today. With weather like we have been having the hens may all be bred by now anyway.

My well house has my pump and a water filter/softener inside. The actual well is about 3-4 ft in front of it. The structure used to be a spring house where they kept the milk cold. A pipe brought cold water from the spring on the hillside above and kept the milk cold before they had electricity and refrigeration. I added 2 courses of blocks to raise the height and put a peaked roof on it to help keep it dry inside. Obviously the turkeys have no fear of it.

Magicman · March 30, 2020, 05:03:46 PM

Do they run when they catch sight of you outside?

WV Sawmiller · March 30, 2020, 09:39:32 PM

Lynn,

Yes. They will even run if they see the curtains moving as we watch them out the window. They will feed right next to the yard, vehicles and structures but they are definitely not tame. Sometimes the deer will let us walk out and when they see us walking away from them they will not run but not the turkeys or the squirrels (which stole about 200 lbs of black walnuts from me this winter - my fault. I should have moved them sooner instead of sending Sampson to chase them.) which immediately head for tall timber.

Skip · March 31, 2020, 08:22:37 AM

Them squirrels gotta eat too . ;D

WV Sawmiller · March 31, 2020, 11:16:55 AM

As I said it was my fault - I should have brought the nuts in a lot sooner. They were just doing what squirrels do. There sure are some fat fox squirrels around her now though.

WV Sawmiller · April 03, 2020, 07:15:07 PM

At 6:50 pm today my wife spotted this bunch of turkeys in the yard. They were within 2 yards of Sampson's doghouse at one point. Looks like the gobblers were hanging out with the ladies. 8 hens and 2 gobblers.

2Gobblers below 2 hens

More hens coming - you can see the 8-9 inch beards on the gobblers

More coming

And more stragglers. All coming from out by the logyard/sawmill.

WV Sawmiller · April 04, 2020, 07:58:37 PM

Quote from: Magicman on March 30, 2020, 05:03:46 PM
Do they run when they catch sight of you outside?

Lynn,

I have to amend my previous reply now. Today at 6:40 pm (10 minutes earlier than they showed up yesterday) I was mowing the front yard and looked up to see the two big boys walking the fence line then under the gate and up into the pasture and woods. They obviously saw and heard me but they did not seem alarmed with me on a riding mower. I mowed with 20 yards of them. If they had seen me walking 1/4 mile away they would have run but not concerned about the mower. I've had deer and turkeys do that before and let me ride right up to them on a tractor or ATV. These did not hang around but they sure weren't terrified to see me that close to them. I don't know where the hens were today.

WV Sawmiller · April 22, 2020, 10:48:11 AM

Our Spring Gobbler season opened Monday but it rained the last two mornings so I did not attempt to hunt them. Today was supposed to be sunny and clear so I very reluctantly dragged myself out of bed about 5:45, grabbed my gear, jumped on my ATV and rode partway up the hill, walked the rest of the way and found myself on an old log road on the back side of my place at 6:11 am. I walked around to near the back corner of our place and heard a turkey gobble below me. I thought he was on the ridge near the east side of our place so I walked to the property line, set my stuff down by a big red oak on the line, set up a rubber hen decoy about 20 yards away, strung some camo net in front of me then clucked on my box yelper a time or two. The gobbler answered me on my left. I had walked past him or he had pitched down and walked up the holler on that side. He was near my shooting house as near as I can tell. I clucked and purred and he gobbled a few more times but did not sound like he was headed my way. I finally just put the yelper down and waited. About 7:00 I glanced to my left and a big black turkey with a red head was standing there looking. I froze and he headed my way. I raised my shotgun and he walked right under my sights but I saw a couple more coming then I heard a gobble behind them so I decided it must be the hens. I could not see any beards so it was not the big guys posted earlier in this thread. The first turkey was about 4-5 yards away in a little dip and behind a stump and walking and Putt-Purring as he marched back and forth behind my red oak evidently looking for that strange hen he'd heard. Finally he walked back over to the others and looked like they were all about to mosey on off. I reached for my box yelper and clucked lightly and suddenly all four birds gobbled. It turns out it was a bunch of jakes. Having no shame I raised up and shot the one on the left in the head with a load of #5 shot and he dropped and flopped a couple of times. One of the others ran in circles then ran to join the other two. I went over and confirmed my jake had about a 3" beard. I brought him home and weighed him. He was 13 lbs. Nothing huge but I am happy to have him and actually glad to know my big gobblers will still be around a while longer to show their stuff. I skinned the turkey, cut him up into wings, leg quarters, neck, back and breast. Becky is cooking the wings, back and neck and will pull the meat off for hash and I'll get some canned biscuits on my weekly grocery run today and we'll have turkey and dumplings for dinner. We vacuum sealed each leg separately and the breast for future use. Each leg will make us a meal and several meals out of the breast.

Little spurs were just nubs about 1/2" if that

Some people may pluck them but I skin my turkeys. Much faster IMHO.

Walnut Beast · April 22, 2020, 01:32:17 PM

Congratulations! Some good eating there. Yes skinning is the way to go👍

WV Sawmiller · April 22, 2020, 01:49:15 PM

Yeah this one was pretty fat for this time of year. I guess all our recent rain has been drowning lots of worms and the turkeys are all well fed.

WV Sawmiller · September 01, 2020, 11:12:29 AM

Well its our second day of steady drizzling rain and we woke up to 5-6 grown turkey hens with a dozen or so half grown poults. I am sure they are feasting on have or completely drowned night crawlers. We had a pretty mild winter and a nice summer so far and the turkey hatch has survived real well so far. These were either a second bunch or some of them drifted back through a half hour or so later. I am happy to see them doing so well.

doc henderson · September 04, 2020, 02:33:18 AM

these guys are all over the neighborhood. must like the sawmill!

mom and three little ones. the white grass is us trying to kill the Bermuda.

WV Sawmiller · September 11, 2020, 08:29:51 PM

A car stopped in front of the house a couple days ago and I thought they were turning in our drive but turned out they were just waiting for the turkeys to get out of the road. Likely this is same bunch we saw yesterday morning.

About 2/3 are this years poults and the rest were hens. My wife said they were by earlier and a pair of big gobblers were following behind the main group.

I went out and worked on my deer blind project and started to get on the tractor and they were about 30 yards away. They moseyed off but never did get alarmed. Looks like they had a good hatch with good survival rate this year.

mike_belben · September 17, 2020, 08:39:13 AM

I guess jimmy missed a verse... "Turkey pickin time in west virginia.."

Peach Pickin' Time Down In Georgia by Jimmie Rodgers (1932) - YouTube

WV Sawmiller · September 17, 2020, 08:50:35 AM

The one I ever heard sing this song was Andy Griffith on Matlock on time. :D

mike_belben · September 17, 2020, 10:27:24 AM

Well now ya know where he got it. ;)

thecfarm · September 23, 2020, 08:28:25 PM

Do I have a hunting story for you guys.
Grandson text his Grandmother, on my way to turkey hunt. We act as scouts so they know where to set up their blinds. :D Grandson pulls into yard to tell Grandmom, I am here. He see turkey under bird feeder as he pulls up to house. Grandmother has no idea he is here. GM text GS, turkey under feeder, because GM knows GS is almost at house. GS gets out of truck, ignoring the message on his phone. Turkey see GS and starts to run. GM text GS that turkey is leaving, as GS is going behind house to cut off the turkey. And shoots and gets the turkey. Hunt is over for GS and GM is up and running to door to see what is going on. ;D

WV Sawmiller · September 23, 2020, 09:12:21 PM

My favorite turkey tale was one a buddy of mine in N. Fla told me. A guy was driving down a county road there and spotted a flock of turkeys beside the road, jumped out and shot two of them. The rest fled the area. Immediately a truck pulled in behind the guy and a man got out cussing a blue streak complaining about no-nothing city slickers coming in and killing all his livestock and breaking his fences and such "Now you come shoot 2 of my pet turkeys I have been trying all year to save." He threw the turkeys in the back of his truck and demanded the shooter pay $25 each for them. The Nimrod apologized profusely and paid for the turkeys then drove off thoroughly chastened $50 poorer and no turkey to boot. My buddy told me there is not a house or farm within 25 miles of where the guy shot the turkeys. :D

Note - shooting on or near a road as described above is illegal in most if not all states and is not recommended.

thecfarm · September 24, 2020, 05:54:32 AM

I had to post my land. :( >:( Twice hunters shot at turkeys towards the house. Yes, they was about 500 feet away, but still. They was on the edge of the road both times. But this is a dead end dirt road too.
Once I was in the garden, in line with them shooting, but they was shooting at the bottom of the hill. I stood up when I heard the shot and I saw a car and wondered what is going on, than I saw the shooter running towards the car with a turkey. :

Than once someone shot a turkey on the other side of the road while standing between two no trespassing signs. My wife opens the door and hollered at them. But as I told her, next time do a video and call the game warden. ;) She did call the game warden, he went and checked the local tagging stations, but none was tagged in this area.
One of these days someone will not be happy with us.