Daver
PMA Member
I'm jealous...the turkey population in my area is so down that I think we have only heard one distant gobbler so far. I saw a turkey in flight the other day, having been scared out of a timber across the road from me, and it took me a few seconds before I recognized what it was. We see so few of them nowadays...I almost forgot what they look like. 
breckhawk
PMA Member
Head west young man! There's gold in them there Loess Hills. Turkey Gold that is. Its loud every morning around here. I have an infestation.I'm jealous...the turkey population in my area is so down that I think we have only heard one distant gobbler so far. I saw a turkey in flight the other day, having been scared out of a timber across the road from me, and it took me a few seconds before I recognized what it was. We see so few of them nowadays...I almost forgot what they look like.
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Daver
PMA Member
When I bought my farm almost 20 years ago there were so many turkeys that it was at times insane. I remember taking a friend of mine and his then 12 or 13 year old son, along with my oldest and we sat in a blind where I knew some gobblers would come and when they started gobbling my friend looked over at me and was slack jawed, he had never heard that many gobbling birds that close to him in his life. Pretty soon there were 4 strutters in front of us and his son bagged his first ever turk. That nice memory was the norm back then, I could stand in different places on my place and hear 20 or more gobbling toms, now if you hear 2 or 3 that is good, some days none. Moments like that seem like 50 years ago now.
I suspect bobcats, at least at some level, as through the years I have found, and neighbors have also found, many carcasses of adult birds. I am sure that I lose some to nest predation, I am sure that wet springs hold the population down too...but neither of those things can explain the presence of a dead adult bird. Although several of the fine DNR employees will politely disagree with me and cite a study done in PA I think that showed little to no turkey presence in the stomach content of studied bobs. I feel as though that study was done in the fall, when there is food aplenty for predators and a turkey would be way down "The Easy Meal" list. FWIW, we have found the carcasses in late winter, spring and even a few in the summer while mowing. The precipitous decline of turks in our neighborhood does correlate almost precisely with the rise of bobcats in the area. (For the statisticians reading along I am aware that correlation is not the same as causation.
)Now then, in some of my ongoing conversations with certain DNR personnel I have learned that there may be some sort of virus(see link below) that could explain lower turkey numbers, as this is now understood to be pretty widespread. In fact, there is a study underway to help ascertain if this is what is hammering turkey populations and I would definitely participate in it...except that one has to be able to shoot a bird so as to get the leg to send in. Crap, a catch-22.
I have about as good a chance of bagging a zebra now as a tom. So maybe the virus is getting them and the bobs are eating them...I don't know. But I know we have A LOT more bobs these days than ever before and A LOT fewer turks, so that is my lean.
https://www.iowadnr.gov/About-DNR/D...ed-to-participate-in-disease-monitoring-study
bigbuckhunter88
PMA Member
Listen to the newest Meateater podcast. Pretty remarkable there are any turkeys at all after hearing some of those stats.When I bought my farm almost 20 years ago there were so many turkeys that it was at times insane. I remember taking a friend of mine and his then 12 or 13 year old son, along with my oldest and we sat in a blind where I knew some gobblers would come and when they started gobbling my friend looked over at me and was slack jawed, he had never heard that many gobbling birds that close to him in his life. Pretty soon there were 4 strutters in front of us and his son bagged his first ever turk. That nice memory was the norm back then, I could stand in different places on my place and hear 20 or more gobbling toms, now if you hear 2 or 3 that is good, some days none. Moments like that seem like 50 years ago now.
I suspect bobcats, at least at some level, as through the years I have found, and neighbors have also found, many carcasses of adult birds. I am sure that I lose some to nest predation, I am sure that wet springs hold the population down too...but neither of those things can explain the presence of a dead adult bird. Although several of the fine DNR employees will politely disagree with me and cite a study done in PA I think that showed little to no turkey presence in the stomach content of studied bobs. I feel as though that study was done in the fall, when there is food aplenty for predators and a turkey would be way down "The Easy Meal" list. FWIW, we have found the carcasses in late winter, spring and even a few in the summer while mowing. The precipitous decline of turks in our neighborhood does correlate almost precisely with the rise of bobcats in the area. (For the statisticians reading along I am aware that correlation is not the same as causation.
Now then, in some of my ongoing conversations with certain DNR personnel I have learned that there may be some sort of virus(see link below) that could explain lower turkey numbers, as this is now understood to be pretty widespread. In fact, there is a study underway to help ascertain if this is what is hammering turkey populations and I would definitely participate in it...except that one has to be able to shoot a bird so as to get the leg to send in. Crap, a catch-22.
So maybe the virus is getting them and the bobs are eating them...I don't know. But I know we have A LOT more bobs these days than ever before and A LOT fewer turks, so that is my lean.
https://www.iowadnr.gov/About-DNR/D...ed-to-participate-in-disease-monitoring-study
80% of all nests fail to hatch a Turkey.
Of the remaining 20 percent only one third have a bird or more survive a month. And some other tiny percent make it 1 year.
Daver
PMA Member
Will do. But prior to there being bobs around, there were still plenty of grinners, skunks and coons to raid nests and we still had zillions of turks. I have trapped good numbers of predators in the past and feel like I can tell a difference when I get them trapped down some. However, with fur prices so low, not much fur harvesting is going around the neighborhood, so more flow right back in.
Also, I don't live at my farm, so it is hard to get good momentum going on the trapping front just doing a weekend warrior approach.
scottonbuck
Well-Known Member
I saw A turkey the other day. It even had a beard
1 lone tom in a field that once was filled with them.
1 lone tom in a field that once was filled with them.
Daver
PMA Member
Exactly, it used to be that you could go for a drive and see many, even dozens of, birds...now those same routes will reveal maybe 2 or 3. If one hadn't seen how many there used to be and only knew how few there are today, you wouldn't believe it.
