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They are just gone.

Spurhunter said:
I went to my place to put a few cameras out yesterday, and I didn't see much sign at all. I didn't get far off the roads so they could be hanging out somewhere else, but I'm a little discouraged. I have 2 food plots the turkeys always frequent and no sign at either.
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Put some yellow helper out. They'll return. 😁
 
I have birds on the TN/KY state line that I can hunt that 10-12 years ago wasn't a bird in sight. Now they are all over the place there. I try to give them minimal pressure and not kill a limit in these 2 small places to hopefully keep them around for years to come.
 
Same here. The farm I hunt was covered with turkeys the first years I hunted it. The population has declined each year until there are very few now. I'm pretty sure no one is feeding them anywhere around. I did see a flock in a field while I was driving down a road ,where nobody is allowed to hunt, with 5 longbeards in full strut and around 20 hens. This warm weather has them stirred up.
 
Iglow said:
I put in about 3 miles in the woods yesterday and found 1 set of tracks, 1 feather, no scratchings new or old, no poop, heard nothing and saw nothing in a place 5 years ago had a turkey behind every tree. 1 friend said his place is empty where it once was covered up. Another 50 miles away said he's got as many as ever. I was thinking that if it started getting better and they started coming back today , at 60, I might not live long enough to see the good days again, or be too old to really get after them. Some say turkey numbers are down but what I'm seeing is a population collapse. It reminds me of quail in the 80,s where over a 10 year period they just completely disappeared.
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It's the great turkey migration of 2022!
 
Iglow said:
I put in about 3 miles in the woods yesterday and found 1 set of tracks, 1 feather, no scratchings new or old, no poop, heard nothing and saw nothing in a place 5 years ago had a turkey behind every tree. 1 friend said his place is empty where it once was covered up. Another 50 miles away said he's got as many as ever. I was thinking that if it started getting better and they started coming back today , at 60, I might not live long enough to see the good days again, or be too old to really get after them. Some say turkey numbers are down but what I'm seeing is a population collapse. It reminds me of quail in the 80,s where over a 10 year period they just completely disappeared.
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Turkeys are there… someone is just feeding them more than you. I own a large piece of land and lease some beside me. I wasn't seeing turkeys and got worried until the guy at the coop was telling how the game warden busted my neighbor baiting deer and Turkey. Said he had 8 feeders out that were all full of corn. Guy was caught shooting them with corn in there mouths. They are gonna go to where food is. I plant stuff that is good for deer and turkeys. You also have to have the nesting cover as well. I improved my habitat and let guys trap on my property for raccoons and coyotes. That has really helped. You can also supplement with corn until a certain date if you so choose but I feel like it's really better to provide natural browse.
 
I don't think it's somebody corning them, this lack of birds is over a wide area, that could be true on like 500 acres or something if somebody was feeding them but we are talking about square miles where we saw them in the past riding here and there in the truck and you just don't see them anymore.
 
Went to check on my clover plot yesterday and found what look to be a turkey murder scene. Wasn't to happy on what I found. Zoom in on picture and you can see the beard. 😭 Never found the bird and searched everywhere. I hope he made it! IMG_20220306_153308863.jpg
 
TheLBLman said:
Doubtful he survived.
Likely something carried him off.

Just from the pic, appears to be out in a field?
Eagle could have flown off with him;
coyote could have run off with him.
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Yes it was in field. I wondered if it could of been an eagle. I have seen a bald eagle around here several times. All I know is that it SUCKS LOL
 
catman529 said:
Shoot, I saw easily over 4 dozen pecking the ground at the same time a couple weeks ago, on public too. Winter flock, no bird feeder or bait....how is that not normal behavior?
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Maybe it is. But I've never seen an entire flock with all their heads stuck in the ground at the same... not once in over 30 years watching them. I've seen the majority feeding at the same time with a handful watching/ looking, but never the whole flock glued with their heads in the dirt.
 
TheLBLman said:
High odds that was an eagle kill.

The only good think about them is they hunt such a large area they're not likely to kill all "your" turkeys.
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I have birds that live with an eagle overhead constantly, Actually killed 3 within 100 yards of the nest.. Never any evidence of the eagles preying on them.
 
Bgoodman30 said:
I have birds that live with an eagle overhead constantly, Actually killed 3 within 100 yards of the nest.. Never any evidence of the eagles preying on them.
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Maybe they're saving the turkeys in their back yard for tough times? :)

Is this location extremely close to a large body of water,
where fish and waterfowl might be the more preferred food sources?
 
TheLBLman said:
Maybe they're saving the turkeys in their back yard for tough times? :)

Is this location extremely close to a large body of water,
where fish and waterfowl might be the more preferred food sources?
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Yep right on the river. I used to suspect the eagles would run off the turkeys but they will roost right close to the eagles, strut under them and pay them no attention.
 

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