Banded Turkey

[Andy S.]

KDFWR did a gobbler mortality study several yrs ago. My buddy killed the last gobbler with a transmitter, he had been netted as a jake and was for a fact 5yrs old. The bird had 1" spurs...

Not surprising at all. If one will read University peer reviewed research, they will quickly see there is no direct correlation between age and spur length. Yes, a general age can be guessed, but it is far from exact, as many hunters like to think.

 

[Andy S.]

I killed one in Mississippi years ago that wore a transmitter. MSU was doing a study on how far they ranged.
My bird had a home range of about 5 square miles.

Thanks for sharing. That's about 3,200 acres.wild turkeys have a lot bigger home range than what lots of people think.

Exactly!

 

[Levee Jumper]

Have you gotten info back on the band yet?

No info on the turkey. I think it was just a tracking device that a group out of Arkansas, Missouri, Louisiana, Missippi, or Iowa had on him to know where to hunt. It was outta control.

So someone tagged a turkey to know where turkeys lived in order to hunt them? Not sure I'm following?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I said that jokingly due to the hoard of out of state people in the woods. I actually had 2 guys come walking through the woods each with a full strut decoy. I stood up pulled my facemask down and cut at them when they were about 60 yards. They both crouched down behind their respective strutter. It really freaked me out so I waved my hat and shook my head. They headed toward me so I walked off. I wanted no part of being around someone that hides behind a strutting turkey in the public woods on opening day of turkey season!

But in all seriousness, No I haven't received any info on the turkey.

 

[Newt]

I wanted no part of being around someone that hides behind a strutting turkey in the public woods on opening day of turkey season!

Exactly and why people don't understand this is beyond me. Along with all the things Setterman and others has said in the past which I agree 100% with. Get rid of the strutter decoys and fans ASAP would be a huge step back in the right direction! It's only going to get more embarrassing as time goes on, I won't be surprised if they don't get to lazy and tired of crawling, and come up with a full fanned go cart/golf cart

 

[th88]

Congrats on the unique trophy!
I was lucky enough to take two like it in South Carolina back in 2016. LSU was in on the project. Grad student working in it sent me some really neat maps of the birds' movements, including the day I harvested him.

Could you tell us how far the bird traveled and all? That's really interesting. Your bird may show otherwise, but I've seen them go 15 miles from wintering flocks to finding breeding grounds.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My first one had been banded/GPSd about 2 months before I killed him 1.8 miles from the trap site. From March 15 - April 2 (harvest date) he had about a ~325acre range.

The second one had been banded/GPSd over 2 years and was one of the first project birds. He had a 7" beard and 1" spurs at time of banding. 10.25" beard, 1.25" and 1.3125" spurs at harvest. He was killed 1.08 miles from the trap site. What sucks is that the GPS quit working ~3 months after he was fitted with it. Therefore they pretty much lost 2 years of data. But during March-April of the year it still worked, he had a ~1,000 acre range. The most interesting thing about this bird was that I killed him in a plot that he had visited the same day 2 years prior.


The birds were harvested on a highly managed WMA with excellent habitat. They had no need for long distance dispersals.

 

[elknturkey]

Congrats on the unique trophy!
I was lucky enough to take two like it in South Carolina back in 2016. LSU was in on the project. Grad student working in it sent me some really neat maps of the birds' movements, including the day I harvested him.

Could you tell us how far the bird traveled and all? That's really interesting. Your bird may show otherwise, but I've seen them go 15 miles from wintering flocks to finding breeding grounds.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My first one had been banded/GPSd about 2 months before I killed him 1.8 miles from the trap site. From March 15 - April 2 (harvest date) he had about a ~325acre range.

The second one had been banded/GPSd over 2 years and was one of the first project birds. He had a 7" beard and 1" spurs at time of banding. 10.25" beard, 1.25" and 1.3125" spurs at harvest. He was killed 1.08 miles from the trap site. What sucks is that the GPS quit working ~3 months after he was fitted with it. Therefore they pretty much lost 2 years of data. But during March-April of the year it still worked, he had a ~1,000 acre range. The most interesting thing about this bird was that I killed him in a plot that he had visited the same day 2 years prior.


The birds were harvested on a highly managed WMA with excellent habitat. They had no need for long distance dispersals.

That's pretty cool. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Andy S.]

^^^^Ditto, cool scientific data, thanks for sharing.

 

[woodsman04]

Congrats on the unique trophy!
I was lucky enough to take two like it in South Carolina back in 2016. LSU was in on the project. Grad student working in it sent me some really neat maps of the birds' movements, including the day I harvested him.

Could you tell us how far the bird traveled and all? That's really interesting. Your bird may show otherwise, but I've seen them go 15 miles from wintering flocks to finding breeding grounds.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My first one had been banded/GPSd about 2 months before I killed him 1.8 miles from the trap site. From March 15 - April 2 (harvest date) he had about a ~325acre range.

The second one had been banded/GPSd over 2 years and was one of the first project birds. He had a 7" beard and 1" spurs at time of banding. 10.25" beard, 1.25" and 1.3125" spurs at harvest. He was killed 1.08 miles from the trap site. What sucks is that the GPS quit working ~3 months after he was fitted with it. Therefore they pretty much lost 2 years of data. But during March-April of the year it still worked, he had a ~1,000 acre range. The most interesting thing about this bird was that I killed him in a plot that he had visited the same day 2 years prior.


The birds were harvested on a highly managed WMA with excellent habitat. They had no need for long distance dispersals.

Thanks for sharing. I suspect that if the first one you killed had made it to later in the season you may have seen an expanded range, but who knows. With the habitat you describe they may not ever move, but when the hens start setting you never know where you will find one.

Also, I think different birds have different personalities in what they do.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Levee Jumper]

All I know as of now is that the Transmitter had October 2016 on it. Looking at the spurs, I guessed the bird at 4 but hard to tell for sure. I hope to get some info back but it's not looking promising.