Holding birds over the winter

[Hunt 365]

Does anyone subscribe to the theory of holding turkeys over the winter with corn feeders? My lease partner wants to, but I don't want to feed raccoons expensive cracked corn all winter. In the spring the birds are going to be scattered anyway. Thoughts?

 

[megalomaniac]

Unfortunately, this just doesn't work... because winter and spring nesting habitats are so different from one another, there is just no point in supplemental feeding turkeys in the winter to try to hold them on your property during the spring. The large winter flocks will still roam miles away from your feeder. It IS possible to get some hens to identify and possibly increase nesting on your property by supplemental feeding them right before turkey season starts... however, I STRONGLY recommend you do not supplement with corn due to the risk of aflatoxin... get a batch of corn with it, and you can poison every turkey that hits it and decimate your local population.

Better off to improve your local habitat (ponds and water sources are your best bang for the buck... hens need a LOT of water when they are producing eggs in the spring) to increase the attractiveness of your property to nesting spring hens.

 

[woodsman87]

Futile to do. Yes you will have turkeys there everyday probably, until the hens have to move to find nesting habitat.

They will all split up. Some will stay though, if there is good nesting habitat. Also a good chance of getting them early season.

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[Hunt 365]

Thanks guys. I agree. If he wants to waste his time and $ so be it. I'm going to put my effort into food plots and frost seeding clover

 

[SKFOOTER]

I disagree to a point. I have run corn filled Moultrie feeders from late January to mid-March for several years along with game cameras to attract and hold turkeys and to allow me to determine how many long beards I have using the area. And I will continue to do so.

 

[Roost 1]

Whether or not it's a good idea I don't know, but it works.... If you have nesting habitat as well it really works.. I have a buddy that feeds grain to his cows year round, he has turkeys year round. In the fall and winter he won't have many gobblers just mostly hens, but come March look out the gobblers show up in numbers...agricultural practice, perfectly legal.