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Severe Storms

Andy S.

Andy S.

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I would expect them to roost in the deep valleys (gorge, ravine, etc) that would shield them from most of the wind. This has always been the case when I have hunted them in steep terrain after a bad stormy or windy night. This would not apply in bottom land, only hilly terrain like middle and east TN.
 
I figure they roost where they roost and if they get blown off the limb they just stay put on the ground till morning.
 
it is a very interesting topic for sure and as far as i know no one truly knows. I did some research when i was in college about what turkeys do during the night when really bad stuff hits.

at the time there was no data on the topic (this was in 96) so we did a 3 week study with little translated data to support a particular topic.

what i did find was in certain nights of very high wind and rain some would actually fly down and ride it out on the ground during the night. in a few other nights the birds would just climb down to lower limbs and ride it out in the tree. A turkey has a tendon in its foot that basically LOCKS them to the tree so they can sleep during the night and not fall out. Same thing applys during a very bad storm. this was all done in Auburn AL so hollows and terrain do not really help them. as far as i know not much other studies have been done on what turkeys really do during the night.

anyways thats what we found (the simple version at least)
 
it was a neat study to do and i really enjoyed doing it. When the wind would get really bad you would see them start moving over to bigger stronger limbs and shifting more to the base of the limb rather then the outer section of it. the ones that went to the ground would just clump together and tuck their heads up into their wings almost like ducks do when they are sleeping. In addition they would migrate to any dead fall or other structure that would block wind or rain if it was around.

they are not stupid birds thats for sure but plenty are killed each year by lightning and falling limbs/trees in the night.
 
REN said:
it is a very interesting topic for sure and as far as i know no one truly knows. I did some research when i was in college about what turkeys do during the night when really bad stuff hits.

at the time there was no data on the topic (this was in 96) so we did a 3 week study with little translated data to support a particular topic.

what i did find was in certain nights of very high wind and rain some would actually fly down and ride it out on the ground during the night. in a few other nights the birds would just climb down to lower limbs and ride it out in the tree. A turkey has a tendon in its foot that basically LOCKS them to the tree so they can sleep during the night and not fall out. Same thing applys during a very bad storm. this was all done in Auburn AL so hollows and terrain do not really help them. as far as i know not much other studies have been done on what turkeys really do during the night.

anyways thats what we found (the simple version at least)
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Did you find that they did less gobbling the day after fighting the wind all night?
 
not really but we were not doing any correlated research on that subject, but being a hunter i tried to take notice.

I really seemed to be dependent on the storm and how long it lasted into the night/next day. on nights that they were forced to separate a bit there was average to above average gobbling the next day if the storm passed during the night and did not go up till sunrise. I could never really make a good data from it though as i didnt have very good control data to use to determine how much they gobbled on average during ideal days.

there are a ton of variables you would have to take into account to really formulate that one....wind day before vs morning after storm...when did the storm start vs finish each time...temp change in a 24 hour period ect...
 
One of my hunting buddies grew up in Randolph county next door to Lee County, Auburn, and he said tha old timers down there said the birds gobbled less after a high wind night because they were worn out. Makes some sense although I could see gobbling to regroup with their hens after winds have split them up at night.
 
Ha, one time a few years ago, We had toronadoes and high winds the next morning i had a bird on the ground at six o clock on the money. The toronadoes had blew him out of the tree and broke both legs so it was a pretty easy stalk. lol
 
Rockhound said:
Ha, one time a few years ago, We had toronadoes and high winds the next morning i had a bird on the ground at six o clock on the money. The toronadoes had blew him out of the tree and broke both legs so it was a pretty easy stalk. lol
Click to expand...

Hmmm, that may explain something. My hunting partner killed a big bird this morning. After the storms last night, he went out at day break today. No gobbles, no hen sounds. He was about to call it a day and caught 3 strutters in the woods on his way out. He crept up close and called them into range. He killed a 25 pound, 10 inch beard, 1.25" spur bird. He got home to clean it and found a broken wing and a broken leg and the tail busted up good. We figured it might have been hit by a car, but maybe it just got blown out of the tree.
 
My brother joking around with me said it was unethical, i should have left him for the yotes. I said no he tasted just fine.
 
My buddy called me at 7:30 this am and said he killed a pretty good bird this morning. Rain, lightning, thunder, and all.
 

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