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Turkey Biology ?s

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BowGuy84

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So, Im not the most experienced turkey hunter. I limited last year but I think it was mostly a factor of having primo land to hunt and not blowing opportunities.

My questions are about turkey biology:

1) Will turkeys (toms) fill a void where other toms are killed? Of of one 160 acre track we killed 3 mature gobblers and my buddy killed a jake last season

2) Do turkeys move ranges during the calander year, and during the spring season for mating?

These are probably elementary, but I'm an elementary turkey hunter. Thanks and have a good one.
 
Yes to the first question..... The wife and I are blessed to get to hunt a place for the past two years.... we hunt the same tree... there have been 3 gobblers killed from that same tree in the same spot... 2 in the same season and only weeks apart... they all roosted in the same area and 2 from the same exact roosting tree.

I think the range movement is more food related where I hunt.... from acorns in the woods during the fall & winter.... to the fields and crop lands in the spring and summer where they feed on bugs and grains....
 
I to was just thinking about winter range and spring range. Last spring there was a ton of turkeys on a farm I hunt in Va since about first to middle of October they have been non existent I truly hope they come back for the spring
 
I did quite a few studies on turkeys back in college (was in the forestry and wildlife biology field) but most of that was based on alabama flocks however the same logic should still apply to TN.

1. yes and no, most of it depends on the flock size and terrain as well as pressure and habitat. Mother nature has a way of leveling the playing field so to speak when it comes to sex of hatch-lings. if you have a flock of say 30 birds in a given area where 3 are toms and those 3 are killed a few scenarios can happen based on surrounding flocks. if there are other flocks on adjacent properties with higher number of toms then there is a good chance some of those will cross over to mate with the hens left on area A, however if there is not a significant number of toms in the surrounding areas fighting to breed then the hens will A)leave to find a mate or B) go unmated for the season. there is a bunch more that goes into this but trying to keep this pretty vague not knowing all the facts of the area.

2. turkeys have 2 main ranges summer and winter. In some areas if the habitat can sustain it they can be the same or overlap into the same. however in a lot of cases they are totally different areas. in addition depending on habitat they can have multiple ranges for a given year (spring, summer, fall and winter). it all comes down to bird numbers, habitat size and sustainable food sources. in addition come spring mating is the main thing on their mind so the ranges this time of year can get stretched and out of the norm. You will find times where you have roaming toms that will cover large areas trying to find hens as well. Ranges can be impacted but a bunch of different aspects such as food (which is the main one), nesting areas, brooding areas, cover and predator pressure just to name a few.
 

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