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Winter flocks

catman529

catman529

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How are yalls birds looking this year? Seems they are doing great on the public land, lots of winter flocks. They seem to know when they're safe, and seem to disperse pretty well in time for spring season, so enough of them carry through each year after everyone hunts the crap outta them.


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I saw turkeys scattered about while hunting but I did have 2 regular flocks of 9 hens and 11 gobblers that stayed together constantly.

What's the most birds you've seen in a flock? Years ago when I hunted Anderson Tully on 2 different occasions in 2 different locations there were about 250 birds in each flock. One of these I saw coming across the field towards me so I just hunkered down just inside the woods and every single bird filed by me. Really neat being that close to so many and picking out the gobblers I'd have shot if the season had of been open.
 
Haven't seen a turkey since October 22nd.

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But I'm believing that this past years hatch was a good one. Maybe good gobbling in 2018, with a lot of vigorous healthy two year old gobblers and hens reproducing like crazy, to help my areas rebound.

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Mike Belt":3fdnm0bd said:
I saw turkeys scattered about while hunting but I did have 2 regular flocks of 9 hens and 11 gobblers that stayed together constantly.

What's the most birds you've seen in a flock? Years ago when I hunted Anderson Tully on 2 different occasions in 2 different locations there were about 250 birds in each flock. One of these I saw coming across the field towards me so I just hunkered down just inside the woods and every single bird filed by me. Really neat being that close to so many and picking out the gobblers I'd have shot if the season had of been open.
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I can't count as many birds as I see but have counted some of them before... in one place I will see several smaller flocks in the same field totaling anywhere from 100 to 200+ birds, depending on the day.
 
205 and 15 deer all in the same field. This was in Feb of 99. By the opener, twra had trapped 150 of those birds and located them to parts else where
 
a couple over 300 birds in one winter flock back in the late 90's...

same farm now when they bunch up in a big field will have 25-30 at the most.
 
megalomaniac":uddinhj4 said:
a couple over 300 birds in one winter flock back in the late 90's...

same farm now when they bunch up in a big field will have 25-30 at the most.
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I know how that is.


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Still haven't seen a turkey since October. And I have been riding the country side alot the past couple weeks through Giles, Lawrence and Wayne during work.

I always say,
"I can't believe the turkeys are nearly gone."

I have seen four bald eagles though. Two in giles and two in Lawrence.
Wonder if they have a big effect?

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Woodsman10":33utptm9 said:
I have seen four bald eagles though.
Wonder if they have a big effect?
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They are definitely hunting and killing turkeys, and I'm seeing them farther inland with increasing frequency, often sitting in trees near large wintering turkey flocks. I have seen them dive on turkeys (even turkey decoys), seen them eating what appeared to be turkey, but have yet to see one actually kill a turkey in real time.

As I see them with increasing frequency in areas far from water, but favored by turkeys, what else could these eagles be purposefully hunting when they sit in trees on the edge of a field?

I don't think the effect is "big" (yet), but do think they're increasingly preying on turkeys.
However, if a single eagle removed "a" turkey from a winter flock just once a week, might go little noticed by us, yet would be significant predation?
 
Clearly, the bald eagles are communicating with the aliens that have carried all the turkeys up in their spaceships :)

But seriously, I do wonder how much aerial predators can affect the population. I suspect not very much. For some reason, turkeys seem to always keep one eye to the sky, and they can really scatter even when just a buzzard flies over. I know my pet wilds flip out and run for cover when the c-130's fly low overhead. I bet 1000x more poults are lost to coons, possums, coyotes, bobcats, house dogs and cats than to hawks, owls, and eagles. Of all the aerial predators, I would suspect Cooper's hawks do the most damage due to their maneuverability and ability to hunt in woods.
 
megalomaniac":2y0gitl7 said:
Clearly, the bald eagles are communicating with the aliens that have carried all the turkeys up in their spaceships :)

But seriously, I do wonder how much aerial predators can affect the population. I suspect not very much. For some reason, turkeys seem to always keep one eye to the sky, and they can really scatter even when just a buzzard flies over. I know my pet wilds flip out and run for cover when the c-130's fly low overhead. I bet 1000x more poults are lost to coons, possums, coyotes, bobcats, house dogs and cats than to hawks, owls, and eagles. Of all the aerial predators, I would suspect Cooper's hawks do the most damage due to their maneuverability and ability to hunt in woods.
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I agree with this. The bald eagle though maybe the only bird of prey that can take out a grown turkey. Horned owls I suspect may can too.

We had a little meeting with the Alabama turkey biologist and according to thier research, dogs destroyed the most nest.
Also a thing to note, mongrel dogs will chase, harass and kill for fun.
Something the other predators don't do.

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megalomaniac":eh1s5vwc said:
Of all the aerial predators, I would suspect Cooper's hawks do the most damage due to their maneuverability and ability to hunt in woods.
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Certainly agree with that.
But also believe all the hawk species combined take out significant numbers of younger poults, especially until those poults become about 2/3 grown. Turkeys have excellent eyesight and reaction times, but can be no match for a red-tailed hawk (or an eagle) when the turkey is over 50 yards from any cover before it reacts.

Turkeys more accustomed to coyote/bobcat/dog predation may feel "safe" in the middle of big fields, since they can then see any approaching animal, and easily escape. But such a situation would just make them much more vulnerable to an eagle, and in the case of younger turkeys, any species of hawk.

I also believe owls kill a significant number of very young poults, and possibly (at night) full-grown birds on the roost.
 
I hunt around all kinds of hawks, owls, eagles, and public hunting land...and the turkey population is fine. Sure the birds of prey might snatch one up here and there, but they can't be the reason for a sudden huge decline like some areas have seen. There are many other small critters we can't see in those fields the eagles are watching.


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catman529":2tjigjyo said:
I hunt around all kinds of hawks, owls, eagles, and public hunting land...and the turkey population is fine. Sure the birds of prey might snatch one up here and there, but they can't be the reason for a sudden huge decline like some areas have seen. There are many other small critters we can't see in those fields the eagles are watching.


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I don't think anyone is saying that they are the reason.

We will all just have to wait and see how April unfolds

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Woodsman10":1itjmeo0 said:
catman529":1itjmeo0 said:
I hunt around all kinds of hawks, owls, eagles, and public hunting land...and the turkey population is fine. Sure the birds of prey might snatch one up here and there, but they can't be the reason for a sudden huge decline like some areas have seen. There are many other small critters we can't see in those fields the eagles are watching.


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Click to expand...
I don't think anyone is saying that they are the reason.

We will all just have to wait and see how April unfolds

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I'm hoping it's a good year for gobbling... I know the birds are there, bumped a big flock of hens and poults this afternoon
 

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