Wild Turkey Question(s) i.e. crazy idea I hatched.

[Lois E Brenneman FNP]

I have taken a mind to calling in wild turkey for the purpose of viewing and enjoyment. There are lots of them on my land (40 acres) and I do occasionally see them here and there. I am not planning to shoot any of them - which is not to say that I don't like turkey meat (I do) but that is not what I have in mind. My idea is to buy a crow whistle and bring up a bucket of dried corn via my gator to the part of my land where I know they hang out. I am hoping to train them to come when I blow the crow whistle and eat the corn which I plan to scatter on the ground. I have heard that turkeys "answer" crow and owl calls. Any idea as to whether this idea will work and how to go about doing it? My plan is to train them first to the crow whistle then switch them over to a regular blast whistle (the kind lifeguards use). Is this idea doable or just some crazy notion I have concocted. If this idea is possible, how should I go about training them to come on command?

 

[FarmerDan]

This is funny.....I'm sorry. I'll try to explain when I stop belly laughing. It's not intended as a put down. It's just, umm, your writing style. I really do try to be professional, but, let me find my teeth first, please?

 

[JFK52]

I do not know if your idea will work. One thing I have seen in person is that turkeys will come to a field immediately after a farmer has finished spreading his fresh manure on it. especially in the winter. They pick through the manure looking for any edible tid bits like corn. So this is a type of "Pavlov's dog" response which is exactly what you are proposing.
Let us know how this turns out if you try it.

 

[Tree Spud]

This is funny.....I'm sorry. I'll try to explain when I stop belly laughing. It's not intended as a put down. It's just, umm, your writing style. I really do try to be professional, but, let me find my teeth first, please?

You can't fix ??? no more moonshine ...

 

[Native Hunter]

Instead of a crow whistle, I would train them to come to Eagle's sounds - something like Hotel California or Lyin Eyes........

The truth is you can train them to do anything if no one nearby is hunting them - like for miles away. In several big cities where no one hunts, turkeys are tame pests....Examples in links below:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/life...6288544af98_story.html?utm_term=.7b758e26aa44

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/21/us/wild-turkey-cities.html

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/09/it_was_like_they_were_waiting.html

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/20...er-siege-after-gang-of-wild-turkeys-moves-in/

 

[chickenlittle]

Lois,

When people say turkeys answer to crow calls, it means the turkey makes a gobble in response. Not that they will come looking for the crow. So you if are hunting turkeys and want to know if a gobbler might be nearby, trying a crow call might help.

 

[Lois E Brenneman FNP]

Well, here is the deal - I am sure there are lots of hunters in the area but none that I know of on my acres. I don't patrol it so who knows - they could be up on my back acres or they could not be. It's posted but like I said, I don't patrol it so it could go either way. There is some 500 to 600 undeveloped acres behind me where hunting is permitted - maybe there is some overflow onto my property. I do know a lot of hunters use crow whistles so I was thinking it might put the turkeys at an unfair disadvantage if I train them to a crow whistle. That is why I thought that I would switch them over to a lifeguard-type whistle. Far as I know, no hunter goes into the woods and blasts that sort of whistle. Fact is that everyone is "into" wild animals in a different way. Some like to hunt them. Some like to film/photograph them and some - like me - like to feed them and watch them up close. I try to remain non-judgemental of how people "use" animals - each to his own, as far as that goes.

Now, FarmerDan, if you have found your teeth and gained your composure, any info you have to help me out with this project would be most appreciated. I am not sure I "get" your comments about my writing style. It seems "normal" enough to me. You don't like my writing style?

 

[Native Hunter]

Lois,

When people say turkeys answer to crow calls, it means the turkey makes a gobble in response. Not that they will come looking for the crow. So you if are hunting turkeys and want to know if a gobbler might be nearby, trying a crow call might help.

Exactly. And they will also respond to steamboat whistles, braying donkeys, car horns and about any loud sound....

 

[Native Hunter]

Well, here is the deal - I am sure there are lots of hunters in the area but none that I know of on my acres. I don't patrol it so who knows - they could be up on my back acres or they could not be. It's posted but like I said, I don't patrol it so it could go either way. There is some 500 to 600 undeveloped acres behind me where hunting is permitted - maybe there is some overflow onto my property. I do know a lot of hunters use crow whistles so I was thinking it might put the turkeys at an unfair disadvantage if I train them to a crow whistle. That is why I thought that I would switch them over to a lifeguard-type whistle. Far as I know, no hunter goes into the woods and blasts that sort of whistle. Fact is that everyone is "into" wild animals in a different way. Some like to hunt them. Some like to film/photograph them and some - like me - like to feed them and watch them up close. I try to remain non-judgemental of how people "use" animals - each to his own, as far as that goes.

Now, FarmerDan, if you have found your teeth and gained your composure, any info you have to help me out with this project would be most appreciated. I am not sure I "get" your comments about my writing style. It seems "normal" enough to me. You don't like my writing style?

Lois, with 40 acres and hunting happening on adjoining properties, they are likely not going to get tame enough to come in while you are standing there. However, if you have a fairly secluded spot on your 40, you could probably get them coming to feed there and you could watch them from a hidden location. You could even get a turkey blind and watch them from the blind - hunting without a gun......

 

[Lois E Brenneman FNP]

Chickenlittle, I got that part. I know they just "answer" the crow whistle but I figure I have to start somewhere, no? If I just go up there an blast a lifeguard whistle....well, I don't think much will come of it. Seems to me, I could go up there and spread around some corn, blast a whistle and go away to watch what happens. Overtime, they might make the association. I have got a border collie who I trained to come to a whistle in about 2 seconds but I suppose BCs are just a bit smarter than turkey. Some say turkey are called "flying foxes" cause they are smart. Actually some birds ARE smart. Come to find out that corvids (crows, raven, jays and magpies) have the same intelligence as the great apes. It is as a result of some parallel evolution involving the back of their brains. We and other mammals developed a frontal cortex as the source of our intellect. Ours is larger than other mammals so we are smarter - in theory, anyway. Seems these corvids developed some structure at the back of their head which is analogus and so they can match IQ with gorillas and chimps.

 

[Lois E Brenneman FNP]

Native Hunter, well, exactly - that is what I mean by we all "use" animals in different ways. My "thing" is to corrupt them with food so I can watch them up close. If there is one thing I have learned about animals (including us, for that matter), it is that they all sell out for a price. For animals its food. We have other stakes but when it comes down to it, if we were truly hungry we'd be no differrent. I don't know how much hunting actually happens on adjoining properties - one guy owns all the 500 and 600 acres behnd me and he does permit hunting but I don't know how many hunters actually use his land. I have never seen any of them there. There is 30 acres on one side and 60 acres on the other and I have never seen hunters there, either but, again, who knows. I never go onto those properties and esp not during hunting season where I might be mistaken for a deer. I sort of enjoy life and I would like it to last as long as possible. I hear lots of gunshots all the time but there are two rifle ranges in the area so it is hard to tell.

 

[Lois E Brenneman FNP]

Native Hunter, Well, if what you say is true, then I don't need to bother with the crow whistle. I can just go right into the blast whistle which I already have and which I use for the dog. I was thinking I had to use the crow whistle first but I gather from you, any loud sound will do. As long as we are on this subject, how effective are these turkey calling devises? I was watching guys demonstrate putting some reed structure in their mouths and making turkey sounds. Does not exactly sound easy to do but I suppose I could learn if it were worth my while. Do these devises bring them out?

 

[yoderjac]

It is certainly possible. Wild turkey are very wary creatures. It will take a long time and a lot of conditioning. There are places where turkey have learned that people are not a threat and can even be aggressive showing signs of dominance. This is uncommon but possible. If it was not possible, the turkey would have never been domesticated.

The easiest way is to use a blind. I would choose a sound that is not associated with nature. A dog whistle may work. You want something they don't often hear in other situations. You want them to associate it with feed. Blow your whistle and broadcast the corn while you are visible then leave. I'd set up a trail camera to see if and when turkey are responding. I would try to do it at the same time every day.

After a couple months of this when the trail camera tells you turkey are responding fairly regularly, start sitting in your blind. Don't leave the blind while they are present. After a few months of that, try sitting motionless in front of your blind. After a few months of that, start moving very slightly, just an occasional wiggle of the fingers. Eventually increase the movement. Over time, and it may take quite a bit of time, the birds will no longer see you as a threat.

I don't think this is practical, but it is possible.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[yoderjac]

Native Hunter, Well, if what you say is true, then I don't need to bother with the crow whistle. I can just go right into the blast whistle which I already have and which I use for the dog. I was thinking I had to use the crow whistle first but I gather from you, any loud sound will do. As long as we are on this subject, how effective are these turkey calling devises? I was watching guys demonstrate putting some reed structure in their mouths and making turkey sounds. Does not exactly sound easy to do but I suppose I could learn if it were worth my while. Do these devises bring them out?

Turkey calls are simply used to imitate the sounds turkey make. Their response is quite varied and largely based on context. See my post above. You want a sound not associated with anything else, kind of like the bell Pavlov used with his dogs.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

Your plan can work. I turkey hunt on my land and have a neighbor 100 yards away who feeds the same turkeys I try to shoot. On my land these turkeys are spooky and wild. In his yard the same birds line up like chickens to be fed and strut in his yard while he walks around 10 yards away with his corn bucket. He seems to shake the corn bucket to draw them in. This neighbor has been feeding critters in his yard for decades, so I'm sure it has taken generations of animals to get that tame. But it is definitely possible even in heavily hunted areas.

 

[Lois E Brenneman FNP]

Yoderjac,

OK This information is very helpful. In fact, the land is such that what you are suggesting is not all that hard to do. So I guess the turkey, then, are sort of like any other wild bird - ever afraid and ever flying off. It is not like the birds at the feeders get tame but the chipmunks and squirrels do. The jays do to a limited extent. Hmmmmm........that makes sense. I am getting a better handle on this whole thing, thanks to your comments. So now getting back to the whole turkey calling devises - DO they, in fact, come when appropriate sounds are made? Is this something worth learning?

 

[Native Hunter]

Native Hunter, Well, if what you say is true, then I don't need to bother with the crow whistle. I can just go right into the blast whistle which I already have and which I use for the dog. I was thinking I had to use the crow whistle first but I gather from you, any loud sound will do. As long as we are on this subject, how effective are these turkey calling devises? I was watching guys demonstrate putting some reed structure in their mouths and making turkey sounds. Does not exactly sound easy to do but I suppose I could learn if it were worth my while. Do these devises bring them out?

Remember, the loud sound (whistle or whatever) is to get the turkey to gobble (referred to as shock gobbling) - it is not to get the turkey to come. Loud sounds get them to gobble so that you will know where they are.

The reeds you are talking about (as well as other types of turkey calls) are indeed to get birds to come to you. They are effective but turkeys also become "call shy" when they hear hunter do this for a while and associate the sounds with danger from hunters.

You don't need any sounds or calls. You just need to start feeding at a location where they feel safe. Then, you find a good hiding place and watch them.

Before you do anything like this, check your state regulations on putting out food. In some places you can get in trouble at certain times of the year - even if you aren't shooting the birds.

 

[chickenlittle]

Also, welcome back to to the forum Lois. How are your fruit trees doing?

 

[Lois E Brenneman FNP]

Ben, now your comments are REALLY interesting information. How can turkeys or any wild animal possibly be smart enough to make such distinctions? How can they know that YOU will hunt them and he will feed them? How can they possibly understand about property lines and shooting. Once the animal is shot, he is dead so how can he "learn" anything? Dead is dead, no? I never understood that part of it. I have heard that animals "know" where it is safe and where they are hunted. How?

 

[Lois E Brenneman FNP]

Chickenlittle, Thanks for remembering me. The fruit tries are doing very well. I am up to my a__ in apples - same with blueberries. I am getting into food preservation - canning, drying, freezing. My husband fenced in the garden because with so many deer running around the place, there was no other way I could get anything to eat. With fencing, we got tomatoes, corn, cabbage, greens, etc. Otherwise, Bambi gets it all. There is no way around it. With so many deer, you gotta fence the trees and the plants. My neighbor does not fence his new apple trees and he can never get them to an age where they fruit. Most of mine are large enough that we can take the fencing off. Same with the blueberries - fenced and put balloons up to scare the birds - it works.

BTW, The latest "thing" I have gotten into - growing-wise - is this whole deal about "winter sowing" thing. I was skeptical, at first but it works like a charm. I bought some plastic domes and other equipment and put them out in the dead of winter, last year - the results were fantastic. Come spring, I was up to my a___ in transplants, as well - supplied the whole neighborhood. This method really works and it does not matter how much snow you get. Last March, we had 36 inch in one storm alone and the domes were buried for literally weeks on end in snow. No matter, come spring, the plants are ready to go. It truly works.