OG shop member gallery
OldGobbler
          bullet Forum Board      bullet Pushpin Turkey Call Blog      bullet Advertising Info     

OG Gear Store
PATCHES


Sum Toy
Dave Smith
Wood Haven
North Mountain Gear
North Mountain Gear
turkeys for tomorrow






Author Topic: How will turkeys respond to prescribed burning?  (Read 6634 times)

Offline WNCTracker

  • Longbeard
  • ****
  • Posts: 1201
How will turkeys respond to prescribed burning?
« on: February 09, 2016, 10:11:57 AM »
One of my favorite public lands is up for prescribed burning in a month. I'm not sure I understand the reasoning in WMA but I'm sure it helps in the long run. But in the short term is it Good or bad for spring food sources?

Offline BigGobbler

  • Hero Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 450
  • BigGobblerCalls
Re: How will turkeys respond to prescribed burning?
« Reply #1 on: February 09, 2016, 10:45:38 AM »
Let's just say "burn they will come" They will thrive from burns nothing is better other than food plots. That's the place to be when the new shoots start to green up its like a magnet.

Offline WNCTracker

  • Longbeard
  • ****
  • Posts: 1201
How will turkeys respond to prescribed burning?
« Reply #2 on: February 09, 2016, 10:52:18 AM »
I like the sound of that

Offline nativeks

  • The Boss Gobbler
  • ****
  • Posts: 654
Re: How will turkeys respond to prescribed burning?
« Reply #3 on: February 12, 2016, 01:17:34 PM »
I used to work for the USFWS on a prescribed fire crew. We would be going back to check the burn the next day and turkeys would already be in there. Burning my place first week of April.

Offline smalls

  • Full Member
  • *
  • Posts: 99
How will turkeys respond to prescribed burning?
« Reply #4 on: February 12, 2016, 09:50:30 PM »
Turkeys love burns.  If they do it close enough to the season, I would be all over that area.  Fresh burns and clearcuts are fantastic places to look for turkeys.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk


Offline Double B

  • Longbeard
  • ****
  • Posts: 1050
Re: How will turkeys respond to prescribed burning?
« Reply #5 on: February 12, 2016, 10:27:16 PM »
Killed my gobbler out of a prescribed burn last year in the HNF.  Watched them burn it in March and took him out in early May.  If they are doing a timber harvest that's not necessarily a bad thing either.
Followed by buzzards

Offline trkehunr93

  • Double Beard
  • *****
  • Posts: 2063
  • BOOM!! FLOP!!
Re: How will turkeys respond to prescribed burning?
« Reply #6 on: April 26, 2016, 03:32:28 PM »
Hunted a chunk of private land for a few years that was burned by a fire that started in an illegal tire dump, one of the best places I've ever hunted.  It had been clear cut in the 70's then caught fire in 2002, result was lots of dead gobblers for the four years I was able to hunt it.  I hunt a place now that was clear cut in 2014 and it has only gotten better in my opinion, thinning timber and prescribed burning are better than food plots IMO.

Offline KW Land Works

  • Jr. Member
  • *
  • Posts: 2
    • KW Land Works
Re: How will turkeys respond to prescribed burning?
« Reply #7 on: May 12, 2017, 05:06:41 PM »
I don't know what it is about burned land but turkeys always seem to scratch it up after we burn.  I guess it's easy gettin. 

I suspect they co-evolved with the South Eastern US's landscape.  www.kwlandworks.com/conservation check out that link for some history on fire ecology. 
KW Land Works - Forestry Mulching, Brush and Tree Clearing Pensacola, Dothan, Tallahassee and beyond.

http://www.kwlandworks.com/forestry-mulching.html

Offline huntstat

  • Jr. Member
  • *
  • Posts: 2
Re: How will turkeys respond to prescribed burning?
« Reply #8 on: February 15, 2021, 04:31:48 PM »
My hunt club has a burn rotation for the property. Works out that each segment of property gets burned every three years. Now after doing this for 15 years we have more deer, turkey, quail, and miscellaneous small game consistently from year to year. Wish I could take credit for it but we have a game biologist that does a property consult on request and makes suggestions that we pretty much follow. I have heard him say many times that fire is one of the best game management tools.

Offline 3chunter

  • Hero Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 349
Re: How will turkeys respond to prescribed burning?
« Reply #9 on: February 18, 2021, 07:13:39 PM »
I wouldn’t burn after April 1.  Just my opinion. 
1.  You will mess up a hen that started laying
2. The place you burn takes out less habitat for that hen to nest

I never understand while people wait until April.  You can burn august thru March.  That’s 8 months of window.

Offline Sasha and Abby

  • Sr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 110
Re: How will turkeys respond to prescribed burning?
« Reply #10 on: February 19, 2021, 07:07:46 AM »
I've killed birds that had to walk through smoke to come in...  they love a fresh burn...

Offline MK M GOBL

  • Double Beard
  • *****
  • Posts: 2159
  • Gobbler Guru
Re: How will turkeys respond to prescribed burning?
« Reply #11 on: February 19, 2021, 08:22:00 AM »
Most burns here in WI are done right after the snow is out or shortly after, and a magnet for all kinds of animals. Turkeys will be on it while it's still smoking, they are picking through the ash for bugs and seeds, then the greens come in. When ever we can hunt them we do.


MK M GOBL

Offline ChesterCopperpot

  • 2024 SITE SUPPORTER
  • Double Beard
  • ********
  • Posts: 2022
Re: How will turkeys respond to prescribed burning?
« Reply #12 on: February 19, 2021, 08:23:49 AM »
The burns should definitely be timed so as not to affect nesting. That said, turkeys will be in a burn the next day. Just ask Forest Service workers who monitor burn areas. I hunt burns pretty much every year. Killed plenty with feet black with ash. Honestly I think they walk around that place like a barbecue for a few days snacking on all the burned up bugs.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk