Gobbler on the move ...

[Greg Massey]

In a day how much ground do you think a gobbler will cover ?  Spring

[MK M GOBL]

Only as far as my gun...

LOL

I'd guess to ask are you talking spring hunting season?

MK M GOBL

[Greg Massey]

Only as far as my gun...

LOL

I'd guess to ask are you talking spring hunting season?

MK M GOBL

yes spring

[Tail Feathers]

I seem to recall reading that it was up to three miles a day.
I wouldn't be surprised if it were higher for some of those Merriams and Rios in open country.

[MK M GOBL]

I'd also think it is dependent on where these birds live, in my experience the birds out west really seemed to travel and probably have a bigger area they roam. I'm here in WI and you add in breeding season, a dominant bird chasing hens all day long would guess to say 5-7 miles...

I would think some states wildlife agencies have probably tracked a few birds and could look up a report.

What's your guess?

MK M GOBL

[Rapscallion Vermilion]

I'd also think it is dependent on where these birds live, in my experience the birds out west really seemed to travel and probably have a bigger area they roam. I'm here in WI and you add in breeding season, a dominant bird chasing hens all day long would guess to say 5-7 miles...

I would think some states wildlife agencies have probably tracked a few birds and could look up a report.

What's your guess?

MK M GOBL

Here is a link to one of those studies during the spring.  Table I on the 4th page gives data for 13 Easterns in Louisiana and 5 Rios in Texas.  Average was 2.3 miles for the Easterns and 2.9 miles for the Rios, but the max distances were nearly 5 miles for an Eastern and 7 miles for a Rio.  So all in all in good agreement with all your estimates.

https://www.lotek.com/2015-Minitrack-uGPS-Wild-Turkey.pdf

[silvestris]

An Eastern preferred male with an intact harem will often travel little in excellent habitat, unless disturbed.

[strutnva]

An Eastern preferred male with an intact harem will often travel little in excellent habitat, unless disturbed.

I would agree with this, when a bird has a bunch of hens around, my feeling is his movement is not very far at all and tends to roost in a similar location from day to day unless spooked.  His travel route might be a mile or two but he won't get to far from his core area that has most of his lady friends.

[Bigeclipse]

I'd also think it is dependent on where these birds live, in my experience the birds out west really seemed to travel and probably have a bigger area they roam. I'm here in WI and you add in breeding season, a dominant bird chasing hens all day long would guess to say 5-7 miles...

I would think some states wildlife agencies have probably tracked a few birds and could look up a report.

What's your guess?

MK M GOBL

Here is a link to one of those studies during the spring.  Table I on the 4th page gives data for 13 Easterns in Louisiana and 5 Rios in Texas.  Average was 2.3 miles for the Easterns and 2.9 miles for the Rios, but the max distances were nearly 5 miles for an Eastern and 7 miles for a Rio.  So all in all in good agreement with all your estimates.

https://www.lotek.com/2015-Minitrack-uGPS-Wild-Turkey.pdf

couldn't open the study but is it saying they travel those distances "away" from where they may roost OR that is how much ground they cover as in...maybe they travel only half a mile but they walk all over the place within that half mile making it 2-5 total miles of walking? I find it hard to believe a tom moves 2-5 miles away from where he might roost (assuming the hens nearby were not driven away) but I am by no means a great turkey hunter.

[Gobble!]

I could easily see a five mile round trip.

[Rapscallion Vermilion]

I'd also think it is dependent on where these birds live, in my experience the birds out west really seemed to travel and probably have a bigger area they roam. I'm here in WI and you add in breeding season, a dominant bird chasing hens all day long would guess to say 5-7 miles...

I would think some states wildlife agencies have probably tracked a few birds and could look up a report.

What's your guess?

MK M GOBL

Here is a link to one of those studies during the spring.  Table I on the 4th page gives data for 13 Easterns in Louisiana and 5 Rios in Texas.  Average was 2.3 miles for the Easterns and 2.9 miles for the Rios, but the max distances were nearly 5 miles for an Eastern and 7 miles for a Rio.  So all in all in good agreement with all your estimates.

https://www.lotek.com/2015-Minitrack-uGPS-Wild-Turkey.pdf

couldn't open the study but is it saying they travel those distances "away" from where they may roost OR that is how much ground they cover as in...maybe they travel only half a mile but they walk all over the place within that half mile making it 2-5 total miles of walking? I find it hard to believe a tom moves 2-5 miles away from where he might roost (assuming the hens nearby were not driven away) but I am by no means a great turkey hunter.

Those are total distances traveled along their path.  The study also monitored distances between consecutive roost sites.  Those varied from hardly any change at all to extremes of over a mile from one day to the next, with the averages being much less than a mile.