Oh well, we just had 35 inches of snow in the Nor'Easter in New Jersey. It is a record in my town. This winter has been easy up until this 2 day storm. I was wondering what the forums thoughts were on how this might affect our turkeys? I walked in my yard, and with drifts, it was real tough. I can't imagine being a turkey. Be safe, spring hopefully around the corner.....
sounds like they are going into it in good shape, if it doesn't last an extended period of time or get a nasty crsut of ice on it they should do fine.
The turkeys should be fine. After the snow settles, the turkeys will be able to walk right on top of it. Turkeys also can fly btw. :) They will fly from tree to tree if need be, eating what they can find in the treetops. Turkeys are very resourceful during these times and will also travel long distances to find food, cattle farms, crab apple trees, standing crop fields for example.
Quote from: Dtrkyman on February 04, 2021, 09:25:58 AM
sounds like they are going into it in good shape, if it doesn't last an extended period of time or get a nasty crsut of ice on it they should do fine.
Yes, I am hoping it melts fast.....
Quote from: simpzenith on February 04, 2021, 09:33:41 AM
The turkeys should be fine. After the snow settles, the turkeys will be able to walk right on top of it. Turkeys also can fly btw. :) They will fly from tree to tree if need be, eating what they can find in the treetops. Turkeys are very resourceful during these times and will also travel long distances to find food, cattle farms, crab apple trees, standing crop fields for example.
Wish it didn't snow, been an easy winter so far.....be safe
Here in ny neck of the woods we haven't seen bare ground in a month. Currently have about 12-14 inches. Turkeys for the most part will be fine though. They will find areas that have blocked snow and pick up what they can in the trees.
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I have only witness one real snow or ice condition here in North Georgia's highest mountains, which was in 1960, when those mountains had over twenty inches of sleet, not snow and the next week twelve inches of snow came on top of that ice bed which would not melt, and the third week six more inches of more snow.
I was involved working with the game & fish dept. that was hauling corn in sucks to wildlife along some roads. However, the turkeys were seen working in water springs that were not frozen over completely No one found any dead turkeys and the population seem alright after the thaw came .
Great news, can't wait till this stuff melts....be safe
Pretty sure I read somewhere they can survive in temp down to 100 degrees below the freezing point or in layman's terms -58 degrees. Brrrr.... That's cold. We are going to shoot for it here in Mn this weekend but should fall short at only about -15.
Wow, crack open a cold one and watch some football....
We've got so much snow around here, I saw turkeys flying south with the Canada geese.
26"s in my area of New York. After 6 days gone,this morning g,I had 6 of the 21 Wild Turkeys that,I feed come back.
4 Jake's and 2 Jennies. I have a area shoveled out for them. Breakfast of unsalted Sunflower Seeds,Birdseed, and unsalted- dry roasted peanuts.
These 6 Young Turkeys are putting on weight and look great after the Noreaster.
Still waiting on the 5 mature Hen and 10 Gobblers to show up soon.
Great news......
Let some of the boys from Wisconsin jump into this one. They experience some of the deepest snows and coldest temps during their winters and they seem to have a good population from year to year. Not uncommon to have 24 inches of snow on the ground and -20 to -30 temps.
Quote from: bbcoach on February 05, 2021, 05:38:05 PM
Let some of the boys from Wisconsin jump into this one. They experience some of the deepest snows and coldest temps during their winters and they seem to have a good population from year to year. Not uncommon to have 24 inches of snow on the ground and -20 to -30 temps.
Love to hear from them...
Quote from: Tom007 on February 05, 2021, 07:09:47 PM
Quote from: bbcoach on February 05, 2021, 05:38:05 PM
Let some of the boys from Wisconsin jump into this one. They experience some of the deepest snows and coldest temps during their winters and they seem to have a good population from year to year. Not uncommon to have 24 inches of snow on the ground and -20 to -30 temps.
Love to hear from them...
2 years ago i was driving to work and it was -35. never experienced anything like that. -15, -20 sure, but that was nuts. i don't mind COLD. i hate cold with wind. don't know how people make it throught dakota winters. i feel like numbers were down the last few years but i think that has more to do with predators. bobcats and panthers showing up more and more along with more racoons than ever in my experience
where i live in wisconsin it's essentially mountainous. i wonder if birds stay down in the ravines and valleys to get out of the wind. i don't know, i don't venture out when it's that cold out
Quote from: bbcoach on February 05, 2021, 05:38:05 PM
Let some of the boys from Wisconsin jump into this one. They experience some of the deepest snows and coldest temps during their winters and they seem to have a good population from year to year. Not uncommon to have 24 inches of snow on the ground and -20 to -30 temps.
Already jumped in. ;D
About 20 years ago we had late April snowstorm that dumped over 20" on northeast NY, about a week before the May 1 opener. I went out on snowshoes and found where a tom had flown down and proceeded to strut back and forth in the deep snow... actually cleared out a path for himself.
Another time I was waiting for a friend at a parking lot to go out ice fishing in early January, still dark and about 0 degrees. Had the window cracked and heard a gobble, then several more from where they were roosted in some pines across the road.
Quote from: bbcoach on February 05, 2021, 05:38:05 PM
Let some of the boys from Wisconsin jump into this one. They experience some of the deepest snows and coldest temps during their winters and they seem to have a good population from year to year. Not uncommon to have 24 inches of snow on the ground and -20 to -30 temps.
I'll chime in. I am not from Wis but I have turkey hunted there fall & spring since 2006 and have a cabin up north there. I pay attention to the turkeys there along with other game. I also have a friend, Charlie Elk, in Wis, Shane (simpzenith) knows him too. He is a keen observer and pays a LOT of attention to turkeys all year long.
Back in 2012 (I think, give or take a year anyways) there was a really bad winter in Wis. Freezing rain first, then deep snow followed by a long long stretch of cold with no relief. Lots of deer died in that winter but the turkeys actually fared better, However there was still a die off of turkeys, just not as bad as the deer. Turkeys are quite adaptable and just plain tough. Turkeys up north would feed on Tag Alders, a shrub-like tree that grows to 25 to 30 feet high. Many of the branches grow more horizontal. Turkeys fly to the Tag Alders and feed on the catkins as they remain above the snow. They can also feed in other trees/shrubs on buds & catkins. Charlie Elk observed some birds, in near zero temps, feeding on the greens in warm water seeps. They would dip there heads under the water to get at the green vegetation underneath.
During prolonged storms/extreme weather turkeys will just remain in trees and not feed at all for days on end. I have read they can survive about 10 days to 2 weeks before the drop dead out of the trees depending on temps & wind. And them dropping dead out of trees been observed.
Turkeys can also migrate several miles (15 to 20 is common and who knows how far they may go) to find an area where food is at least less scarce. Charlie Elk once observed a very large flock of turkeys flying unusually high. This was during some bad winter weather and he believed they migrated to another area as the turkeys were absent after that in areas where he would usually see them. Turkeys were back in those areas once the weather got relatively milder.
What it boils down to is it takes more than one storm to cause a significant die off of turkeys. Usually some combination of factors...extreme cold, wind, deep snow, ice, and over a good amount of time. But just because there isn't a large die off from extreme weather doesn't mean it can't affect the turkey population. Weather can cause stress in the birds and cause disease or the hens may come into the breeding season in a weakened state and not produce as many young birds as they normally would.