You can't convince me that turkeys don't have the best sense of smell on the planet. I do not have a high population of turkeys, they are not a daily observation on trail cam but if I plant so much as a single seed they are there within hours.
I did some throw and mow and radishes into spring planted clover oats and decided to top dress some peas because why not. I barely made it back to the barn before turkeys materialized and camped til dark.
In seriousness how do they have such a knack to show up immediately after planting anything. (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20230731/1f23b4f8acf60000cb8993674a0a6ef9.jpg)
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Can't convince me either! They may not be the best smellers on the planet but they can definitely smell quite well (evidence is those two big holes in their beaks... :D ) and I have witnessed the same thing you describe.
I will also state quite confidently that I have been in hunting situations where gobblers/turkeys have turned away from coming to me when they got downwind of me (no comments needed from the peanut gallery here ;D )...and there was no other explanation for them turning back. (I could relate one particular encounter where there is absolutely no doubt they turned away due to smelling me,...but you can just take my word for it for now...) ;D
Thanks guys. The secret is out now. This sure won't help the declining turkey populations.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51931941608_673be1811b.jpg)
:popcorn:
Never under estimate what a turkey knows and can do .... Smell ... not so sure, hearing a different story .... LOL.....
Hen tracks all over my fresh mowed field as well. Lots of seed out there. Was gonna plant millet for dove but it has been too wet.
Quote from: Greg Massey on July 31, 2023, 12:43:28 PM
Never under estimate what a turkey knows and can do .... Smell ... not so sure, hearing a different story .... LOL.....
They must hear the seeds rattling out of the spreader lol
Next year I'm no tilling the entire month of May, going to get some real good throw and grow corn plots in all my turkey spots.. jk
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If turkeys could smell, I would never kill one after going to the Mexican Restaurant the night before and hunting the next morning... Sorry I just had to do that .... :TooFunny: :newmascot:
I wanted to but was cautious... LOL. guesswho we'll apply that scent to crow's flapper dragger.
"Fabreeze" is one of the best kept turkey secrets, easier to find than Dr. Tinks
Quote from: crow on July 31, 2023, 04:50:17 PM
"Fabreeze" is one of the best kept turkey secrets, easier to find than Dr. Tinks
I just put a lot of corn in my pockets. Cover scent only, I swear Mr. Game Warden! :TooFunny:
Just put a " ozontics " in your game pouch , then they can't smell you ...
I still have plenty of Pheasant/Birddog Training Scent in the closet. May have to try this in mid October when Fall Turkey Season begins.
I thought my Hecs suit took care of that ???
They sure can smell corn ;D
nothing like the smell of chuffa in the morning
Smells like..... victory
https://www.themeateater.com/hunt/wild-turkey/do-turkeys-actually-lack-a-sense-of-smell
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Assuming turkeys can smell based on the cause-effect data you offer is, well, ridiculous
Quote from: GobbleGitr on August 01, 2023, 09:42:40 PM
Assuming turkeys can smell based on the cause-effect data you offer is, well, ridiculous
Shhhhh!!! We're stringing him along... :toothy12:
Quote from: guesswho on July 31, 2023, 11:41:30 AM
Thanks guys. The secret is out now. This sure won't help the declining turkey populations.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51931941608_673be1811b.jpg)
Just like my Federal Heavy 7's.......... I sure am glad I stocked up on my Tink's turkey lure while the gettin' was good.
I am buying the new Febreeze " Mist". Deep Woods Off and or Citronella has scared away even the 2 Year old Gobblers- lol!
Seriously- even Permanone has a Scent ,I am tired of Sniffing . But Deer Ticks are Thick around here.
I wear an absurd amount of "Off" while hunting in the spring. Even after hosing down with Sawyers I stay damp to keep the gnats off me. They drive me crazy!
The Off helps with the gnats, it also alerts most deer from half a mile away and they leave without blowing the woods up before I get there. I am in NO way saying a turkey can't smell, I personally think that is just dumb. BUT, he doesn't mind Sawyers or deep woods off.
I also fully believe they can smell whatever scent a seed puts off. I live in an area with very few turkeys and I very seldom get trail cam pictures of them. However it is almost a given if I plant a field I have turkeys show up within a day or two. I have had it happen too many times over the years to believe otherwise.
Just this spring in a plot I had not had a turkey picture in months. The day after I broadcast millet there were 7 jakes in the plot all day. That was the only day that I have ever had a picture of them.
If you're in the wood every day all the time, you know what a seeder means or tractor, combine. Don't need a nose to know someone is taking a dump when my bathroom door is closed.
Quote from: jhoward11 on August 07, 2023, 02:33:21 PM
If you're in the wood every day all the time, you know what a seeder means or tractor, combine. Don't need a nose to know someone is taking a dump when my bathroom door is closed.
I've also had this happen when i did nothing out of the ordinary but broadcast seed by hand in a small opening. No tractor or combine involved. This is south MS mostly cutover with a few patches of decent woods left. These turkeys aren't in this particlar block of woods all the time. Maybe its coincidence that they happen to find fresh seed on the ground nearly every time I put some out but I don't believe that. I cant smell a deer but a dog can. I can't smell seed but that don't mean a turkey cant.
Turkeys are Gods to us turkey hunters, we tend to think they are above all, they get habituated to their surroundings! They might be a bird, but they ain't completely stupid.
You get a bear on bait.... You go to feed him, stop the engine, feed, start the engine and leave. He is on the bait or in the process to the bait at that point. May be present while your feeding! Hunted in Maine long enough to see this repeatedly. Do you really think a turkey is much smarter than a deer or bear? I hope you don't.
Every single time we cut our white Dutch clover plots (4+ acres) the turkeys will show up within a day and stay until they grow too high. We sometimes mow up to 4x during the season and continue during the summer for poults to be able to reach it.
The thing of note is not what type of equipment is used to cut them, but the over powering sweet smell they produce on a fresh cut that can be smelled from the main road for close to a mile away downwind for days. Birds may not smell well, but ours have always reacted the same way for over 15 years and it is the smell that drives them. We can go from none on cameras to loaded in just two days after cutting.
The deer will come out instantly and watch us cut and start eating on the opposite side of the field from where we happen to be mowing. We can make laps without them running off and they will just watch and eat. If a turkey is in the field when we drive in, they will hug the edge of the field and watch us mow, but don't always leave the field. I have threatened to use the John Deere mower to ride into the stand during both deer and turkey seasons since they are not afraid of it.
Turkeys also absolutely Love " Onion Seeds" up here in the rich Black Dirt of Orange County,NY. where The Onion is King.
The many Farms- many of their fields connected have Turkeys going for the Seeds.
Sitting there on that sack of seeds
Quote from: crow on August 09, 2023, 11:22:32 AM
Sitting there on that sack of seeds
The Wild Wood Weed! :TooFunny: