Snowiest February on record here in Iowa. More ice changing to snow for today and overnight and 45 mph winds for tomorrow. I keep thinking about turkeys roosted in the treetops in that wind. Trying to find food.... Not freezing to death. The feathers that keep turkeys warm are nothing compared to the feathers and down on a goose. Several years ago, before I started turkey hunting, I was deer hunting and found a Tom frozen in the snow. I couldn't see anything as to why he died, it too was a brutal winter. I drove past a place I've seen a very large winter group of turkeys yesterday and my wife estimated 30 birds. Somehow they live.
Animals and nature in general is tough. People have been wimpified over many generations of pampering that animals haven't gotten. They are tough and most will survive. Ugly winters up here in New England too. Turkey numbers keep going up and up. Have faith in Mother Nature bro ????????????
Millions of years on the planet, basically. No doubt the more severe the winter, the higher the mortality in everything, especially the older individuals of every species. Turkeys are good diggers. If they can find some places where the snow isn`t TOO deep, they can dig down to the forest/woods floor to forage. Nature has its own way. When it really gets screwed up, it`s usually us that does it.
Quote from: zelmo1 on February 23, 2019, 08:44:09 AM
Animals and nature in general is tough. People have been wimpified over many generations of pampering that animals haven't gotten. They are tough and most will survive. Ugly winters up here in New England too. Turkey numbers keep going up and up. Have faith in Mother Nature bro ????????????
:agreed: Used to live in NY and sometimes you could even see them eat pine needles while hunting deer in the winter.
They are a amazing creature. From the time they are in a egg , someting is always trying to eat them. Imagine every single day , 24 hours a day something trying to catch and eat you.
I'm glad they make it...
God knew what he was doing when he made them, that's for sure.
Quote from: Sir-diealot on February 23, 2019, 09:57:28 AM
God knew what he was doing when he made them, that's for sure.
He absolutely did, and, IMHO, He made us responsible for caring for them, along with the rest of His creation. It is absolutely amazing the resiliency of nature if just given half a chance. After the BP oil spill in the gulf, the fisheries were closed for, I believe, only one or two years. The populations in the gulf just exploded!
Quote from: Turkeytider on February 23, 2019, 10:08:37 AM
Quote from: Sir-diealot on February 23, 2019, 09:57:28 AM
God knew what he was doing when he made them, that's for sure.
He absolutely did, and, IMHO, He made us responsible for caring for them, along with the rest of His creation. It is absolutely amazing the resiliency of nature if just given half a chance. After the BP oil spill in the gulf, the fisheries were closed for, I believe, only one or two years. The populations in the gulf just exploded!
Though I believe the whole world is going to burn as the Bible says I do think it is our responsibility to care for all God has given us though I don't go as far as to say we should not use them for drug testing and that sort of thing. Though I would choose child molesters to be tested on over animals.
Somehow they live even up into Canada. Those legs and feet are powerful to find food in the most buried spots. That head an neck can extend pretty far to reach any food on branches. But they still amaze me how they fly into a tree every night, sleep and do not freeze to death.
Quote from: Sir-diealot on February 23, 2019, 10:36:57 AM
Quote from: Turkeytider on February 23, 2019, 10:08:37 AM
Quote from: Sir-diealot on February 23, 2019, 09:57:28 AM
God knew what he was doing when he made them, that's for sure.
He absolutely did, and, IMHO, He made us responsible for caring for them, along with the rest of His creation. It is absolutely amazing the resiliency of nature if just given half a chance. After the BP oil spill in the gulf, the fisheries were closed for, I believe, only one or two years. The populations in the gulf just exploded!
Though I believe the whole world is going to burn as the Bible says I do think it is our responsibility to care for all God has given us though I don't go as far as to say we should not use them for drug testing and that sort of thing. Though I would choose child molesters to be tested on over animals.
Perhaps a shortcoming when it comes to my Christian tolerance, but I have a tendency to incline toward your last sentence. Sort of in line with my feelings of liking ALL dogs more than most people! I`m kidding, I suppose ( but only slightly! ).
I marvel at how a turkey grows from a egg just to survive its first year. They are being hunted constantly. I love huntin them but I also love just listening to them and watching them.
I hunt Wis so I keep tabs on the conditions there.
Talked to a guy a few days ago and the situation it is not real good. It was an easy winter up until a 2 to 3 weeks ago. It rained then got cold, then it snowed and rained and got cold, now there is a lot of snow on top of all that with little relief in the forecast.
There is a layer of ice on the ground with snow on top of that. Then a layer of ice on that snow with more snow now on top of that.
Turkeys are tough I agree, but the winter does kill them. I think it was the winter of 10/11 in Wis that killed a bunch of turkeys. I certainly saw the affects of that in the spring. This seems to be shaping up for another winter die off situation, at least the northern half.
As a side note. Turkeys do not only feed on the ground. Its somewhat common for turkeys to feed in trees. I have seen them feeding on catkins in the spring in tall cottonwoods, that was a food of choice that time of year. Turkeys will feed on tag alder catkins during a severe winter, climbing the relatively short trees to get them. I have a friend that saw them in bitter cold weather feeding in a small stream that remained open. There was some green growth at the bottom of the stream and it was shallow enough for the turkeys to dip their head under water to get at the greens.
I am just guessing here but I think there is going to be a die off, at least in the northern half of Wis. Some birds will get fed by various people and some will find enough to squeak by. Not all the turkeys will find what they need though I am afraid.
Quote from: MISSISSIPPI Double beard on February 23, 2019, 11:50:43 AM
I marvel at how a turkey grows from a egg just to survive its first year. They are being hunted constantly. I love huntin them but I also love just listening to them and watching them.
My buddy and I hunt on his 400 acres that`s leased or he owns. At most there are four of us who might hunt the property, and never all four of us at once. We have a self imposed limit of one bird per hunter per season from the property even though the state limit is three per season per hunter. After I got my bird last year, I just enjoyed going out in the morning and watching them while I called. At least for me personally, pulling the trigger is far from what it`s all about.
I live in Iowa also and this month has been terrible. The last couple weeks I have been seeing a lot of turkeys in the fields trying to get to food. Some strutting and gobbling has been going on so spring is close .
They have dialed down south (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190224/a51f419205a2d690a3fb3791502db620.jpg)
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Flooding. With all of our snow, I'm sure we'll have flooding issues. I hunt public area river bottoms and I've seen flooded turkey nests and even eggs that have been washed out of nests. Gonna be a rough start to the year.
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They are resilient. I watched a flock a few years ago in a bad winter. A few birds in the tree with bittersweet vines knocking down berries while the main flock gobbled up goodies on the snow pack. They survive. And the ones that don't make it, don't go to waste.