Avian Flu

[Neill_Prater]

Am I the only one concerned about the substantial number of both wild and domestic birds infected with the current strain of avian flu and the possibility of mortality in the wild turkey flocks?

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[WV Flopper]

No.

Massachusetts is testing dead birds right now. It is happening.

[Zobo]

From what I understand it's more prevalent among waterfowl and domestic fowl. But wild turkeys can get it evidently.

[Yoder409]

I am worried.

But, I realize there's nothing I can do about it.....except, maybe, shoot more turkeys to slow the spread ??   

[Lcmacd 58]

I am worried.

But, I realize there's nothing I can do about it.....except, maybe, shoot more turkeys to slow the spread ??   

Me too

[Bedge7767]

I'm concerned.

[Zobo]

One thing people can do is to stop feeding wild birds.

[jgard]

We lost three bald eagles to it in the last two weeks here in ne Oklahoma

[Yoder409]

One thing people can do is to stop feeding wild birds.

YES !!!

[GobbleNut]

Question to those that may be watching/listening to podcasts/media from wild turkey biologists:  How much discussion has there been about avian flu impacts on wild turkeys?...and have there been any discussions about how to address those potential impacts?

[bwhana]

I talked to the head biologist in the NC Wildlife dept last year during an interactive online session about bird flu impact here and he said they are not concerned at this point because turkeys are larger and it does not affect them like smaller waterfowl. I got radio silence when I mentioned that poults don't start out at 12-20 lbs, so you can interpret that as an impact.

[Greg Massey]

I'm curious about all your years of hunting gobblers, how many turkeys have you found dead from diseases or natural causes? This is for adult hens and Gobblers

In all my years of deer and turkey hunting, I've only found one turkey which had been shot / wound and not found until a couple days later..

In 50 plus years of chasing deer's I can't say I have ever come across a disease deer.

So in my opinion the odds are very low, in the last 18 months I have seen more turkeys than I have in the 2 years prior.

I do agree anything is possible

[knifeshark]

They are euthanizing flocks of snow geese here in south eastern Pa. They say the spreading of the avian flu will infect the turkey population here.

[packmule]

I'm curious about all your years of hunting gobblers, how many turkeys have you found dead from diseases or natural causes? This is for adult hens and Gobblers

In all my years of deer and turkey hunting, I've only found one turkey which had been shot / wound and not found until a couple days later..

In 50 plus years of chasing deer's I can't say I have ever come across a disease deer.

So in my opinion the odds are very low, in the last 18 months I have seen more turkeys than I have in the 2 years prior.

I do agree anything is possible

We find quite a few dead whitetail and blacktail deer that die from EHD and hair-loss syndrome.  Also, we commonly find deer parts from animals that have obviously been consumed by bear, coyotes, cougar, etc. It's hard to know if those were killed by the predators, died from disease, or winterkill, etc.  Similarly, I've found several turkey carcasses over the years but it's never been clear what they died from....I haven't heard of local diseases affecting turkeys so always assumed that this was due to predators or hunters.

[Greg Massey]

I'm curious about all your years of hunting gobblers, how many turkeys have you found dead from diseases or natural causes? This is for adult hens and Gobblers

In all my years of deer and turkey hunting, I've only found one turkey which had been shot / wound and not found until a couple days later..

In 50 plus years of chasing deer's I can't say I have ever come across a disease deer.

So in my opinion the odds are very low, in the last 18 months I have seen more turkeys than I have in the 2 years prior.

I do agree anything is possible

We find quite a few dead whitetail and blacktail deer that die from EHD and hair-loss syndrome.  Also, we commonly find deer parts from animals that have obviously been consumed by bear, coyotes, cougar, etc. It's hard to know if those were killed by the predators, died from disease, or winterkill, etc.  Similarly, I've found several turkey carcasses over the years but it's never been clear what they died from....I haven't heard of local diseases affecting turkeys so always assumed that this was due to predators or hunters.

I agree, i'm sure it's more prevalent in some states with a higher number of predators etc

Good Post