Turkey clinic instructor material help? History, biology, etc

[Timmer]

Hi gang,

This might be a long shot, but I figured I might luck out.  I've been participating in DNR turkey clinics for years, but I've always been the guy to speak about the hunting side of things.  This year we learned our DNR biologist is no longer working for the state and therefore we don't have our usual speaker on the history and biology of the wild turkey.  Our group thinks it's important to keep the content and I volunteered to cover the spot.  The clinic is this coming Saturday.  Obviously, I can research on the internet and review some books and create a presentation, but I'm short on time.  Has anyone participated in a similar event that has a presentation or outline to share? 

Previous topics
History
Range and distribution
Physical characteristics
Habits
Courtship and mating
Nesting
Food and cover

Thanks!

[jblackburn]

NWTF has education boxes that they make available to teachers that might help out

http://www.nwtf.org/education/education_resources.html

[GobbleNut]

The first question to ask is who is your target audience?  Are you just trying to teach the general public how to hunt turkeys,...or are you trying to give them a "well-rounded" knowledge about wild turkeys, in general? 

If you are putting on a turkey hunting clinic, then the materials you present should be directly associated with turkey biology in relation to 1) why we hunt gobblers in the spring and 2) breeding behavior of turkeys and 3) how we tailor our hunting strategies around that behavior.

From personal experience of teaching probably fifty of these clinics, if you are talking to a group of would-be turkey hunters, you are going to lose them very quickly if you start getting into too much detail beyond that.

Quickly, a basic outline for turkey biology info for a hunting clinic/seminar is this:
1) Why do we hunt gobblers in the spring season?  ....equal numbers of male and female turkeys are hatched each year,...turkeys are polygamous, one gobbler breeding many hens,....therefore, many gobblers are "surplus" and can be harvested without impacting the overall turkey population,....properly-timed spring hunting seasons are set up so that hunting pressure and associated disruptions will not impact successful breeding by turkeys
2)  Breeding behavior:  ...turkeys breed in the springtime,...gobblers gobble to attract hens for mating,...
3)  How we tailor hunting strategies around breeding behavior:   taking advantage of a gobblers propensity to gobble during the breeding season is a key factor,...learning to locate turkeys by sound, rather than sight, is important,...gobblers can be enticed to approach turkey calling by hunters,...either imitating hen turkey talk/sounds (most commonly), or gobbler talk/sounds,....gobblers approach hen talk for breeding purposes and will often gobble and display while approaching,...challenging a gobbler by imitating another gobbler's talk/noises can sometimes make a gobbler approach,...use of visual aids/stimulus (decoys) can also be effective.

Now, you can obviously get into a lot more depth in terms of turkey biology, but once again, if you are dealing with folks that just want to learn how to hunt turkeys in the spring, you will lose their interest pretty quickly. 

[Timmer]

The first question to ask is who is your target audience?  Are you just trying to teach the general public how to hunt turkeys,...or are you trying to give them a "well-rounded" knowledge about wild turkeys, in general? 

The majority of the audience are youth and their parents who are going on their first turkey hunt.  A smaller portion of the audience will also be adults hunting turkeys for the first time.  Given my topic is history and biology, I'm pretty sure my job is to be the most boring part of the clinic!   I agree, I need to keep it somewhat light.  My plan is to ask the kids questions to keep them engaged and then transition into the information for that question.  eg   "where do turkeys live?" "how soon after a turkey is hatched do you think it can fly?" "How big do you think turkey's can get?"  "what's a turkey's beard made of?"  etc

Thanks guys, keep it coming!

[Marc]

GobbleNut gave you some great advice...  Maybe you could fly him in for the presentation.

The very first thing I would do, is to desperately try and contact the last person that presented the seminar (or anyone from the past that has presented the seminar), and see if he will lend you his/her notes and outline to copy.

It sounds like your target audience is consisted of non-hunters and hopefully future hunters...  Make sure to emphasize the positive aspect of hunting and hunters in general, as well as turkey hunting.  Point out some hunting conservation groups (such as the National Turkey Federation, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and Ducks Unlimited), and point out that most responsible hunters try to put more in than they take out.  Make sure to point out all the wild-life and nature that hunters are exposed to and appreciate while in the field.

Having given some presentations, people will respond better when you make human analogies...  i.e. "The tom will strut his stuff, and show off for the ladies."  Keep it fun and informative, and do your best to get some audience participation...

Maybe take a turkey fan or two, along with some beards and spurs if you have any available.  Pictures and videos of strutting and fighting turkeys, and that sort of thing.  People respond, and will pay more attention if there is a visual aspect to the presentation, and people love to touch, so those beards, spurs, and fans will add a fun aspect to the presentation.

If you run out of material to fill your time slot, open up the presentation to questions...  They could be questions about turkeys and turkey behavior, hunting, hunting conservation, etc.

[GobbleNut]

In parent/youth groups, it is wise to keep them engaged,...and question asking is a good way to do that.  Always remember that kids (and many adults) attention span is short.  In presenting any sort of technical info (biology), identify what is important to be said (see outline above), say it, and move on to the subjects that they are really there for,...hunting, calling, etc. 

For a hunting seminar, if you are spending more than five minutes on turkey biology, that is too much.  95% of your audience does not care,....and you will be using time that would be better spent on hunting/calling stuff.  One of the biggest problems with these kinds of clinics is that the guys that are putting them on are usually turkey fanatics that can talk about all thing turkey for hours. 

Remember, most of your audience will not be like that.  They want to hear what is important, here it as quickly as possible, and go.  The exceptions to that are when you have some sort of interactive activities that will keep them focused,....stuff like trying out turkey calls, or shooting.  If your clinic/seminar is basically a "classroom instruction" type atmosphere, you will lose the audience interest within a couple of hours,...especially kids. 

As for asking questions as part of your biology segment, here are some examples of pertinent questions:
---Why do we hunt turkeys in the springtime?
---why do we only hunt gobblers in the springtime?
---What kind of turkey gobbles?....and why does it do that?
---Why does a male turkey fan himself out (go into strut)?
---Where do turkeys spend the night,...and why?

Those are the kinds of questions that actually have bearing on what the clinic/seminar is being presented for....

Your list of questions?  Yes, they are interesting,....but they have little bearing on spring gobbler hunting,...which is what those in attendance are there to learn.  Focus your attention on things that are important in that regard.

[Marc]

For a hunting seminar, if you are spending more than five minutes on turkey biology, that is too much.  95% of your audience does not care,....and you will be using time that would be better spent on hunting/calling stuff.  One of the biggest problems with these kinds of clinics is that the guys that are putting them on are usually turkey fanatics that can talk about all thing turkey for hours. 

Remember, most of your audience will not be like that.  They want to hear what is important, here it as quickly as possible, and go.  The exceptions to that are when you have some sort of interactive activities that will keep them focused,....stuff like trying out turkey calls, or shooting.  If your clinic/seminar is basically a "classroom instruction" type atmosphere, you will lose the audience interest within a couple of hours,...especially kids. 

Excellent Point!  I have to go to a lot of seminars in my field, and the biggest mistake I see is too much background, and not enough applicable/interesting information...  This is when everyone will turn on their phones and start texting.

If you want to get them interested, stick with the fun stuff.  Once they are interested, they will seek out the biology on their own.  Incorporate some of the biology with the fun stuff...  (You have to remain very still because of the incredible eyesight turkeys have; they can pinpoint your exact location from a huge distance due to their "bionic" hearing; etc...)

Bringing turkey calls that the audience can play with and use (such as box calls or push-button calls) is a wonderful idea to get the audience engaged.  Both kids and adults will love playing with those calls, and the idea of calling a turkey in will have greater appeal when they realize how simple and easy some of the calls are to use.  If there are too many people to get everyone involved, call a child to the stage, and let him/her use the call, so that everyone can see how easy it is.

.

[Timmer]

Just to be clear I'm covering just a section of the overall clinic that was historically covered by a biologist.  We have been unsuccessful in tracking the previous presenter down in order to gather materials.   Other sections will cover equipment, strategies, tips, calling, safety etc. These latter parts are where I usually have participate and we have those parts covered.

I appreciate all the help!

[GobbleNut]

Great points made, Marc.  Good luck with it, Timmer.  Sorry you got stuck with the boring part of turkey hunting seminars!   

[Marc]

Just to be clear I'm covering just a section of the overall clinic that was historically covered by a biologist.  We have been unsuccessful in tracking the previous presenter down in order to gather materials.   Other sections will cover equipment, strategies, tips, calling, safety etc. These latter parts are where I usually have participate and we have those parts covered.

I appreciate all the help!

Gobblenut made some excellent points...  And I would agree, you kinda got stuck with the poopy part.

Still, no reason that you cannot incorporate turkey biology into turkey hunting, and how they relate.  Tail fans, beards, spurs, and calls are all still relevant...  How does the hunter relate to the biology of what is happening?  How can the hunter take advantage of this biology, and how does it work against him...

A discussion of the physical attributes as well as keen senses of a turkey are certainly relevant to turkey hunters...