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.
