How long is a tureky's memory?

[Marc]

How long do you think a turkey remembers a negative experience.

You call a bird in, take a shot, and miss...  How long will the bird remember that event?  Could you call that same bird in the next week (granted he is fired up) to the same call and decoy set-up?

How long after a turkey has been scared off by a human before he settles back down and is callable again?  Someone calls in a bird in the morning and runs him off (without shooting)...  A day, or a couple hours before he is willing to talk turkey again?

Hunting turkeys, I feel we are fighting Mother Nature more than we are fighting the brain power of the turkeys.  They have keen vision and hearing, and every predator alive would like to turn one into a meal...  As another forum member said "they ain't all that smart but they have one foot on the panic button at all times."

[Spyder]

I believe their memories are pretty short. I have seen turkeys shot at, run off and be back in the same field the very next day. I wouldn't think you would get too many chances like that, just don't miss the second time.


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[mudhen]

I have no idea...

I've seen archery misses where the bird came right back...

I know guys with small properties that have missed and waited years before the birds came back...




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[fallhnt]

I've seen birds stay away from ground blinds on hard hunted public land year after year.

[snapper1982]

I killed a bird and the other 2 scattered. 2 hours later and about 200 yards away a buddy killed one of the others. Then we watched the third that afternoon in the same field follow the same hens that had been spooked twice that morning go to the same trees to roost. The next morning i killed that third bird in the same spot he was spooked from the previous morning. Their memories are not that good. It is more about imprinting. Animals learn over time from many experiences. They do not have the ability to reason and think about what had happened the last time. 

[Happy]

I believe they have a short term memory. However continued negative experiences do imprint themselves in a turkeys mind. I don't think they necessarily remember particular incidents but they definitely learn to avoid certain situations over time.

[CoachHunter]

Funny timing. Maybe an hour ago I'm calling behind my house and have one cutting me off behind a big pond. Knew he wouldn't fly over so decide to make move towards him. Of course, different silent bird was 50 yards away coming in and couldn't see him. Off he goes. Not a very good first hunt of 2016. 

[beakbuster10]

I think it all depends on pressure leading up to your encounter. A missed bird on pristine unpressured private land and a missed bird on elbow to elbow public land will not have the same reaction.


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[Happy]

About 25 years ago I had a pet wild turkey tom and a hen. At ten years old I didn't realize the regs on such things so please forgive my ignorance of such things as a child. A farmer gave them to me because he had run over the nest mowing and had incubated the remaining eggs until they hatched. I raised our turkeys that we butchered every year and so I was allowed to keep them as my pets. Now I know they weren't "wild"but the mental capabilities were the same. I messed with those turkeys constantly and even full grown I could pick him up and put him on my lap . He hated that huge indignity but he allowed it. All he wanted to do was hang around me and strut. He would never let anyone else touch him but I could walk right up and pick him up. I was "safe" and allowed in his comfort zone. Now one day a family friend came over and was talking to me while smoking a cigar. Clyde (my tom) was busy doing his thing  strutting around and looking tough. This fellow held out his cigar and of course Clyde cautiously aproaches and was checking it out when the guy jabbed him on the snood with the end of the cigar. Well old Clyde shook his head several times and went back to strutting. About 15 minutes later this fellow walked to the corner of the house to "water the lawn", well as soon as this guy had is back turned old Clyde dropped out of strut and made a beeline to him. He flogged him good and proper and then turned and beat feet back to me and went right back to strutting! I can tell more stories but the point is that Clyde wasn't stupid. He never cared for that fellow afterward either. I doubt he didn't know why after some time passed but he knew because he knew.

[fallhnt]

Happy,that's a cool story. I would have stuck the cigar on that guys "snood". Did you ever see the documentary on the guy that hatched about 10 or so wild turkey eggs ?

[Happy]

No I haven't. A long time ago I read a book that was written by a guy that basically followed a group of pults around all summer. He would sleep on the ground under the roost once they could fly up. He had some really interesting observations and forgive me for forgetting his name. Maybe it's the same fellow? Turkeys are very interesting animals and I have always been fascinated by them.
I wish I would have had Clyde when I was a little older and more observant but he did teach me a lot. He was trying to gobble when he was still getting his flight feathers. He was killed by a weasel when he was about two and a half. Had his beard for years until a family cat discovered it and some others from toms I had killed. He was my buddy and I didn't blame him a bit for flogging that guy. It was pretty amusing actually.

[wvmntnhick]

That cat wouldn't happen to be Izzy would it? That cat was evil incarnate man. Pound for pound, meanest cat I'd ever seen.

[Happy]

Why yes it was. She got a lot of my beard collection back in those days. Hated that cat. Took after her owner.

[Tail Feathers]

Many of us here have experienced shooting a tom and another bird with him jumped right on and began to thrash the downed tom.  The shot seemed to have little effect on the surviving bird, even if he was very close to the tom that was killed.
I think when the hormones are flowing full throttle, a tom could possibly be called back to the scene of the miss that same day, maybe even the same hour.

[Happy]

Oh I agree it happens. I have called back birds that were spooked and killed them. However I have never called back a bird and killed it when it knew exactly what spooked it. Least not that day.  If you call in two toms and shoot one but stay put until the other tom leaves then that second tom is a lot easier to kill than if you jumped up at the shot and ran out to it. Also I like to change locations slightly when dealing with a spooked tom. They seam to come a little easier to a fresh area. This is just personal experience and I don't think there is a hard and fast rule on it. Just a general rule of thumb so to speak.