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Search Results for: turkeys migrate

Wild Turkeys Migrate

March 25, 2014 by Charlie Leave a Comment

Flying Turkey GobblerDo wild turkeys migrate?

Winter 2014 has been severe in most of Wisconsin.  Also the winter of 2013 was challenging for wildlife survival.

While snowshoeing across a hilltop field a flock of 30 – 40 turkeys flew in loose formation over head looking like they were on their way somewhere not near here.  They were a couple hundred yards in the air and until that moment I had never seen such a flock flying so high.  My first thought was they were migrating.

Posted here on March 7, 2014 Turkey Turkeys Everywhere .

Suddenly after being absent all winter except for a few dead ones here and there I feared the worst.  Then suddenly where there were no turkeys on the 6th come the 7th there were turkeys all over the area.  The appearance of turkeys struck me as similar with waterfowl, not there one day and then there the next.

On March 8 and 9 more turkeys showed up.  While out in unit 4 I saw turkeys circling overhead looking for a place to land.  Their heads turning side to side and the turkeys on the ground starting  purring & clucking at the flyers which seemed to encourage those in flight turkeys to come in and land.  Much in the manner waterfowl arrive in an area.

For the next couple of weeks these wild turkeys ate heartily of box elder seeds, fallen apples, wild grapes and other assorted berries.  The berries of course were dried looking very much like small raisins. There was much gobbling and yelping from one end of the valley to the other.

Then one morning it was silent.  As I explored the valley it was apparent to the most casual of observers all of the box elder seeds and grapes were stripped away, gone, all consumed.  Clearly the turkeys numbering in the hundreds, it was not possible to count them all, ate all the “easy” food and moved on.

Were these turkeys from the northern part of the state that had come south and now on their way back?  Or just wide ranging winter flocks?  I have observed turkeys in this particular area for 14 years and have never seen turkey movement and behavior like this before.

Migration may not be the right term but clearly this winter of 2014 caused some very different wild turkey movements.  Friends in southern Wisconsin unit 1 have told me about seeing more turkeys than ever before during the winter.  Now as March thankfully comes to end they are reporting significantly fewer turkey sightings.  Other buddies in the north are reporting turkey sightings after a long winter of no or few turkey sightings.

 

 

Filed Under: Think Pieces / Opinion, Turkey Hunting Tagged With: 2014 spring turkey, hunting, Turkey Hunting, Wild Turkey, Wisconsin Turkey Hunting

Turkey Turkeys Everywhere March 7, 2014

March 7, 2014 by Charlie 1 Comment

Descending into the valley listening to  snowshoe crampons scraping along the icy trail rain drops spattering on wool covered shoulders I thought at least the temperature is 30 some degrees above zero.  That in itself is a welcome change.  Vic and I have trudged up and down this steep trail almost daily all winter no matter the weather and oh has there been weather this winter.   Now on this March day during the winter of 2014 it is finally mild of temp.  For that we  are grateful in spite of the light rain, at least rain should not need to be shoveled when we get back home. It is the same with so many winter weary Wisconsinites venturing out to find signs of spring,  all of us appreciate the small improvements.

A turkey hunter seeks more signs of spring, they want to hear and see turkeys, especially those turkeys who gobble.  At first this morning’s descent seemed like all others of the past frigid weeks and then sounds of birds begin to tickle the ears.  Ah, the silence of winter punctuated with a long lost sound of past springs.  That alone is enough to rustle the leaves of my heart.

Vic, up ahead has more prance in his step, being careful to stay on our well packed trail.  For if he weaved off, the cold deep snow would grasp his body chilling him to bone.

Thin fog wisps are floating in leisurely circles as we turn to make our south circle. This trail has become like a graveyard this winter.  Deer bones are strewn all along.  Apparently as the deer became too weak to move through the deep snows as subzero temperatures robbed their bodies of its remaining life energy they came for final rest along these warmer southern slopes.

Usually by now, in years past the turkeys have been very vocal and active.  Until this morning all places seemed devoid of turkeys.  At first I thought the cluck was just the inner pop of a cold tree.  But then there was another.  Vic snapped to point up hill as 30 turkeys rose to flight.  The turkeys looked to be in remarkably good health, though hard to tell for sure through all the winter feathers.

But the rush of turkeys lifted the hearts of these winter weary hunters.  Vic tried vainly to bound up after them.  He got a good cardio workout in snow over his head and returned to trail with a smile on his face.  As we continued along more turkeys flushed, clucked, yelped and yes…Gobbled.  Clearly they are back.

Over the years during hard winters or tough spots in winter  I have thought perhaps turkeys migrate.  But where to?

Last winter was tough too. While snowshoeing across a hilltop field a flock of 30 – 40 turkeys flew in loose formation over head looking like they were on their way somewhere not near here.  They were a couple hundred yards in the air and until that moment I had never seen such a flock flying so high.  My first thought was they were migrating.  To my knowledge there has never been a study of turkey travel during a hard winter.  Some studies have tracked fall broods as they join into winter flocks and other studies tracked spring hen dispersal.  These studies found turkeys that moved 15-20 miles. Is it possible winter turkeys move much further?  I think it is very likely.  Which is why a “good” area can be devoid of turkeys for so long and then all of sudden the turkeys are there just as quickly as they had left.

Back the morning hike; we found at 200+ turkeys in area that no turkeys yesterday nor any of the weeks before.

A clear sign of a good spring hunt to come.

Filed Under: Spring Turkey, Stories, Turkey Hunting Tagged With: hunting, Turkey Huntig Story, Turkey Hunting, Wild Turkey, Wisconsin Turkey Hunting

Wisconsin Winter 2014 Killing Northern Deer and Turkeys

January 28, 2014 by Charlie Leave a Comment

winter kill

Severe winter of 2014 taking a toll on Wisconsin's wildlife

Severe winter of 2014 taking a toll on Wisconsin’s wildlife

Update: March 31,2014 – After covering a lot of Wisconsin turkey territory this spring including the Northern Wisconsin units my fears of a massive wild turkey winter kill were not realized.  There are few birds that died but no huge flocks died or at least I could not find any evidence of any.  A landowner in northern Polk county told me of a massive winter kill on his farm and invited me to come see.  Vic the turkey dog and I covered this farm finding only 4 dead turkeys, some of the neighbors invited us to check their farms also.  Still only the 4 dead turkeys were found.  Individual birds die each winter for a variety of reasons.  Had there been more dead turkeys Vic would have found and pointed them to us. These fellows like me, rightly became concerned about not seeing turkeys in their usual locations all winter and we assumed the worst. However, as we searched around these farms gobbles answered the yelps from my trumpet call all day long.  In fact there is a solid turkey population there.  I’m finding and hearing that is the case in many areas.  So I wrote a 2014 turkey hunt forecast  here, check it out.  Also a post wondering if Turkeys Migrate?

Bad news regarding deer, as the snow melts  we’ve been finding a lot of winter kill deer. Deer of course do not have wings so they can’t fly away to find food.  They unfortunately are stuck when the snow gets deep.

Good News Update March 7, 2014 Turkey Turkeys Everywhere

Winter 2014 has been brutally cold.  Not just for a few days of cold or record cold  but a long sustained subzero cold.  Coupled with deep snow in the northern sections of Wisconsin makes for tough times on our wildlife resources.  Wisconsin’s wildlife managers are monitoring the winter severity index at many northern stations it is already pasted severe.  There will likely be no antlerless permits issued in these areas for the 2014 deer season.  Spring 2014 turkey population will likely be considerably lower than usual.

WDNR press release-

According to Wallenfang, the 2012-13 winter started out fairly mild, but late, significant snows and cold temperatures occurred well into May resulting in direct losses of deer and lower than average fawn production. These factors and others combined to keep deer numbers lower than desired during the hunting season in many areas across the north.

“For the 2013 hunting season, antlerless permit numbers were set as low as we’ve seen them since the 1990s,” Wallenfang said. “With deer numbers already low in some areas, this winter is going to slow the recovery of the northern herd.”

Mike Zeckmeister, district wildlife supervisor in Spooner, says that the first question people usually ask is whether they should start feeding deer.

“It’s always well-intended, but feeding can do more harm than good if done improperly,” Zeckmeister said. “It’s understandable that people want to try to help deer through a bad winter. So if you choose to feed, please talk to the local DNR wildlife biologist first for advice.”

Zeckmeister especially emphasized that straight corn and hay are not recommended as they can be harmful. Instead, a commercialized pellet or mixes containing small quantities of corn, plus alfalfa, oats, and soybeans, as well as various vitamins and minerals is preferable from a deer health concern. It should be spread out to reduce fighting, away from roads or snowmobile trails to avoid collisions, and near sheltered areas out of the wind.

Wallenfang also offered a reminder that deer feeding is strictly regulated, and is prohibited in any county affected by CWD. In all other counties, feeding is currently limited to a maximum of 2 gallons per site, must be placed within 50 yards of a dwelling or business building open to the public, and may not be placed within 100 yards of a roadway with a posted speed limit of 45 mph or more.

 Zeckmeister urged potential feeders to contact the local wildlife manager to discuss various types of food and techniques that will not harm deer, and for a full explanation of additional regulations.

DNR biologists annually monitor the effects of winter weather on the deer herd using a Winter Severity Index, which uses a combination of cold temperatures and deep snows to gauge winter stress levels. In addition, they are also spending time in the woods monitoring both deer and winter habitat, as well as talking to loggers, foresters, trappers, and others who spend time in the winter woods.

The WSI measurements are recorded annually from December 1 through April 30 at 43 stations spread primarily across the northern third of the state as well as several east-central counties.

“Each day that the temperatures fall below zero degrees Fahrenheit and/or the snow depth is more than 18 inches, the conditions are noted for each station,” Wallenfang explained. “For example, a day with 20 inches of snow and a temperature of five-below-zero would receive two points for the day.”

Winter conditions are considered mild if the station accumulates less than 50 points, moderate if between 51 and 80 points, severe if between 81 and100, and very severe if over 100.

“The index is not a perfect measurement of winter severity, but it gives us a pretty good gauge of what to expect,” says Wallenfang.

Wallenfang says that several stations in the far northwestern counties have already surpassed the severe category. Farther south and east, many stations will likely hit the severe classifications later this winter.

As a result, Wallenfang anticipates either zero or extremely limited numbers of antlerless deer permits in many northern counties for the 2014 hunting season.

“Even if winter suddenly turned mild, we would still anticipate some buck only areas in 2014,” Wallenfang added. “Deer numbers have declined in general across much of the north, and in some areas significantly in recent years. Low or zero quotas are an obvious step to help herds recover.”

“We’ll be monitoring the situation across not just the north, but the entire state through spring green-up because we did lose deer in the south last year, as well. We are asking the public to assist with monitoring and would appreciate their help in reporting any winter deer mortality they see to their local wildlife biologist,” Wallenfang says.

For more information see-  Wisconsin Baiting and Feeding Regulations

Our wild turkeys are also suffering especially along their northern habitat areas.  Deep snow prevents them from foraging to ground foods.  During these times turkeys must roost throughout the cold days to conserve body heat.  When the temps moderate they will feed on buds and insects inside the tree bark.  This type of feeding seems to be much more energy intensive than when they can scratch around on the ground.  I’ve been the northern forest north of Highway 8 and in all the areas I walked the snow was waist deep.   At that time it was fluffy which should bode for ruffed grouse and snowshoe hares.  Most other wildlife is in real trouble.

Turkeys eat weed seeds that are above the snow line. In this case burdock.

Turkeys eat weed seeds that are above the snow line. In this case burdock.

In the central and southern areas I’ve visited the deer seem to be OK, not great, but just OK.  Ag fields became ice covered prior to last heavy snows and here too there have been long extended periods of subzero cold.  Turkeys cannot scratch through the ice layers so they’ve been feeding on seeds found above the snow lines.

I expect reduced turkey populations statewide for Wisconsin’s 2014 spring turkey hunt.  Turkeys can survive without feeding for about 14 days before they become so weak they can’t eat.  The weather is pushing their limits. Especially the birds of year.

Filed Under: Deer Hunting, News Tagged With: hunting, news, Turkey Hunting, WI deer hunting, Wild Turkey, Wisconsin Turkey Hunting

Wisconsin 2017 Spring Turkey Hunt Forecast

March 29, 2017 by Charlie 2 Comments

Spring 2017 is going to be good turkey hunting.  After all, this is Wisconsin, home of 500,000+wild  turkeys the only thing that keeps Wisconsin turkey hunters from harvesting more turkeys than any other state is the licensing scheme.  The licensing process here is exclusionary by design it prevents a large number of its hunters from taking part in the spring hunt during the first 3 weeks of the season when the toms are most actively gobbling.  In any case, for those with tags in their pocket hunting will good and the harvest will be in the Wisconsin average range.

During my pre-spring wanderings, I have found turkeys in some really unlikely areas such as this-

Are turkeys really around here in this desert like area?

Yes, apparently

There are a lot of wild turkeys in Wisconsin, it’s all good, bring on the spring hunt.

The first 2017 spring hunt season is starting about a week later than usual so late start could hamper the harvest of hunters who must hear gobbling in order to be successful.  If the later start causes hunter effort to drop off then the harvest will be lower perhaps in the low 40 thousand range.

This forecast is not, in any way related to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources rather it is based on charlie elk’s experience, observations and fellow turkey spies across the great turkey state of Wisconsin. The first charlie turkey forecast was done in 2014 and was the opposite of WDNR dire forecast, they had forecast bad spring turkey hunting with low harvest due to the worst winter severity index ever.   WDNR even cut permits by 25% at the last minute.  In spite of the spring permit reductions, charlie took an opposing view and predicted a higher than average harvest. This was based on the incredible number of turkeys across the landscape during the fall of 2012 and even considering the tough 2013 winter there were very few dead turkeys reported.  Turkeys are not deer so you can not apply deer management theory to turkeys.  The winter severity index was developed for deer managers, not turkey managers.  Turkeys have wings and when local conditions get bad they fly out of the locale for better areas. 

 

Filed Under: Featured Stories Tagged With: Turkey Hunting, turkey news, Wild Turkey, Wisconsin Turkey Hunting

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