turkeys @ the heavy snow

[cosmo45]

hi everyone,

I live in the midwest and we have 20 or so inches of snow on the ground right now.
I will be taking my nephew on his 1st turkey hunt this spring and i was wondering how the heavy snow effect the birds right now.
How do they find food,let alone walk in it.Should i expect to see fewer birds this season?

[BuckRogers]

From what ive seen they just plod along sinking into it. They find fields and stuff where theres not as much snow where they can dig down to the dirt to look for grain. They eat seeds and stuff and dig around in holes that deer have made looking for food as well. From what Ive seen I think theyve had a pretty easy winter so you should see a good number of birds.

[Phil from Maine]

Originally Posted by cosmo45

hi everyone,

I live in the midwest and we have 20 or so inches of snow on the ground right now.
I will be taking my nephew on his 1st turkey hunt this spring and i was wondering how the heavy snow effect the birds right now.
How do they find food,let alone walk in it.Should i expect to see fewer birds this season?

Up here we have close to 5 feet in the woods and all the fields are covered with over 2 feet anyways. The turkeys know how to survive and tend to hang around the bigger pine trees and such for cover as well as to rooste in them. They will go into the tree tops and bud just like our grouse do so I think they will be alright. They also tend to migrate to places where farmers have cattle/ horses or what ever and steal the grain from the silos.

[nyoutdoorsguy28]

I have quite a bit of snow here in my back yard and I see them almost every morning trying to get down to the stuff. I can see little tracks all over my driveway at times. I am sure if they are used to getting snow in the area they know how to survive. Higher amounts then normal are what will be the thing to causes issues with them eating.

[BigBuck95]

It depends largely on two things:
1. How much snow you have
2. What type of snow do you have

My explanation for the second would be that If you have light, fluffy snow, they will probably just sink into it. They don't want to have to walk around in that, so sometimes they will just stay on the roost until they really need to. Like a windy day too. If you have snow that has been "Iced-over" then then can come down and move around easier, because they are light. They don't fall through the snow and therefore can go look for food and move with less energy, which in the winter, the conservation of energy is key to their survival til spring. Also, If you have alot of snow, you probably won't see them moving alot until it either a) the amount of snow lessens or b) the snow becomes "Iced-Over"


Hope this helps.

BigBuck95

[Adrian J Hare]

Well you guys are going to hate me and for two reasons,

1/ I have to disagree in a way
2/ I'm Canadian and we beat you in hockey

LOL

Fella's Here in this part of Ontario I have seen the population drop bad in the last 4-5 years. A couple of issues here that I see every year now is

1/ Snow fall , we are in a lake effect area and see around the 4 feet at times with maybe a 2.5 feet on the level in a good winter. The only food sorces are used up early as this starts in the 2nd week of December every year and runs til April.

2/ Predator population is way out of control, Coyotes , Raccoons, Skunks are all over and nests take a beating every spring.

3/ Hatch rates are down every year for the last 5 here and now the impact on the population has shown its self bad as I hardly see birds in my area over the winter.

So I would have to say yes snow falls will do harm to them if it is deep and stays real long...

[Matchbook454]

I think that an unuaually high amount of snow fall might hurt them if it lasts for a long long time. The snow in fields usually blows to the edges and there are usually spots with little snow if any where turkeys can scratch for food. I think that ice and hard crusty snow is what hurts turkeys the most. They can' get through it to find food and gravel so they starve. I was just in central WI and even though they had a lot of snow this winter I saw LOTS of Turkeys. I talked to some of the locals and they seem to think that the turkeys did well this winter so far.

[Ridge Runner]

If a turkey flies down into deep heavy snow and lands wings spread, and cant touch ground he'll probably die, last year when we had above average snowfall I documented a bunch of gobblers setting in the same tree for 38 days, guess they ate a few pine buds and needles that was about it.
think about this, they build fat all summer/fall for winter and breeding season, a 26# tom in january weighs 22# mid april and 18# mid may, they can survive on almost no food for quite a while.
RR

[Western MA Hunter]

We have about 3 feet...flocks I have seen are staying very close to 1 spot... We have actually snow blowed some trails for some of them... but they are starting to strut already!