can turkeys smell?
02-28-2008, 10:32 AM
#13
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Indy
Posts: 728
RE: can turkeys smell?
Guys I am not trying to start a fight or anything, just trying to correct a misconception that turkeys can't smell. As I stated prior, they have a sense of smell, but like all birds it is poor. This is taken from the Wild Turkey Zone web site and was written by T.R. Michels, who is a nationally recognized game researcher/wildlife behaviorist, and outdoor writer and speaker, who has been studying game animals for several years.
Mammalian prey species (deer, elk, sheep, etc.) that have a highly developed sense of smell can determine the direction of danger by scent and wind direction. They generally flee down or crosswind, knowing they are fleeing away from danger, not toward it. Because birds have a poor sense of smell they need to rely heavily on both their eyes and ears to determine the direction of danger before they flee from it.
So they can smell, but they can't smell us or determine danger via that sense. Search it out,
Mammalian prey species (deer, elk, sheep, etc.) that have a highly developed sense of smell can determine the direction of danger by scent and wind direction. They generally flee down or crosswind, knowing they are fleeing away from danger, not toward it. Because birds have a poor sense of smell they need to rely heavily on both their eyes and ears to determine the direction of danger before they flee from it.
So they can smell, but they can't smell us or determine danger via that sense. Search it out,
02-28-2008, 10:37 AM
#14
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Contoocook NH USA
Posts: 818
RE: can turkeys smell?
I had one about 70 yardsdown wind coming in slowly on morning. Ripped off a good early morning oneand he stopped and looked in my direction. I don't think that he smelled it though, I think he just heard it
Seriously, I don't think its turkey smelling you need to worry about!It’s deer that you so be concerned about. Working a gobbler in WV a few years ago, I ended up spotting a few does feeding towards me. They were moving faster than the gobbler and eventually got down wind of me. They started getting nervous and doing the old leg stomp thing. Well all that caught the attention of the gobbler I was working and he turned and left. I ended up getting him but no thanks to the deer that caught wind of me.
Seriously, I don't think its turkey smelling you need to worry about!It’s deer that you so be concerned about. Working a gobbler in WV a few years ago, I ended up spotting a few does feeding towards me. They were moving faster than the gobbler and eventually got down wind of me. They started getting nervous and doing the old leg stomp thing. Well all that caught the attention of the gobbler I was working and he turned and left. I ended up getting him but no thanks to the deer that caught wind of me.
02-28-2008, 11:11 AM
#16
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: WC FL
Posts: 26,323
RE: can turkeys smell?
Turkey Sense
While a turkey does not have ears per se, it does have excellent hearing, making it extremely difficult for any creature to approach without being detected. They also have exceptionally keen eyesight and see in color. However, a turkey's night vision and depth perception are poor. Turkeys also have a poor sense of smell but a keen sense of taste.
While a turkey does not have ears per se, it does have excellent hearing, making it extremely difficult for any creature to approach without being detected. They also have exceptionally keen eyesight and see in color. However, a turkey's night vision and depth perception are poor. Turkeys also have a poor sense of smell but a keen sense of taste.
02-28-2008, 09:57 PM
#18
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Where the ducks don't come no more
Posts: 4,420
RE: can turkeys smell?
ORIGINAL: firelt72
Turkeys can smell (poorly), but it is not a highly developed area for them. Deer need smell for their primary protective purposes and turkeys use eye sight and hearing as theirs. I would say very few land animals, if any can't smell some. It is just not sufficiant to pick us up in the woods like a deer can. JMHO. (I actually looked the answer up and found it on multiple web sites).
Turkeys can smell (poorly), but it is not a highly developed area for them. Deer need smell for their primary protective purposes and turkeys use eye sight and hearing as theirs. I would say very few land animals, if any can't smell some. It is just not sufficiant to pick us up in the woods like a deer can. JMHO. (I actually looked the answer up and found it on multiple web sites).
This has been the answer I have gotten from biologists as well.
Most of what interests me is that fact that some folks say ducks have a very good sense of smell. Personally I think that is a bit on the far fetched side, better than a humans perhaps, but certainly no where as good as most of the other land animals we hunt.
Vultures and buzzards, however, have a sense of smell that rivals or even exceeds that of a whitetail deer... not to mention eyes that are right up there with a turkey.
I'm sure turkeys can smell a bit, but not enough to use their sense of smell as a warning system for hunters.
