What to feed turkeys with?
#1

Hi folks I have recently bought another parcel of land with a field that is a little over 1 1/2 acres in town. My question is what to feed turkeys? We had some pretty hard hitting ice storms and the birds have been walking along our roads looking for food. They appear to be thin and we can not hunt them until May up here. So I figured it would not hurt to help them out a little. I bought a bag of corn today to put out. But, I was wondering what anyone else may use to help them along. I will be stopping any feeding of them at the end of march so it will not be like I am baiting them any. I just want to help them out over our harsh winter.
#3
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Allegan, MI
Posts: 8,019

Here's an interesting link of dos and don'ts for feeding put out by the NH Game Dept. that I think would be worthwhile for you to read.
http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Wild...guidelines.htm
http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Wild...guidelines.htm
#5
Fork Horn
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 270

Phil,
I feed turkeys during the winter months once the snow gets
deep. I use a mix of about 50% coarse cracked corn and
50% sunflower seeds. I scatter the feed over a fairly big area
so that not just the dominant birds get the feed and to
help reduce disease problems. Once I start feeding, I do
it on a daily basis until the snow is gone.
I feed turkeys during the winter months once the snow gets
deep. I use a mix of about 50% coarse cracked corn and
50% sunflower seeds. I scatter the feed over a fairly big area
so that not just the dominant birds get the feed and to
help reduce disease problems. Once I start feeding, I do
it on a daily basis until the snow is gone.
#6

i have used corn for the longest time. The turkey in my area are ruthless with the corn. I would put out 50-100lbs and within a day 75% of it is gone and its definitely the turkeys because of the sign all around the area. Sure some deer come in and take a bite, but those turkey do the most damage. I don't know how the area is where you hunt but near me there is soybean fields nearby so the deer tend to eat there more and the turkeys come to the corn pile for the most part. You can try the corn or try some custom mix of corn and whatever else. good luck.
#7

We do not have a very large deer population here so what deer that do come in it would not hurt to bad if they were to eat some of it. I was told the crack corn might be harder on the birds?? So I did scatter out some whole cord kernels for them. They did not hit any of it yet and 1 deer came by as well. So I am going to wait a while to see what happens..
Thanks everyone..
Thanks everyone..