as far as turkeys and yotes go, i gotta differ there.

the first yote i killed with a bow was somethin else! i was at full draw on a fat hen (fall season) when a coyote bounded over the ridge and attacked the flock. he became the target of opportunity! the wierd part was , he caught a turkey, then another turkey ran right by him, he let the one go he was standing on , and went after the other. this must have been a young dog, because he didnt know what the heck he was doing! he actually caught( not with his teeth, his paws) 2 different birds, but wasnt really doing much in the killing dept.

anyway, i shot him at 15 yards just as the 2nd bird escaped from him. he was only a 25 lb yote, but ran for well over 400 yds with a double lung pass thru..

it's kind of hard to describe what happened in words, but it was VERY cool to see.

BUT i have also seen deer and turkeys COMPLETELY ignore yotes. i think its the same theory as the zebras and lions in Africa. sometimes the zebras are 10 feet away from the lions, and calm. but when "the hunt is on", those zebras are gone like the wind. they can sense the danger.

I agree with Ken. Why would he leave those "Hooks"?????

Those hooks and the beard and the fan. We found most of the feathers from the fan too. I'm trying to post a picture of the beard put I can't get the picture small enough.

I also took a knife and made sure there was no bird shot in the holes I found.

I don't really know which neck of the woods you guys are from, but I can tell you that here in SW Pennsylvania, I would also include some other factors. We don't really have much in the line of coyotes, but we do have a whole heap of fox, raccoon, crows, vultures, housecats, domesticated dogs and 'possums.

It's not impossible that the bird died naturally and was eaten by a scavenging 'coon or random other critter.

With those hooks, it's obvious that he was getting old, and he may have actually been killed by another gobbler or died of natural causes.

nice picts !!!!!

I found one like that a couple years ago in VA. That hunter also took the beard with him.

Hal

If there were two obvious places of "disturbance", I would definitely say it was not a poacher. A poacher would have no need to move the body from its originally downed position. This fact is supported by the location of the 2nd pile, next to a downed tree. I would bet that the predator ripped out the breast and ate on top of the log.

As to which predator...that's got me a little puzzled. Probably not a cat or dog, as they will target the entrails immediately after a fresh kill. I was first thinking an owl, just simply because they are one of the only predators that will not eat the entire carcass. Their beaks are also razor sharp, and excellent at removing just the breast meat. But considering you found it next to a downed log, that would indicate that the meal was most likely consumed during the day. Owls will carry their meals up to a roost, just for better vision and of course protection.

I would actually guess, possibly, a hawk of some sorts. Cooper's, and even Red-tails, can be quite large. The "holes" you found could be talon incisions, and this is the time of year when the females are fattening up to mate. Just a thought though...

Like was said earlier. There should be a distinct difference in the way the breast meat was removed, including any type of marks on the bones, from teeth or knife.

Actually, when the bird is freshly killed you can literally rip the feathers off, and completely remove the breast meat with your fingers. No marks whatsoever.

Same is true for a large bird of prey, they can use their beak and have almost 100% success of removing the breast, leaving nary a telltale sign.

Most terrestrial predators will also eat the bones, especially bobcats and coyotes. They very seldom leave the bones, but will leave the feathers.

I think Strut&Rut maybe right. This sound alot like a big tom that was found around here. The two hunters that found it said it looked like the was knocked off it's roost by an owl. They found no paw prints in the sand at the kill site. The kill was fresh because they had been in the same field the day before. The head was almost cut off and just the breast meat eaten.