Wild Turkey

Some believe the Wild Turkey's name came from the Indian's name "furkee" or "firkee". Also this bird was confused with guinea fowl from the country Turkey. Regardless, Turkey are a native species to North America.

There are six Subspecies of Wild Turkey found in North America. They are:

     Eastern (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris)
     Merriam (Meleagris gallopavo merriami)
     Rio Grande (Meleagris gallopavo intermedia)
     Florida (Meleagris gallopavo osceola)
     Mexican (Meleagris gallopavo gallopavo)
     Gould (Meleagris gallopavo mexicana)

Texas is home to both the Rio Grande and the Eastern wild turkeys.  Originally Wild Turkeys inhabited predominately Mexico, the Northeastern, Southeastern, Midwest, and Southwestern Regions of the United States. Used to some extent by Native Americans, Wild Turkeys were harvested much greater by America's first European settlers. So much so that by the early 1800's began disappearing from the East and by the late 1800's from the Midwest. By 1920, They no longer could be found in 18 of their home range states. In the 1940's trapping and transfer techniques were applied by Wildlife Management Personnel to restore wild turkey populations. Turkeys have been successfully transplanted to almost all 50 states.

 In adult turkeys the head and neck are essentially naked, the feathers being reduced to hair like bristles. The tarsus is equipped with spurs, and the tail feathers can be raised to form a vertical fan during courtship or aggressive displays.
The bird has black to buff colored feathers on the tips of the wing coverts and on the tail. Close inspection of the turkey's plumage reveals a rainbow spectrum of color subtly displayed over much of the male's body, while the female is predominately brown to facilitate her roosting needs. The male has a long wattle at the base of the bill and additional wattles on the neck, as well as a prominent tuft of bristles resembling a beard projecting downward from its chest.

When discussing Turkey behavior and habits, we need to take subspecies and locale in account, for the distinct differences between them have significant impact. If you take time to ask fellow hunters for their observations, you will find many that are surprising. Though not based in scientific fact they may be very helpful. The following are a few of those I have heard or noticed while in the field/

"Turkeys roost in trees at night flying down in the morning around dawn and back up for the night late afternoon until dusk. Turkeys don't like to cross water (Although Turkeys do tend to roost near or over streams and rivers. Turkeys don't like thickets. They prefer open areas which they can see danger's approach easily.
Turkeys tend to walk uphill and fly downhill as walking downhill is difficult for them.

Many of these observations are based in fact, taking this information in account is good for locating the elusive turkey, but by no means should you base your strategy on any one of these observations. Your best tactic for the preparation of hunting a  Turkey is to learn everything you possibly can about them before hand.

Turkeys mate in the spring. Tom Turkeys routinely use strut zones at this time. A strut zone is a place in the woods or field that a tom turkey likes to strut. Strut zones are places he likes to show off and display himself. Each Tom may establish as many as six strut zones. If undisturbed tom turkeys will visit these in a regular pattern and times. Morning strut zones tend to be on eastern exposures in lieu
of the morning sun; Evening strut zones visa versa.

The reproductive cycle for the wild turkey usually begins in late February or early March in its southernmost habitats but not until April in northern states such as Vermont and other areas across the northern edge of turkey range (This varies somewhat between subspecies). Breeding behavior is triggered primarily by the increasing day length in spring, but unusually warm or cold spells may accelerate or slow breeding activity. Likewise, the cycle is complete with the hatching of poults by June or as late as mid-summer further north. Birds that re-nest may have broods as late as August.

Breeding behavior is triggered primarily by the increasing day length in spring, but unusually warm or cold spells may accelerate or slow breeding activity. This behavior begins while birds may still be in large winter flocks prior to separating as individuals or into small groups.  The basic social organization of these flocks is determined by a pecking order with the most dominate bird at the top and the least on the bottom. Males and females have separate hierarchies, and there can be pecking orders within and between flocks of the same sex; while stable pecking
orders within flocks of the same sex seem to be common to all wild turkey subspecies. Turkeys have home ranges, not territories where individuals defend space within a given habitat from other members of the same sex. Instead they fight for dominance recognizing individuals within the pecking order while sharing overlapping home ranges.

Courtship behavior patterns include gobbling and strutting by the males. Gobbling attracts hens to males who court the hens by strutting. If the hen selects the gobbler for mating she crouches, which signals the male to copulate The first peak of gobbling activity is associated with the beginning of the breeding period when gobblers are searching for hens. The second peak occurs a few weeks later,
when most hens begin incubation.

Hens become secretive while searching for a site to nest prior to laying eggs. Laying hens may continue to feed with other hens and mate with gobblers, but this social activity will be away from the nest site. Nests are shallow depressions formed mostly by scratching, squatting, and laying eggs rather than by purposeful construction. The arrangement of twigs and leaves is minimal in sites chosen for their moderately dense under story which still allows the hen a view but gives protection from avian predators.
 
 All species of animals require five basic things in their habitat and Turkey are no exception. These five are Food, Water, Shelter, Space, and Arrangement. They make sense to each of us I'm sure, as we need these ourselves.
 

To increase the numbers in the turkey population, you must have good habitat for the hens. During the spring of the year you need quality nesting habitat close to a clover field, for instance, which would be a good food source. And by providing the habitat requirements for the hen, the gobblers will go where the hens are. If that nesting area and clover region are close to good brood range, then you have an ideal condition for producing plenty of turkeys during the spring. And when you provide good habitat like this for the hens, you're not only participating in good management for future turkey production, but also concentrating the gobblers in a very small area. Wildlife Managers learned through research that the first two weeks of the poults' lives is when they are most susceptible to predators. Therefore, to ensure future generations of turkeys, there should be a good brood site close to the nesting area and the clover patch. This brood site should contain grasses and shrubs that are about knee high. Then the poults can move through the low grass unprotected, invisible to predators, and the hen can stick her neck up and look over the grass for
predators. If the hen has this type of habitat to raise her poults in, she will raise a much higher percentage of them than if she has to expose them in an open pasture or field.

One of the worst predators on the small poults is free ranging dogs, which destroy turkey nests and can greatly impact a turkey population. Through research Wildlife Biologists the determined that the free ranging dogs in many regions is the number one predator of turkeys. By removing these dogs, we can increase the numbers of turkeys that survive each year. And free ranging dogs in turkey range have another disadvantage, because, as any hunter knows, when dogs start barking toms quit gobbling.  The raccoon is another predator that destroys many turkey nests and kills young poults.