Some help from you "Hard Core" Turkey hunters

[Flocknocker]

In my area say 10 mile radius around the house I don't have a ton of turkeys but do have more every year. In a 25 or 30 mile radius I have a ton of them and I am sure in the next couple years we will have more huntable numbers on my property.

Here is the question.

I manage my place right now for geese, upland birds rabbits, Deer and Elk. I have several food plots like lintel beans, peas and 3 plots of whitetail extreme, which is an evergreen forb, Clover and chicory. I also have some lick for the deer and elk, I have one that I used rock salt on and made it in a mud hole area that gets allot of water in the spring. Seems every time I go out to check around this place with the rock salt lick which has turned into a kinda natural lick area now is always covered with turkey droppings. Do turkeys go to licks for salt or what??? None of the other licks like Deer Cocaine have any action just the rock salt lick area which is about 15-20 foot across, now the deer tear up all the licks. The turkeys seem to be scratching and eating the dirt in this area with just the salt, but never any of the other licks, do they have a thing for salt? Also what type food plot works best for Rio turkeys???

Ps. next year the lintel bean will rotate to Club Wheat. Now my ground is a heavy soil with some clay and is irrigated when needed and is about 7 for PH. Oh and I also have a 250 gal tank in the ground for water I keep filled because we go months here in the summer with no rain allot of years.

Sorry so long I just wanted to give all the info I could for the best answers.

[Jezzolo AKA Isaac]

In your post it said that this area gets alot of water in the spring. If it is dry the rest of the time they may be using this area as a dusting bowl/spot. They will kick up dust on themselves (as you see little birds do in a bird bath) to keep the bugs down.

As to plant try some of this stuff.

http://www.digitalriver.com/dr/v2/ec_MAIN.Entry10?V1=375140&PN=1&SP=10023&xid=39472&DSP=&CUR=840&PGRP=0&CACHE_ID=80425

[skb20]

Cliff-

Not sure that I can claim the "hard core" turkey hunter label, often "hard luck" is more like it!! Anyway, I have a tiny bit of on-the-ground experience and have done some poking around the internet on turkey food plots. Some of the best-looking stuff seemed to be on a site from Missouri (go figure). The site address is http://www.conservation.state.mo.us/nathis/birds/turkey/habitat.htm

You would of course need to check with local USDA farm program folks, NRCS/SCS etc. to see if the recommended plant species would work in your area/situation. Remember, though, that the recommendations were developed around commercial ag operation -- often a pretty decent food plot is still far below what would be required to be economically feasible for a farmer. This is just a long-winded way of saying - don't be afraid to do some small scale trials of a particular plant species even if the ag info says it would be marginal in your area.

Generally, turkeys seem to be pretty adaptable regarding food sources. Many types of grains, beans, succulent greens, acorns, berries, worms/grubs/bugs (particularly for poults), tubers (chufa has great reputation), etc all are used at times. One thing to consider is providing an attractive food resource at a time when it is least available in surrounding area. An example would be fresh green sprouting grain (or even resprouting grass following a small burn) when most commercial grain in the area has gotten up to 10 or 12" high and has lost it's appeal to turkeys. Another example, turkeys just LOVE to feed in freshly plowed or disked ground, at least around here and in western Oklahoma they do. So just working a few acres tends to create an area that is super attractive as a feeding site for a few weeks, especially if surrounding areas lack fresh tillage at that time.

Well, now I've told ya everything I know and then some! Good luck, and let us know how it turns out.

[skb20]

Dang it, I somehow managed to screw up on pasting in a site address (AGAIN). Looks ok when I paste it in, then deletes part of it from the post. Cyber-gremlins at work, I guess. Address is ...../birds/turkey/habitat.htm. Also, I forgot to mention the National Wild Turkey Federation site -- in case you have not seen their stuff. I would paste in their web address..... but that probably would just lead to yet another screwup. Google - nwtf will get you there.

[Bob Onit]

Cliff, It sounds like your a master baiter!:LOL:

[Flocknocker]

Yes and we feed hay and corn also when winter gets rough. Oh I forgot to say we don't hunt here just for a few rabbits to keep the numbers down and doves that blow through. We have better spots to hunt than here and we kinda think of the critters on the place like pets. Heck we feed over a couple tons of black oil sunflower seeds every year for Debe's song birds feeders. It's like a zoo around here. Next time you talk to her ask her how damn many bird houses she has made me build for her, hehehe and she just told me next year to get ready to do more.

The turkey are not dusting I have a few areas for that also the upland birds use, To me it looks like the turkeys are scratching and eating the dirt, let me say it like this, what they scratch up they eat, it is all gone when they leave unlike a dusting bowl. Can't figure it out I never seen them do this to any place I have seen anyway before. Guess I should put up a blind and see just what they are doing.


Hey Bob are you with green peace now I just noticed the Avatar or did you mess with Rich?????


BAAAAWWWWWAHAHAHAHAHAH it is a pretty blue.

Oh yea one more thing I am looking for an apprentice baiter if you are interested. :JW: :hest:

Gotta go the fish are callin me.



Cliff

[DUCKDIGGLER]

Hey Cliff....Stop trying to steal our........PIVOT MAN !!! :rof:

[Flocknocker]

I never do that again.


Cliff :nn:

[chcltlabz]

If you want to draw birds in for hunting, or even to see them in the spring strutting and such, don't worry as much about feeding them (sounds like you have plenty there that turkeys will eat) give them some nesting cover.

Some of the best nesting cover I've seen came from overgrown fields, or especially christmas tree farms that don't mow between the rows until mid summer.

This will draw the girls in, and the gobblers go where the girls are.

Its like a boobie bar for turkeys:Wt

[Dogbox]

Cliff,

I'm not expert on turkeys, but I can tell you what I've tried that worked. I always disk up some ground to make it easier for them to scratch and eat bugs and what not. We have lots of fescue around home and it ain't much for wildlife. The turkeys and quail need to be able to scratch around for bugs, so I'm trying little by little to replace the fescue with other stuff such as clover, lespedeza, timothy,... My neighbors have soybeans and corn, so I've been putting out food plots and not spraying cause I want to attract lots of bugs, which will attract the turkeys. Provide some nesting cover for the hens and the gobblers will follow. I try to rotate my food plots and disked areas around. It would be worth while to call your local wildlife biologist and ask for his recommendations, he may be able to help you with the planting selections and may even know of state monies earmarked for such.

I learned the hard way that the food plots can get damn expensive quick, so lately I've tried planting cheaper stuff. Sometimes it doesn't cost much to plant something for the bugs to eat. You don't have to disk the place like you were planting a crop, bust it up just enough so that the turkeys can dig around. Turkeys will eat a wide range of stuff, a few years I watched a flock of hens tear into a plot that I'd busted up the day before. It was in Sep. and there were alots of bugs, a few frogs and a shit load of small grass snakes that got wacked when I ran the disk thru. Those hens ate everything they found and used that spot pretty regular.

Seems like I have heard that turkeys do like some salt as well.

[Bob Onit]

Originally posted by DUCKDIGGLER
Hey Cliff....Stop trying to steal our........PIVOT MAN !!! :rof: I prefer center of attention!:cool:

[Cut-um]

Hey Cliff, ya think it's time we give Bob that pink butterfly we talked about???:CF: :hs: :CF:

[Bob Onit]

Yumm! I have'nt seen any PINK in along time!:cool:

[DMWAIBS]

Thats funny

[duckpoor]

Well I think there is lots of really good info for Cliff and I wanted to reinforce something D Box had said that we have found.

The Disk is the best management tool ever invented. If you want to improve any spot Run light disk over it three times a year and sow an perennial in the fall for and over winter.....

Worked ground is the biggest attractor to everything that lives in the timber.. Creates edges / transitions and a variety of eats for all the critters. Discovered it by accident but somtime I think it is the "working" rather than the crop...
Now this won't replace supplement food plots but fits in nicely with the management plan.

Anyone else noticed this??

R Green

[JBW]

Hey Cliff, If the lick you speak of is the only bare area close by then it may be a convenient place for them to peck around for gravel. Most larger animals like salt as well. As far as what to plant, I would not worry about it. As metioned earlier, turkey are the most opportunist feeders out there. You will have more than you want in no time at all.