Turkey sightings

[Gordie]

Its getting closer and I saw another member post his sighting so I thought I would sart a thread.

I saw 5 toms on wednsday afternoon on the shoulder of hwy 169 between Elk River and Zim town near the mix plant.

They sure did look healthy and they werent moveing out of anyones way hope nobody smacked one with a car. they had some really nice long beards

[SmilinBob]

Almost got 2 jakes and a nice tom with the ambulance just north of Becker the other day, and the flock by the power plant was looking good, saw 7 toms and lost count of the hens, looks like they are still eating good here!

[Musky Buck]

Turkey numbers in my neck of the woods seem to be down compared to the last few years but were those up years ? We were just starting to get quite a few birds in our area the last 5 years or so but the hatch was poor last spring compared to years previous, but who knows the birds may be spreading out into what was once birdless areas or wintered someplace else. Basically been seeing the same 4 Toms together and 2 bearded hens together, neither hen has a chick running with them but last fall they had 1 and 3 respectively if they are the same hens which I would assume as the beard gives them away and they are regulars at the bird feeder.

[DonBo]

Saw two seperate flocks of long beards today. About a dozen on Hwy 8 up the hill from Taylors Falls, in a picked corn field.

Maybe half a dozen on Hwy 96 just north of Stillwater, on a wooded hillside. Neither in my zone.

[Archerysniper]

Had a couple big toms standing in a clear cut north of lake george on saturday.

[DonBo]

Funny how everyone here is reporting just seeing toms...where's all the hens?

[Musky Buck]

Hear ya Don, other then the bearded hens 2 of them I haven't been seeing them, usually the bird feeder is a part of their route, once the weather stabilizes and is decent they seem to hit the feeder again, last winter roughly 30-40 of them which was too many or should I say they can hammer a lot of bird seed, this year too few, my hope is they just wintered elsewhere with so much standing corn around and deeper snow, tough walking to scout. I know the hens had much lower numbers of chicks with them last summer than what seemed usual in my area.

[goblueM]

i saw a big one in my freezer last night while rummaging around...

[DonBo]

i saw a big one in my freezer last night while rummaging around...

Ha Ha, I saw a couple of them myself!

[Musky Buck]

Hey, saw a gaggle this morning, maybe 25 birds, the strange thing a bit was 2 were certainly Toms and they were struttin the group way puffed up and acting tough, didn't get a great look at them all, and this was at 7:20AM, they were very near a guy's house who feeds deer I'm sure mopping up what was on the ground. It's amazing how large a puffed up turkey can look, I thought it seemed a bit early for them to be acting the way they were. Either way, good to see them and now I'll look every morning and evening on the way to and fro.

[DonBo]

gaggle?

They'll actually strut most anytime of the year. Shot one this fall that came in gobbling just like a spring hunt. Go figure...

[delzz7]

I saw a tom strutting around in someones backyard yesterday too. There is always a group eating the bird food on the ground under the bird feeders there...

[Musky Buck]

Gaggle meaning a group, they were there again this morning, watched them fly down from the trees/roost, Tomboy was struttin his stuff. Good luck this Spring guys.

[Hodgy17]

The other day i saw probably one of the biggest toms i have seen before,it was also just off the highway so i got a good look at it. Its beard was probably around a foot long and it was all by itself.

[Scott M]

Saw 4 hens in the backyard at the extended inlaws in the Shakopee blufflands overlooking the old 212...they were at the bird feeders. No wonder city people think turkey hunting is so easy.

A group of 7 deer came out at sunset.

[Dave S]

I saw 2 very large toms with beards that were 10"+. They were standing on the edge of the road next to one of the biggest fox squirrels that I've ever seen.

[Code-Man]

Saw about 50 pecking through some hay on Saturday. Mixture of Jakes and toms, few were puffing up at each other so it was fun to watch, too bad the no hunting signs were right next to them.

[harvey lee]

I have been seeing both hens and Toms in the last few weeks. More Toms than hens.

Mostly out feeding during the day.

[Musky Buck]

Turkeys are starting to pattern out a bit following the same routes and feeding in the same places, been seeing plenty of them, daily.

[haverhunting]

My 4 year old just called my and told me to go home and get my gun because there were so many turkeys in a field.LOL. My wife got the phone from him and told me they were south of the swingin doors east of DL. She counted too 42 then quit when she noticed another 15 to 20 on the otherside of the road. Just hearing that is enough to get the blood pumping..

[SmilinBob]

A group of turkeys is called a rafter. Wiki says a gobble or gang can be used as slang. The rafter south of Becker looked cold in the wind today, but healthy yet.

[DonBo]

A group of turkeys is called a rafter. Wiki says a gobble or gang can be used as slang. The rafter south of Becker looked cold in the wind today, but healthy yet.

I had no idea. Never heard them refered to as anything but a flock. Who knew?

[Musky Buck]

I go with gaggle. They are loving this weather, 6:45 AM, about 30 on the gravel road, 4 official Toms strutting the group, 1 was such a little Tom/Jake or whatever but he was really acting tough, he was the last soldier standing as I had to drive through them to get to work, the others just peeled off to the shoulders, but oh no Mr. tough guy had to prove his toughness, of course last week brought the camera and couldn't get a clean shot of them, left it at home and of course today I could've captured the moment.

[Scott M]

With the gorgeous weather, saw a couple toms scratching on a hill in the sunlight. Should be seeing the birds out and about as the snow recedes and then it'll be time to get a bearing on what social patterns the birds are in and how far away the breeding season is.

[engfish]

With all of the snow in our part of the state this past winter, I was beginning to wonder how the turkeys handled the winter. Based on the size of the two flocks/gaggles/ I saw yesterday in the Waterville area, they came through the winter in great shape. The Waterville area hunters should have a good spring season!