Will Turkeys displace deer?

[Meat-Run]

Hey folks, anybody have any knowledge if turkeys will displace deer from an area or woods? I was hunting in/around the Frazee area this weekend and had a ton of turkeys, upwards of 75 turkeys coming and going from our woods and field? To make note of this we only say one deer in these woods for one day of hunting and in this part of the state its hard to go anyware and not see a deer.

Whats others experience with turkeys and deer? I know its not a problem in the southern states like Iowa and Illinious but maybe the deer just aren't accustumed to the birds. maybe?

mr

[Hotspotter]

Meat:

I've done some literature searches on this very subject before, and didn't come up with much. That thought might suggest that it's not an issue.

At the same time, I've observed large flocks, especially in the fall, making deer quite nervous. The larger the group, the more chasing you see between hens and even gobbler groups, and that much racket and movement would anecdotally lead one to assume the deer have moved out.

That said, the areas I deer hunt are frequented by wild turkeys, bigger flocks and smaller ones, and deer do not avoid the area altogether. Rather, you tend to see them in the thicker areas (vs. the more open hardwoods and openings the turkeys frequent), and generally don't see them in coincidence with one another that often.

When I see them together, it's usually in a grassy (quiet) field, eating together, rather than in a wooded, leaf-filled hardwood stand (noisy!) picking for acorns.

I'm of the opinion that a constain parade of chasing flocks certainly doesn't help your deer hunting, but I wouldn't think it'd move the deer out altogether. Some of our best and most productive deer hunting locations are where flocks of fall birds frequent that spot at sometime of the day.

Joel

[Scott K]

I have seen deer walk into the same field as turkeys, I can also say turkeys have snuck up on me and scared the sh*t out of me. So I wouldnt see why they wouldnt spook a deer, they arent very quiet.

[uplander]

What about pheasants? Hunted a farm down south yeserday for roosters that had not been hunted this year! Looked sweet.. hunted a chunk of standing corn that should of held birds...and it did 40 -60 turkeys.. Not one pheasant not even a hen. I was shocked. My buddy that farms the land said he'd been seeing pheasants while combining, but they were not there yesterday...Wondering if turkeys run them off?

[livintofish]

Meat run,

My opinion on this matter was slightly changed this season. Years past when we saw and heard a lot of turkeys, we saw no deer to speak of. This year turkeys were running all over, I could hear them in the morning and many were flushed from across a meadow when a buddy of mine set a portable up over there during mid morning opening day. I watched turkeys strut around in that meadow making all kinds of noise for hours. The only deer that I saw, I shot(a nice doe) and our party shot 9 deer that day, including my buddy who shot 3 and was in a piney area where turkeys love to roost. So I don't know how deer really are affected, other then this year seemed to prove turkey activity is not that much of a factor. Probably wouldn't hurt to thin those turkeys out a bit though, don't know if your in a turkey hunting zone.

[Ufatz]

Quote:

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Hey folks, anybody have any knowledge if turkeys will displace deer from an area or woods? I was hunting in/around the Frazee area this weekend and had a ton of turkeys, upwards of 75 turkeys coming and going from our woods and field? To make note of this we only say one deer in these woods for one day of hunting and in this part of the state its hard to go anyware and not see a deer.

Whats others experience with turkeys and deer? I know its not a problem in the southern states like Iowa and Illinious but maybe the deer just aren't accustumed to the birds. maybe?

mr

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Do not worry, it will be okay.

[bigbucks]

I've seen deer & turkeys in the same places in the same evening many times. The turkeys usually come earlier. In WI about 3 weeks ago I saw a forky chase a couple of turkeys off, it was pretty funny.

[Hoyt4]

Deer and Turkey's go together.I hunt in Washington county and when you see Turkeys you see deer.Doesn't matter field or woods.I had turkeys walking all around and started to can call and grunt and would get a young buck to come to the scrape line to check it out.This happened a couple times that night was fun to watch.I have never had turkey's mess up deer hunt but I have had deer spook off a turkey coming in to calls or in a decoy setup in the spring.

[Hammer Handle]

Deer and turkeys get along. But, I have seen turkeys chase and "pick on" pheasants.

[Powerstroke]

I think they can share the same areas quite well. In my limited experience, the deer will be more nocturnal if a large turkey presence is there.

[Craig_S]

A few years ago I was hunting spring gobblers down in Kansas. I had "Atlas, King of the Turkeys" just about into gun range, when "Bitchey, loser of the deer world" stomps into the picture. She literally flailed hooves in the air, and stomped Atlas right off the field.

Being superior to both, I snuck around the next draw and suckered Atlas to a few purrs and killed him. A double bearded masterpiece.

I've seen both in the same woods for many years. Had turkeys feeding and deer feeding within 10 yards. It never dawned on me that the two might not get along.

I suppose it was all that gobbling and strutting that got my heart pumping, and Bitchey all crabby.

Craig

[xedge2002]

I was wondering this same thing this weekend when we where hunting. Opening morning I saw around 50-60 turkeys and no deer. The piece of land I was hunting in the past has been phenominal for deer. We would usually see somewhere between 10-20 deer in there between all of us that sit on it. But last weekend opening morning we saw 4 total, it was just unreal. But I will be out there again this weekend and maybe our luck will have changed!! I do know that I am definetly putting in for a turkey tag for next spring again!!

[96trigger]

I've seen deer when turkeys are around, but usually, I take it as a bad sign. I hunt the bluffs and woodland. Turkeys make a lot of noise. I blieve that its enough to cause deer to avoid the area. I'm not saying that they aren't often seen together. I will often see them feeding in the same alfalfa or corn field, but when the turkeys are scratching in the woods, the deer are usually few and far between.

[Hotspotter]

96:

As mentioned, these have been my experiences as well. Deer, esp. big deer, rarely tolerate that much commotion, noise, and movement. Esp. when there's plenty of other quality habitat available. It's a different story when they're sharing a bumper acorn crop limited only to a small area.

Additionally, I can't tell you the number of times deer have cost me turkeys. Bump a deer when trying to setup on a turkey, and you've got a blowing/snorting deer. Tends to make the gobblers fly down the other direction and clam up for awhile.

This has become a regular enough occurence, that I'm considering scent-control options for my turkey hunting. Admittedly however, it's typically my movement, or my blind (not brushed in with netting down) that'll spook them.

Joel