Turkeys?
Last week on my way in to work, at around 7:15 a.m. I saw what looked like a flock of turkeys about 200 yards off the road in a field owned by the state. I stopped the car and stared at them, wondering if they were actually turkeys.
Based on my conversations with the state forester near my area, I knew that turkeys had been released in the area in the mid-nineties, but that due to predation (foxes) and for other reasons, the flock had a very slow start at getting established.
Last year a friend of mine who lives only a few miles from me videotaped a flock walking through his yard. The video was proof of turkeys in the area. Over the past year or so I've seen a turkey here and a turkey there, but no flocks, and nothing that proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that there was a healthy population in the area (and that the single turkeys I'd seen weren't just passing through).
When I saw this flock last week I made a mental note of where they were and planned to go back over the weekend for a hike to see if I could locate any sign.
On Sunday my fiance and I went to that spot armed with cameras and a desire to prove that the turkeys are here. Oh and did I mention that I got picked to hunt turkeys in this area in the pre-season lottery? Yeah, so it wasn't totally a scientific desire for knowledge that led us there...
Anyway, we hiked out onto the frozen field and saw what might have been turkey scat (but could also have been goose droppings) but we saw nothing definitive out in the field. While walking we saw a ditch just inside the woods bordering the field. The ditch was filled with water which had frozen in most places completely down to the ground. We began hiking the ditch watching for any sign of frozen turkey tracks and BINGO! We found them.
Attached are some pics of this hike. I was also able to make note of the roosting area and will be able to intercept the flock come April when turkey season opens... Or at least that's the plan.
Above, frozen ditch leads to a flooded area interspersed with animal tracks (no human tracks to be seen, which is nice)
Evidence that a Beaver or two are around...
Are they what I think they are?! Turkey tracks!
Turkey highway!
Definitive turkey track
Last week on my way in to work, at around 7:15 a.m. I saw what looked like a flock of turkeys about 200 yards off the road in a field owned by the state. I stopped the car and stared at them, wondering if they were actually turkeys.
Based on my conversations with the state forester near my area, I knew that turkeys had been released in the area in the mid-nineties, but that due to predation (foxes) and for other reasons, the flock had a very slow start at getting established.
Last year a friend of mine who lives only a few miles from me videotaped a flock walking through his yard. The video was proof of turkeys in the area. Over the past year or so I've seen a turkey here and a turkey there, but no flocks, and nothing that proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that there was a healthy population in the area (and that the single turkeys I'd seen weren't just passing through).
When I saw this flock last week I made a mental note of where they were and planned to go back over the weekend for a hike to see if I could locate any sign.
On Sunday my fiance and I went to that spot armed with cameras and a desire to prove that the turkeys are here. Oh and did I mention that I got picked to hunt turkeys in this area in the pre-season lottery? Yeah, so it wasn't totally a scientific desire for knowledge that led us there...
Anyway, we hiked out onto the frozen field and saw what might have been turkey scat (but could also have been goose droppings) but we saw nothing definitive out in the field. While walking we saw a ditch just inside the woods bordering the field. The ditch was filled with water which had frozen in most places completely down to the ground. We began hiking the ditch watching for any sign of frozen turkey tracks and BINGO! We found them.
Attached are some pics of this hike. I was also able to make note of the roosting area and will be able to intercept the flock come April when turkey season opens... Or at least that's the plan.
Above, frozen ditch leads to a flooded area interspersed with animal tracks (no human tracks to be seen, which is nice)
Evidence that a Beaver or two are around...
Are they what I think they are?! Turkey tracks!
Turkey highway!
Definitive turkey trackby File Boy
posted by File Boy & D.Tkon at 9:30 AM
19 Comments:
Awesome pictures File Boy!
Apparently, these critters are not as rare as some people would think! I've seen male turkeys in winter plumage at the intersection of Old Baltimore Pike and Walther Road on several occasions. The Walther farm is just down the road and there are several stands of trees still in that area. We see dead raccoons and foxes and occasionally a dead deer in that area as well.
Actually fifi, my fiance took these with her digital camera. Mine were all done with a disposable camera which hasn't been developed yet. Digital is the way to go for sure. She has an eye for picture opportunities.
Despite being cold out, it was a great day for hiking as well as picture taking. Good lighting.
At one point during our hike she found some turkey poo and I took a pic of it so I could go look at my tracking guide at home to verify size and shape. Then she offered to take a pic of it with her digital cam. At that moment it was confirmed once again to me that I had found the right woman to spend the rest of my life with. Then we backtracked trying to find the poo but alas, we could locate it.
FB - your criteria for finding a mate is very interesting! I'd love to see the rest of the list!
The Walther farm, in case you're interested is the last working farm in Bear, DE. I read that in a news paper article some time ago. Yes, there are deer there and other critters, turkeys? I guess its possible. Are you sure you weren't seeing a vulture? They look almost identical - they even have the red heads and large bodies of a turkey. I know that there were turkeys released in Ommelanden shooting range off of route 9, and I know there are turkeys in Brandywine Creek state park, but I have no idea where they would come from to be where you said they were. At any rate, I know that once stocked in an area, they have been fairly successful in reestablishment in DE. I also know that they spend virtually their entire lives within 3 miles of where they were born. I did see a pair next to the on-ramp for route 1 north at the C and D canal a year or two ago. They were there every day for about a week (I was the guy leaning out the window taking pictures, holding up traffic). Not sure where they came from, but maybe they are well-established throughout the state at this point.
Next we I'll be on the lookout for coyotes and bobcats. And cougars. And bears. oh my.
All you need in life is a woman to find the poo with you. I've often said that.
I guess it could have been a vulture, though being in the line of work I'm in, I'd think I could tell the difference! (little joke there) But perhaps you're right. The feathers just didn't look right for a vulture though. The breast of this bird was mottled gray and black. I was sitting at a red light and got a good look, but what the heck do I know?
Damn. Now I have to go google turkey and vulture images so I can satisfy myself.
(hold onto that woman! She's a keeper!)
The way I often tell if they are off in the distance is that a turkey has a long neck and a relatively small head (much like my brother's girlfriend, whom I think I will nickname "magic fingers" because her arms were so short and her hands were big - she really had the arms and hands of a T-rex) whereas a vulture has a short neck. Both have red heds. If you see them close to the road and you stop, turkeys will often get nervous and walk back towards the nearest woods. Vultures will sit there and look at you until you are almost driving over them (if they are in the road). Another tell-tale sign - carion on the road = vultures.
I did get my film developed and we have a nice turkey poo picture. Not sure how many others out there can claim that. That's right, suck on that.
Dude you need some serious help. Anybody can find tracks in the snow. It takes a real outdoorsman to find them when its not snowing. They call people who track tracks in the snow lazy.
We call anonymous commenters "ass holes". I guess I'm just lazy when it comes to retorts as well.
Of course I'm just teasing (you're not an a-hole) . Its just easier to track stuff in the snow. I was tracking those turkeys out in the field and though I found some scat- there wasn't anything picture worthy, until we went back into the woods and saw the snowy tracks. That's why I took the pics.
WAKE UP OU FOOL!!! You know what would be better instead of tracking the tracks in the snow. Try this, if you not to afraid too; get your lazy a out in the woods, get a good quality turkey call, stand, sit, squat by a tree, and try bringing call the turkey that made those tracks in close for a picture of the actual anaimal that made those tracks. That would be a great picture opportunity, plus it makes you a better turkey caller and outdoorsman. - From a real Turkey Hunter
Anonymous - did you see the part in the post where I said that I had been picked for turkey season this year? I plan to be out there calling them in the spring. Then I'll hope to get more than just a picture. I was just scouting the area the other day.
When I get a turkey in April we'll see who's the real "OU FOOL" after all.
So I take it your just a part-time hunter, oh o.k., I got it now
Yeah, I actually have a full time job in addition to my hobby of turkey hunting.
I'm not saying that having a full-time job is wrong. What I saying is that animals don't just f__kin appear during hunting season. It shouldn't just be about the kill but also figuring out the aninals natural habitat and watching something other than than rotten box in your house called a T. (shit-box) V. When you fully understand the way animals act in the wild makes you a more effective hunter.
I agree, and thus the reason I was out in the woods the other day. In fact, I'm much more excited to learn about the animals and see them in my area then to simply shoot them.
You know, I just thought it was cool that there were turkeys out in a field one morning. I drive past a dozen fields on a daily basis back there in the woods and never see a turkey. Then suddenly there's a flock of them. I had watched for them for so long and didn't see any for so long that when they actually were there I didn't hardly believe it. That was why I had to take this hike- I had to have 100% proof. Plus then I know where to set up my turkey hunt this spring. I just thought someone might dig the cool pics.
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