Henry Rifle Forums

Two toms just walked across the field in front of my house.

Cool! Do you know which version they are? I get confused at the differences.

Tis the season when toms start wandering and searching for mates.

Wild turkeys are not native to WA, they say they were introduced here in the 20th century but I've never seen one. After reading this article I'm not sure I'd want to see a large population of them here, seems they can be quite destructive and aggressive.

https://wdfw.medium.com/turkey-troubles ... 0fe6a9d026

We have quite a few wild turkeys that cruise through our property. They scratch up the woods looking for grubs and
insects but have never caused any damage to our lawn or flower beds. I enjoy seeing them and friends hunt them.
I used to but at 83 I just like to watch now.

That Wisconsin bird is an Eastern. We have the Merriams variety in Wyoming, and they’re thick in my area. I will be heading home soon and getting some turkey hunting in. I could hunt in my front yard, but the townsfolk might look down on that.

Cofisher wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 01, 2024 7:21 pm

Cool! Do you know which version they are? I get confused at the differences.

Centaur wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 02, 2024 9:40 am

That Wisconsin bird is an Eastern. We have the Merriams variety in Wyoming, and they’re thick in my area. I will be heading home soon and getting some turkey hunting in. I could hunt in my front yard, but the townsfolk might look down on that.

Thanks. I would not have known that.

https://spectrumnews1.com/wi/milwaukee/ ... obble-back

I talked to a state wildlife biologist here in Wisconsin and he told me that when turkeys were first introduced up here in the north woods of Wisconsin, there was some question as to whether they would survive our north woods winters. Ha! They've done remarkably well. One tough bird. We see them often on our bike/trike rides.

About the only non waterfowl bird to hunt in Ohio. Used to be grouse and quail but they seem to have gone extinct since the blizzard of ‘78.

North Country Gal wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 02, 2024 11:45 am

I talked to a state wildlife biologist here in Wisconsin and he told me that when turkeys were first introduced up here in the north woods of Wisconsin, there was some question as to whether they would survive our north woods winters. Ha! They've done remarkably well. One tough bird. We see them often on our bike/trike rides.

I saw a dozen or more turkeys in Madison a few weeks ago. It’s amazing how many animal spaces there are in the city.

I have a friend down near Madison. Yes, lots of wildlife areas.

We had three hens wander through the yard, today.

Turkey seaso starts tge 15th and am i going... so much fun to be in the spring woods and watchveverything wake up and get going... and hearing those gobbles is fun and exciting.

Jdl447 wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 02, 2024 12:34 pm

About the only non waterfowl bird to hunt in Ohio. Used to be grouse and quail but they seem to have gone extinct since the blizzard of ‘78.

We still have quail but doesn't seem to be nearly as many as there used to be. Didn't used to see many doves, I always heard our native doves stayed at higher altitudes. Starting a few years ago started seeing Eurasian collared doves and now they're in my back yard all the time. I wonder if that's why the quail population is down.

https://columbiabasinherald.com/news/20 ... ared-dove/

Back when I was still riding Ruby my neighbors little black lab Willie lived to go with us. Most of my riding was along the orchard roads or the hillside game trails. Willie knew where every quail covey hid out and he loved flushing them out, when he was young he probably covered 5 times the distance Ruby and I covered. As he got older he was content to stay close to us with only the occasional quail chase.

I have seen a pheasant rooster a couple of times this year and pigeons are still plentiful in town, which reminds me of this meme I had saved.