Turkey searching is plagued with previous wive’s tales, folklore, and myths. A few of that is innocent. A few of it may need a very good rationalization. However a few of the misbeliefs may cost a little you a punched tag this spring.
Plus, the reality nonetheless issues. So, within the spirit searching with higher data, listed below are 23 turkey and turkey searching myths to ditch proper now.
The 23 Dirtiest Turkey Myths
Fable 1: Turkeys see colour like we do.
Some suppose turkeys see in colour similar to we do, however they don’t. Turkeys do have nice colour imaginative and prescient, however not in the best way we expertise it. The structure of cones and rods of their eyes are totally different from ours. Whereas the precise composition of their imaginative and prescient isn’t identified, it’s believed they see colour, however a lot otherwise than people. That mentioned, similar to whitetails and different prey animals, their eyes detect movement extraordinarily properly.
Fable 2: Turkeys haven’t any sense of odor.
Wild turkeys definitely don’t have a way of odor like whitetails, however they aren’t nostril blind, both. Turkeys do, in actual fact, have a slight skill to odor. In fact, it isn’t important sufficient to influence the way you hunt them.
Fable 3: Turkeys hate or love the rain.
Some say turkeys hate the rain. Others say they adore it. Neither are true, actually. The explanations wild turkeys spend a lot time in open fields throughout rainstorms are twofold. First is safety. The wind and rain make it troublesome to see inside cowl. Second is meals. Bugs and grubs head to the floor when the water desk rises. I’ve watched gobblers rip off gobble after gobble within the rain, too. They didn’t appear to thoughts it an excessive amount of. Examine ideas for searching turkeys in unhealthy climate right here.
Fable 4: Turkeys, particularly poults, drown once they lookup within the rain.
Turkeys younger and previous don’t drown by wanting up when it rains. If this had been true we’d discover lifeless turkeys everywhere after heavy rains. They do, nonetheless, head for open fields when the drops begin falling (except they’re roosted).
Fable 5: Turkeys all the time roost in the identical tree each evening.
In prairie settings the place roost timber are tremendously restricted, this delusion can maintain up. That mentioned, all through most of America, it often isn’t true. A small variety of turkeys routinely roost in the identical precise timber, however that is the exception and never the norm. Wild turkeys virtually all the time rotate by means of quite a few roost timber and even roost areas. Plentiful numbers of native birds could make it seem to be a roost is getting used each night by the identical turkey.
Fable 6: As soon as within the tree, turkeys don’t change roosts.
Turkeys do just like the roost limbs they fly as much as. However that doesn’t imply they’ll stay there. I’ve watched as roosted turkeys moved from one limb to the following. I’ve additionally roosted a turkey in late night, went again the following morning, and there wasn’t a turkey in sight. With out query, turkeys typically change roost limbs, and even roost timber, after flying up.
Fable 7: A roosted gobbler is a assured bagged chicken.
Simply since you roost a turkey doesn’t imply you’re assured to kill it the following morning. In actual fact, I hardly ever kill roosted turkeys. Most different hunters have advised me the identical.
Fable 8: Heat late-winter climate tremendously quickens the breeding cycle.
An unseasonably heat late-winter or early spring may get turkeys to gobble and strut slightly extra, however that doesn’t imply breeding will happen any sooner (measurably talking). The wild turkey breeding cycle is pushed by photoperiod (daylight size), and that doesn’t change a lot 12 months to 12 months.
Fable 9: Calling closely will hold turkeys on their roost limbs.
Some say that steady calling to a roosted gobbler will hold it on the limb later into the morning. That isn’t true. If that turkey refuses to fly down, it’s as a result of it’s seen or heard one thing it didn’t like. Even when it’s gobbling, it’d bear in mind one thing from earlier.
Fable 10: Name-shy turkeys stop responding to calling.
It’s lengthy been believed that calling an excessive amount of may end up in call-shy turkeys. That mentioned, hushed turkeys at the moment are attributed to gobbler elimination, elevated searching strain, and elevated predator populations. It isn’t because of elevated calling by turkey hunters. Ever heard an enormous spring turkey flock? They actually make a ruckus.
Fable 11: Hens can’t gobble or strut.
Assume that hen turkey can’t gobble or strut? Assume once more. Nonetheless don’t consider me? Watch it occur on this video. Whereas very uncommon, it’s believed to be a present of dominance towards different hens.
Fable 12: Gobblers don’t yelp.
Gobblers don’t simply gobble. They make different vocalizations, too. One in every of these is the tom yelp. This three-noted yelp-yelp-yelp has the identical normal construction as a hen yelp, nevertheless it’s a lot deeper, raspier, at a slower tempo.
Fable 13: Turkey poop all the time appears to be like the identical.
A lot of the time, male turkey excrement is J-shaped. In distinction, hen poop is often spiral- or popcorn-shaped. These truths aren’t 100% correct, although. Weight loss program, well being, and different elements can influence the looks of untamed turkey poops, altering mentioned waste from the standard anticipated kinds listed above.
Fable 14: That quick, damaged beard is a case of beard rot.
Some grownup turkeys is perhaps 2-plus years previous with a full fan and a partial or no beard to indicate for it. Moreover, these are virtually all the time discolored, typically reaching a blondish coloration. The widespread delusion attributes this to a situation known as “beard rot.” Nonetheless, it’s actually only a melanin deficiency.
Fable 15: Turkeys received’t ever cross a fence.
Each turkey hunter and their brother has mentioned a turkey received’t cross a fence. And whereas fences may cause turkeys to hold up, I feel it’s much less in regards to the fence and extra about them probably not eager to be on the opposite facet of it. Give it some thought. If a turkey is already on the opposite facet of the fence, it possible has the explanation why it prefers to be on the opposite facet. Moreover, most properties I hunt have an abundance of fencing. One is totally woven wire, and daily, turkeys come out of the woods, fly as much as the fence posts, and hop all the way down to the opposite facet earlier than waddling down the hill towards the cow pasture I arrange in. Why? As a result of they already wish to be there.
Fable 16: Turkeys received’t ever cross water.
I’ve seen gobblers dangle up at streams, creeks, and rivers. I’ve watched them fly those self same waterways. Likewise, wild turkeys aren’t swimmers, however they will swim. See it for your self proper right here. With out query, turkeys do cross, and even typically swim, throughout water.
Fable 17: Your calling should sound excellent.
No, your turkey calling doesn’t should sound excellent. It doesn’t have to be turkey-calling-championship worthy. In actual fact, even wild turkey hens don’t all the time have the most effective voices. Simply take heed to wild birds. A few of them sound like a 5-year-old screeching toys on a tile flooring. All that mentioned, the cadence of a wild turkey’s name is vital, so hunters ought to deal with getting this proper.
Learn Subsequent: Turkey Calling Ideas
Fable 18: You possibly can’t name a turkey down a hill.
It’s true — I’ve had higher luck calling turkeys uphill than downhill. However I’ve known as turkeys downhill, too. Give it some thought — turkeys should stroll down hills in some unspecified time in the future, or they’d by no means go away the hilltops. Normally, when a gobbler received’t come down the hill, it’s as a result of he’s in a “strut zone” and expects the hen to come back as much as him.
Fable 19: Henned-up longbeards can’t be coaxed into vary.
Henned-up gobblers have already got the true deal. That doesn’t imply they received’t go away it to seek out one thing new, although. Whereas the chances aren’t all the time nice, when you play these playing cards proper, you simply may pull a longbeard off an actual hen. Should you can’t pull that gobbler away, strive calling to the hen as a substitute.
Fable 20: You possibly can’t name again a spooked turkey.
Simply because a turkey is spooked doesn’t imply you may’t name it again into vary. Generally, you may name a chicken proper again after killing the gobbler it was operating with. Or, if the turkey is admittedly spooked, give it an hour or two, circle round from one other route, and go at that turkey once more. You may be capable of name it in.
Fable 21: Jakes efficiently breed.
Assume a jake makes a very good daddy? Guess once more. The overwhelming majority of jakes can not efficiently breed. Whereas they will conduct the ritual, most should not have viable sperm counts.
Fable 22: Beard measurement is indicative of age.
Loads of turkey hunters deal with the beard, particularly newer turkey hunters. However the beard isn’t the most effective indication of age. Trying on the spurs is a greater approach to estimate the age of a gobbler. Usually, rounded off spurs belong to jakes, 4/8- to 7/8-inch spurs are on 2-year-old turkeys, 1- to 1 3/8-inch spurs belong to 3-year-old turkeys, and 1 4/8-inch and higher spurs are discovered on 4-plus-year-old gobblers. However this isn’t all the time the case, both.
Fable 23: You possibly can’t bag a chicken past 40 yards.
Many elderly-timers will inform you to not shoot at a turkey past 40 yards, and that it’s unethical to take action. Whereas this was and nonetheless is sweet recommendation when you’re searching with older gear, trendy turkey shotguns, turkey hundreds, choke tubes, and purple dot sights have made it attainable to make pictures past 40 and nonetheless be deadly and moral. The secret is to sample your shotgun and discover your individual most efficient vary. Keep in mind, a very good turkey killing sample is 100 pellet strikes inside a 10-inch circle.
