Turkey Question

I’ve never hunted Turkeys before & where I grew up in northwestern Minnesota we never had any up there till a couple of years ago when the DNR planted some up there. But after watching a couple of hunting show this weekend they talked about how smart of a bird they are & how hard they are to hunt.

But now that we have them up in the Red River Valley & I hunted deer around them this year, I just don’t see it. I walked right up to 4 four them numerous times this fall & they let me get within 10 yds of them. Heck, I think they screwed up a couple of our drives by spooking the deer . I think someone told me that the turkeys that we have up there are different from the ones I saw on tv. All of your thoughts to help a newbie out would be great.

Well good luck to you Mark during this hunting season. Hopefully they havent “smarted” up and you will be able to bage one…Like rooster said, put the camo on and it seems to be a whole different deal…good luck and hopefully your first hunt will be successful ..Jay

That’s the thing they are all north on US 10, so there is no Turkey season up there. From talking to my brother who is a Clay county deputy, he say’s he’s 25 around the family farm now.

It’s truly amazing how the wild turkey has thrived and expanded across the state. Each year new zones are opening up for hunting.

In regard to hunting them, last year in MN, one out of three hunters (33%) were successful during the spring hunt. That was about the same success rate over the last 10 years. So two of of three hunters fail to get one.

I’ve been hunting turkeys over 10 years and it is very challenging. They will catch movement from very far distances. It also depends on when you hunt (weather), where you hunt and the surrounding hunting pressure. I’ve never heard of anyone just walking up to one during the hunting season and shooting it. And many claim if they could smell just like a deer, it would be almost impossible to get close to one.

IMO, turkeys are really dumb. However, turkeys are also very skittish with unbeievable vision, especially for movement, even at long distances. It is these traits IMO that make them difficult to hunt, not any kind of intellegence.

I thought the same thing. My first turkey hunt I was done in 2 hours and I thought “that was easy, what’s the big deal? They have a brain the size of a walnut, what could be so hard?” Next year, NOTHING. It could be that the turkeys in your area have had little hunting pressure and they are not skittish…. YET! I have heard expert turkey hunters say that if a turkey could smell you would never kill one. They are prayed upon at birth so they have to be weary right out of the shell. Good luck to you but don’t underestimate the ability of the turkey to survive, I think they will surprise you. I have to add that once you go, your hooked. “See you in the turkey woods!!”