What are folks seeing out there for birds and what they’re eating? All that snow getting knocked down and frozen on top by rain should help their travel, but I’m wondering how much harder it’s made it for them to get some food? I’m seeing birds roosted more mid-day than I’m used to seeing this time of year.
Joel
Corn, Corn and more corn 
Actually with that warm up and rain last week. I can see bare spots in the fields around here that they are pounding and it’s anything they can sink their beaks into.
I see them working the neighbors cut beans everyday.
I would say anything they can eat. Around here it’s the cut corn and bean fields! 
The amount of turkey tracks and scratchings were unbelievable in my food plots up near Pierz, MN. 
Most of them were in the corn but they were also in a old rye grass food plot.
I’m really glad to see alot of the deer guys with corn standing into the winter. This is a link to an old study done in the driftless region of MN, but its lessons are very true today. In summary, during winters such as this one, flocks that have no available corn forage show extreme weight losses and mortalities that exceed 60%, compared to less than 10% for birds with access to corn plots.
Effects of Corn Food Plots on Wild Turkeys in the Upper Mississippi Valley
For those of you who have ever considered planting a corn food plot for deer or other critters, realize that plots such as these can literally keep a population of birds afloat during a rough winter.
Joel
Joel , The Turkeys are hitting the corn plot that Dad and I put in hard , Thanks for the corn bud 
I was out shed hunting on Monday and we kicked up about 20 Turkeys in the 40 of corn that was still standing 
It’s nice to see this and they are doing well 
Can’t wait for the Turkey season to start 
Quote:
Joel , The Turkeys are hitting the corn plot that Dad and I put in hard , Thanks for the corn bud
That’s great news…..just getting it in the ground and growing great is the hardest part.
Because of the way MN and esp. WI manages their increasingly large permit areas, I’m a firm believer that a few well-placed corn plots left over-winter can really positively affect local hunting. Pair rough winters with a poor spring for hatching, and you negatively affect your hunting for a few years to come. I think those corn plots are one of the few ways to combat and reverse those changes!
Joel
went on a roadtrip last week and saw 5 different flocks from half a dozen to a couple dozen birds and most were toms.
stopped and glassed one group of 10 longbeards about 50 yards away and they just kept scratchin in the cornfield.
just like deer, they get further from the woods and closer to the roads looking for food this time of year.
oh yeah, got my first permit in the mail the other day. come on april 11. 
I set up the feeder that Top Heavy Gave me for Christmas,I hope this will take some pressure off of my food plots
We got 6-10 toms that are at our feeder most of the day. I am feeding more oats, pellets, and peanuts out of mine only about 20% is corn. They seem to like it, and the protein levels are a lot higher than corn alone. They also hit the grit pile pretty hard.
CW
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