futuredoc
Senior Member
Can any of you tell me the food sources you look for when there are no agricutural or hay fields around i.e. big woods hunting?
thanks,
fd
thanks,
fd
Welcome Guest!
what do turkeys eat where there are no fields?
- Thread starter futuredoc
- Start date
turky93
Senior Member
grass,sprouts,any green foliage, bugs,acorns,seeds,forbs,buds,things like that.
dawg2
AWOL ADMINISTRATOR
What he said. They move around a pretty good bit.
j_seph
Senior Member
Corn and Bird seed
Carp
Senior Member
Here's a picture of the contents a crop from a turkey I killed last year. This turkey fed in fields and woods. It contained beetles, grasshoppers, old peanuts, old acorns, blackberries, seeds of several varities and lots of greens. They are opportunistic omnivores, which means they will eat just about anything.
Attachments
turky93
Senior Member
mmmmm tossed salad.
Dudley Do-Wrong
Senior Member
yumm yumm, nice pic David
R
redneckcamo
Guest
man what a tastey lil fodder ya got there ....looks like they eat the same thang they allways been eatin ....everythang !!
futuredoc
Senior Member
thanks for the help
Now I know why it is so hard to get these dang birds nailed down to a pattern.
fd
Now I know why it is so hard to get these dang birds nailed down to a pattern.
fd
Vernon Holt
Gone But Not Forgotten
Turkeys are deliberate feeders. They normally have a home range, but if conditions develop where no food is available to their liking, they will move in search of food.
If no fields or pastures exist, they can make it where some natural openings occur in the forest canopy. Sunlight is a requirement in order for grasses to survive. Grasses and weeds (forbs) are a requirement for attracting various insects.
North GA has vast unbroken hardwood forests, virtually void of understory shrubs, annuals, perennials, etc. While it may appear to the novice to be excellent turkey habitat, in reality it is very poor habitat over most of the year. When acorns and dogwood berries are available, all is well. When gone, it it famine. This will result in turkeys moving perhaps for miles until they can find fields, pastures, a clearcut, or roadside greenery.
This in effect is an indictment of the Forest Service for yielding to the tree hugging crowd's demand for a halt to clearcutting.
If no fields or pastures exist, they can make it where some natural openings occur in the forest canopy. Sunlight is a requirement in order for grasses to survive. Grasses and weeds (forbs) are a requirement for attracting various insects.
North GA has vast unbroken hardwood forests, virtually void of understory shrubs, annuals, perennials, etc. While it may appear to the novice to be excellent turkey habitat, in reality it is very poor habitat over most of the year. When acorns and dogwood berries are available, all is well. When gone, it it famine. This will result in turkeys moving perhaps for miles until they can find fields, pastures, a clearcut, or roadside greenery.
This in effect is an indictment of the Forest Service for yielding to the tree hugging crowd's demand for a halt to clearcutting.
Nugefan
Senior Member
Dudley Do-Wrong
Senior Member
Great observation Mr. Vernon
dixie
Senior Member
they eat pine nuts a good bit too, they're a food source that gets overlooked a lot
Gadget
Senior Member
jcarter
Banned
turkeys are gonna eat anything they can uncover while they scratch along. nut or berry bearing trees and bushes attract them not only for the nuts and berries but for the insects and other bugs that are attracted to them also. ive found so much varied stuff in their craw that i dont even look anymore. just do the legwork and find the fresh scratching and they wont be far away. i can tell you that i have found unripe blackberries in a turkeys craw from birds killed in south ga well within the ga. spring season. had that bird been shot in the north ga mountains i doubt you would find them...but then again i kinda doubt youd find peanuts either. as far as the north ga. mountains being poor turkey habitat id have to disagree. most of the birds being hunted in ga. today were stocked from birds that were captured in the mountains of georgia and east tennessee. its hard to believe that in the early 1970's there were only about 17000 turkeys in this state and they were mostly in the mountains of ga.
Jim Thompson
Live From The Tree
folks he edited his original post and I cleaned up the remainder. no reason to keep beating the drum. hopefully they can get it worked out and settled between themselves
Handgunner
Senior Member
Never mind my post. If Vernon edited it, then that's why I missed it.
I agree though, if he accused in public, then he needs to apologize in public.
I agree though, if he accused in public, then he needs to apologize in public.
Carp
Senior Member
It's taken care of. Thanks Mr. Holt and Jim.
