turkey IQ

[George]

Anyone who has hunted turkeys much knows that, in spite of their reputation of being hyper-cautious and smart at spotting hunters, in many ways they are stupid birds. After all, breeding a foam decoy isn't exactly a mark of intelligence. Some are smarter than others, though, and here's the proof. I live in a large metropolitan area, subdivisions for miles in all directions with a small stream running through my yard, with a corridor of trees and brush along it. Look what showed up in my yard, yesterday.

Our spring turkey season opens in a few day, and it seems clear this hen has decided to play it safe, sit the season out in town. Pretty shrewd.

Spence

 

[azmntman]

Them Toms will find her!

 

[andy52]

Yup, sometimes they aren't all that smart. Last year I went out in the late evening to roost some toms if I could. I had three of them come to the call right at dust. There was a large yellow pine close by and all three decided to roost in it. The first one made it to the branches well enough, the next two missed their branch and came tumbling down the tree wings a flapping. It was all I could do to keep from busting out laughing.

 

[Skychief]

"After all, breeding a foam decoy isn't exactly a mark of intelligence"....

.....Now THAT is a hard point to argue against.

Have a good Sunday afternoon Spence, Skychief.

 

[deermanok]

They do seem dumb until you try to shoot one. Wasn't it Benjamin Franklin who proposed the wild turkey as the national bird?

 

[Eterry]

The Toms remind me of teenage boys... around females. Will try to mount anything they can, often to their own peril. When females are on their mind they throw caution to the wind. Also looking for a fight with any Male who will answer the challenge.

The girls, on the other hand, are smart, cautious, protective of family and hard to get close to.... sound familiar to any of you guys out there??

 

[Sidney Smith]

I find turkeys to be very stupid birds. They are very skittish, just like a horse. That's their only saving grace. As to any form of intelligence, no they have very little.

Ive had them move around me while I repositioned myself for a shot and they never spooked. Its all in how you do it.

 

[okawbow]

Turkeys have no curiosity. If a gobbler see a slight movement or a shape that doesn’t belong, they are usually gone. A lot depends on hunting pressure and the age of the gobbler.

 

[JCKelly]

When I shoot it is on a range near the Clinton (NOT Slick Willy!) River in SE Michigan. No hunting pressure here, just target shooting. Now & again I have to wait for those Big Birds to walk on out of the range. One of them left me a feather once, which I gave to my kid.

 

[Ragged Edge]

The "intelligence" of turkeys is directly dependent on how hard and often they are pursued. In PA where I learned to hunt them they are a worthy adversary. In some other places I've pursued them I think I could kill one with a baseball bat. Having said that, they ARE really fun to hunt. O'l Ben may have been on to something.

 

[Billy Boy]

Anyone who has hunted turkeys much knows that, in spite of their reputation of being hyper-cautious and smart at spotting hunters, in many ways they are stupid birds. After all, breeding a foam decoy isn't exactly a mark of intelligence. Some are smarter than others, though, and here's the proof. I live in a large metropolitan area, subdivisions for miles in all directions with a small stream running through my yard, with a corridor of trees and brush along it. Look what showed up in my yard, yesterday.
View attachment 72589
Our spring turkey season opens in a few day, and it seems clear this hen has decided to play it safe, sit the season out in town. Pretty shrewd.

Spence

Don’t knock the turkeys IQ, remember there are full sized, blow-up plastic companions made for our species...I think if turkeys had an excellent sense of smell there might not have ever been one killed..just sayn....

 

[oldwood]

Best turkey call is shelled corn. It calls deer ,bears, blame wardens.

 

[bubba.50]

They do seem dumb until you try to shoot one. Wasn't it Benjamin Franklin who proposed the wild turkey as the national bird?

Ben Franklin also clubbed them with a stick because they were too stupid to run in those days.

 

[oldwood]

In reading original text from 18th century books , folks traveling the trans Appalachian frontier both red and white ate a lot of wild turkey. One account I read was of a flat boat of settlers floating down the Ohio River , toward Ky. ate so much easily available turkey , they were tired of it...........oldwood

 

[hinamanra]

There's no doubt they're as dumb as a rock but their survival instincts are unmatched by just about any living creature on earth since they evolved more than 11 million years ago. I once saw about 80 Rio Grandes crossing a pasture, there was a sheep fence at the tree line and the entire flock piled up against it, backed up and did it again and again until just one hen who must have got trampled in the pile jumped up and flapped her wings and landed on the other side. The rest of the flocks heads popped up and it was like you could see the light bulbs come on and they all started to fly over. It was a comical sight to see. They sure can humble a hunter though, especially them eastern birds.

 

[oldwood]

One year back in the 1980's Dec. , it snowed a foot or so every Wednesday. We wanted to hunt the Pa. m/l flintlock deer season in Dec. into 2nd wk. of Jan. , I even had a permit or so left , but my huntin' buddy just wanted to go along to experience hunting on snow shoes. I killed a doe that day , but that's not the point of the story. My companion and I split up so as to meet on a distant flat on the hill ahead. On the way up the slope , the powder snow on top of the previous 4 feet , made progress noiseless. There was a tall yellow pine ahead of me , and when I got to within 10 yds. of it , I recognized that about 15 ft. up there was what looked like a turkey tail sticking out the right side of it. I took another step , and the tail moved slightly as if the bird sensed something was up. Then the fun started , The body of the bird was behind the tree trunk , the tail jerked again ,and then the head and neck came out from behind the pine trunk's left side like if a punch was thrown. The bird's eye went from squinty ,to wide in a heart beat , from seeing me so close. Next funniest thing was watching the chinese fire drill of the big bird trying to get air born . All the flapping , flapping , flapping , etc. , and the critter almost fell into the snow before getting stabilized for flight. This event kind of "made up" for all the many times turkey's got the drop on me , in the woods. I still have a good laugh thinking about that situation..............oldwood

 

[Sparkitoff]

A lot of animals seem to lose any sense of intelligence during the mating season. Turkey's are not much different. You can call and gobble in heat of summer and dead of winter and rarely a response. Do that in the Spring season and the Toms will gobble and head in the direction of the sound. There is a fall season in TX with either sex legal. Hardly anyone calls or decoys, it is more a matter of opportunity (and a rifle is legal most places too). Literally two entirely different hunts in tactics, methods, bird behavior and success rates. The wild turkey seems very wary and smart, but the Toms definitely let their guard down for about a month each year.

 

[appalichian hunter]

I was taught that when fall turkey hunting you find the flock and gently bust them up sit down and do a re - group call usually soft purrs and clucks will re group the birds, as most birds during that time of the year are younger and think the flock is hunting each other.

 

[oldwood]

One late evening in the Pa. fall turkey season , a friend was heading home from a hunt. He came upon a flock of birds in the road. Since it was near dark ,he got a brilliant idea firing his 12 ga. in the air and scattering the flock , to return the next morning before light with the reinforcements of his two sons . Next morning the three guys were back where the flock was scattered , calling. My friend made only a couple of calls and there was a close noise from rustling of dry leaves. Both parties were equally shocked when the big black bear stood up in the laurel bushes to see where the breakfast turkey noise came from. How many guys do we know have called in a bear w/ a turkey call??????........oldwood

 

[appalichian hunter]

Here bear, over this way.