Turkey and Weather

[Five Seasons]

I'm sure this has been asked before, maybe even by me. But I'm a novice turkey hunter and interested in what you pros see with the turkeys when it's cold, cloudy our rainy. We don't have a great stretch of weather coming up and curious how much effort I should put in this weekend with the early morning rise and all.

[growalot]

With long stretches of cold and rain they need to keep up their energy by with food, They go low to stay out of winds and look forward pockets. That's here on the hill.

[turkeyfeathers]

30 degrees this morning and great action
Rain and they may go field mode to rely on seeing because of hearing dampened. Never liked hunting windy days. They can't hear and less likely to talk as much. I can't hear them either. Growie has it spot on about cold / food and wind / lower areas/ pockets and pines. And yes this weekend is a crap show of weather.


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[Uncle Nicky]

Turkeys move in the rain, they especially seem to head for fields (lots of theories on why). They don't seem to gobble much when it's raining, I guess they are miserable.

This weekend will be my first chance to turkey hunt in NY this spring. Weather looks pretty snotty, cold & rainy, more like deer hunting weather. I'm going to set up a tent blind at the top of a field, Plan B will be sit in the blind if I get too wet or cold. Can't kill them from the couch, it will probably be my only chance to hunt in NY this year.

[Five Seasons]

yeah on opening day it was raining and the field was full. Interesting, you'd think the opposite but the sound/visibility point does make sense.

I like my turkey hunting when it's warm, haha. cold is for deer.

[growalot]

LOL Well TF got the gist of that post...typed on the kindle in between running to basement for laundry and kitchen for dishes...can't catch them all...

This afternoon they were very quiet and out of sight...I believe the pines and low swamps are where they hid  today...Right now there is a ton of food for them in the woods, it has been so wet all the worms are right at the surface...All the wild flowers are in full bloom and I noticed areas of leaf little moving with bug activity..Here water isn't an issue everyplace is wet with standing water everywhere.

I'm sure they are on high alert though...this is pup,kit and what ever you call raccoon and and fisher litters,bobcats, bears out of hibernation, Even the bald eagles ,goshawks, and I have seen great horned owls here......all these animals are feeding young and wild turkey are on many diets.

I put my carcass from Monday out in the woods...nothing and I do mean nothing was left on the bones today a pile of red stained bones over wing feathers...that's all that remained. some den ate well last night or the night before.

[mowin]

I've seen them stay on roost for a extra hr, to gobbling there heads off and raring to go. 

I second, or whatever# were up too, that they tend to hit the fields in nasty weather. But I've caught them lying low in a groove of pines too. 

I tend to sit on food sorce and out of the wind as much as possible. 

[Buckmaster7600]

The only thing I have found to be 100% in rain is that they still fly down at some point after sunrise and still act like turkeys. During rain I have killed them in the woods gobbling their heads off and I have killed them in fields when they never made a peep. I personally love hunting birds in the rain, I would rather it be 70 and raining and not 45 but that's more for me than the birds.


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[jperch]

Not much is true all the time for turkeys.  In general I have found that they tend to gobble a lot less when the temperature is much below 40.  But so what, they are still there and might still respond to my calls.  And for sure the bugs will not be a problem when it's cold, and I like that!   jperch