All game animals that live in climates that experience a large amount of winter weather undergo a lot of stress during the winter months. One animal that faces many challenges is the wild turkey.
Even though turkeys are quite plentiful in regions throughout the country that receive harsh winter weather, they face many challenges this time of year. One of the greatest obstacles for a turkey during the winter is heavy snow and ice.
“The greatest threat to turkeys in the wintertime is deep snow,” stated John Dzemyan, who spent 38 years working for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, especially working with turkeys and their habitat.
Turkeys have short legs, and unlike many other birds, they do most of their traveling on the ground. Even though turkeys have a large set of wings, maximum length of travel in the air is around one-quarter mile. While fall turkey hunting, one of the common tactics a hunter can use is to break-up the flock by running and yelling at them in hopes they scatter and fly away. What happens when you do this is usually within an hour or less, the flock will start calling to each other to regroup. A good turkey caller can take advantage of this and call in birds that are trying to regroup. I have attempted to break up many flocks of turkeys over the years while hunting them and it’s amazing how they often prefer to run versus flying away. This is how predators can have an impact on wintering turkeys in the deep snow.
Turkeys also get the bulk of their food from the ground. This is where deep snow creates another major challenge in survival. Turkeys will dig through the snow to find acorns, beech nuts and other mast crops, but it doesn’t take a lot of snow to have an impact on finding food. Even in areas where there’s heavy mast crops still on the ground, the cost of energy it takes to walk through deep snow and dig to find food outweighs the gain in finding it.
There is some debate on supplemental feeding turkeys in the wintertime. Many wildlife biologists, game wardens and conservation officers do not recommend or promote supplemental feeding. From 1938 to 1942, the Pennsylvania Game Commission and numerous other states created a research project on winter feeding wildlife, especially turkeys. A biologist named Richard Gerstall from the PGC was a leader in the study. The study states that there is little or no actual need for winter feeding. It also says that its ineffectiveness and inefficiency outweighs its advantages. The research bulletin cited more than 150 references to studies, historical records and writings by conservation agencies
According to another study, released by the PGC in 1997, turkeys have winter adaptations that help in their survival. Fat reserves comprise 15 to 25% of a turkey’s body weight going into winter. This serves as energy and added insulation to improve chances of winter survival. Some of this research was done in a 19-year study in the Potato Creek area of McKean County. The study in this area did find that during severe winters, losses between 30 to 60% were found, depending on elevation and especially if there was deep, fluffy snow. These losses occurred despite supplemental feeding in the area. Winter feeding records of the Kane Fish & Game Club were also reviewed in the study. Their data was collected from 1972 to 1978, using 32 different feeding stations. From those locations, populations declined from 208 birds to 35 birds in a six-year period.
According to an article written by Ray Eye, who is considered a turkey expert in North America, Eye believes winter feeding does help. Eye uses broadcast feeders that spread whole corn in a wide area to help prevent disease and it also gives the less dominant turkeys in the flock a chance for food. Whole corn is better for turkeys because it is less likely to mold. Eye also explains in the article about shifting the feeding location 100 yards every month to further prevent disease, especially due to dropping build up and predator problems. Areas where there are no farm crops are the most important places to winter feed, according to Eye.
I also believe supplemental feeding (where it’s legal) can have positive impacts on turkeys during the winter months, if done properly. I know many people that have great feeding programs on their properties and see tremendous results from doing so. The biggest bodied turkeys I know of that are harvested in the spring are taken in areas near where people winter feed.
Personally, I spend just as much time in the woods every winter as anyone. I find several dead turkeys every winter. These birds are dying from winter conditions. I rarely find dead turkeys outside of the winter months. In areas with poor mast crops, turkeys can go into winter without the fat reserves it takes to survive. I’ve noticed that even during mild winters, some turkeys don’t make it. During severe winters, like the ones we got back in the 1970s, there’s probably not much that can be done to save turkeys. And that’s when a lot of research was done on winter feeding.
If supplemental feeding is done right, it can help. The way I look at it is if you save one turkey through the winter, it was a success!
