Paul Rouse of Bryan’s Road, Maryland, harvested a bearded hen (pictured, right) with a 7 1⁄2-inch beard and asked how rare they are. Dr. Tom gives us the statistics behind bearded hens and a few notes on their ability to reproduce
Dr. Bret Collier, an associate professor of wildlife ecology at Louisiana State University, weighs in on how to create better habitat for hens and their young.
Whether you’ve scoured the internet for the best way to get turkeys on your property or if you’re an ardent follower of the NWTF’s conservation mission, you have more than likely come across the phrase “early successional habitat.”
Without a doubt, wild turkeys have incredible vision and are able to detect motion many, many yards away. But how well do we truly understand how well they can see?
How a lifelong hunter, and wildlife journalist journeyed on a five-year-long quest to raise awareness to wild turkey conservation using photojournalism.
Texas hunter Johnny Johnson submitted photos of wings from two adult Rio Grande gobblers harvested within a mile from each other in west Texas. Johnny noticed the barring on the wings were quite different and wondered what might have caused the difference on these Rios? Dr. Tom weighs in.
Ohio hunter James Mays submitted this photo via social media of a gobbler sporting a double snood. How rare are double snoods on wild turkeys? Dr. Tom weighs in.
Hunter Waltman of Kiln, Mississippi, purchased a hunting property late last year. While speaking with his new neighbors, he heard talk of a white wild turkey gobbler seen in the area.
Many of the same wild turkey population issues we face today are consistent with conversations from years ago. Sometimes, we need to look back in order to move forward.
An extra appendage is referred to as a supernumerary appendage (more appendages than normal). Neither of us is likely to ever see another example of this type of abnormality in a wild turkey as it is extremely rare.
Friday at the 43rd annual NWTF Convention and Sport Show’s Conservation Conference, various state wildlife agencies and universities presented details of conservation projects with the NWTF. The presentations were part of the conference’s Wild Turkey Research seminar.
I have been hunting spring gobblers for 40-plus years, and just about every gobbler I’ve ever shot, including lots of jakes, has had his breast void of feathers, exposing white skin over the bone and cartilage of the front of their breast.
“So be aware of your surroundings when walking the edges of a field or when mowing a field, you never know where a hen might be brooding,” Buckland said.
This Kansas longbeard never gobbled during his approach, but drumming from behind the hunter gave him away. Paying attention to nonverbal clues can spell the difference between a successful day and a blown opportunity.
