Hard to believe

[jim curlee]

Headin over to Tower on Hwy 1 last night to do some fishin with the kids/grandkids.

Came poppin over a little hill, and what's standing in the road.

Three hen turkeys!

They were in the same place, on the way home.

Nuthin around there except trees, so doubt they are pets.

Should have taken a pic, but we were in a hurry. 

I do have 5 witnesses. LOL

 

By the by, ended up with a dozen eater walleyes, in 45 minutes. 

13"s to 19"s, on slip bobbers, and tiny leech's.

Threw back a bunch of smaller fish, had a great, but short evening of fishin. lol 

[BWpineisland]

I’m on the north side of Pine and had a big Tom there this spring. Quite a surprise!

[Raven77]

Amazingly tough and adaptable animals.  They have a brain the size of a pea and have made me look like a fool many times over.  If I had to name one word to describe them it would be "survivor".  I've heard they are in the LV area but haven't seen one yet.  I did see some north of Bemidji a couple of years ago.  I've been fortunate enough to take the US grand slam (Eastern, Merriam's, Rio Grande and Osceola) with shotgun and have started over with the bow.  I've got a Merriam's with my bow.  Not sure I will live long enough to get the other 3.

[CigarGuy]

Haven't you seen the one on the hill right before the turn on Raps Rd?

2 hours ago, Raven77 said:

Amazingly tough and adaptable animals.  They have a brain the size of a pea and have made me look like a fool many times over.  If I had to name one word to describe them it would be "survivor".  I've heard they are in the LV area but haven't seen one yet.  I did see some north of Bemidji a couple of years ago.  I've been fortunate enough to take the US grand slam (Eastern, Merriam's, Rio Grande and Osceola) with shotgun and have started over with the bow.  I've got a Merriam's with my bow.  Not sure I will live long enough to get the other 3.

Haven't you seen the one on the hill on the right side before the turn to Raps Rd? Someone put a decoy there

[SkunkedAgain]

I've seen the Sasquatch in Cook. Also a survivor.

[jim curlee]

Coming back from the Effie area last evening, we saw 2 hens just west of the Junction Bar at Bear River.

They are an invasive species, but I'm thrilled to have them living here.

Talked with the DNR about them, they have had sightings all over the LV area, mainly west, and south. 

I've taken a dozen with my longbow, they are a great gamebird.

Other than an elk bugle, there's no other sound in the outdoors that will give me wood quicker than a turkey gobble in the spring. LOL

Maybe I better add in a buck grunt. LOL

Jim

Edited August 21, 2020 by jim curlee

[JBMasterAngler]

Seen some in Cloquet yesterday on the way home from Kabetogama. Personally, I think the DNR went overkill in introducing them to new areas of the state. 

[jim curlee]

The wildlife manager at Tower, said that they are migrating north from the Aitkin/Crow Wing county area, and have been doing so for the past 15 years.

Tourist's, go figure. LOL

Jim 

[Wanderer]

The only negative I’ve heard of the continuous marching north of the turkey flock is possible displacement of ruffed grouse.  
 

I can’t comment one way or another on that.  Ruffed Grouse have been under a microscope though lately but I have yet to hear the DNR acknowledge the possibility turkeys could be affecting them.  They keep looking at West Nile and habitat, which I agree habitat is a big deal

Turkeys in the Arrowhead just seems odd.

[delcecchi]

7 hours ago, Wanderer said:

The only negative I’ve heard of the continuous marching north of the turkey flock is possible displacement of ruffed grouse.  
 

I can’t comment one way or another on that.  Ruffed Grouse have been under a microscope though lately but I have yet to hear the DNR acknowledge the possibility turkeys could be affecting them.  They keep looking at West Nile and habitat, which I agree habitat is a big deal

Turkeys in the Arrowhead just seems odd.

I thought that a limiting factor in grouse population, besides the weird 10 or 11 year cycle, was  aspen buds and snow in the winter.    Turkeys would not seem to affect either of those things.   Is there something else that having turkeys around would affect that also affects grouse?    

I think of it like, having sparrows around doesn't seem to affect robins much.

[jim curlee]

I am NOT a wildlife manager.

I lived in the same area of southern Minnesota for most of my life, 35+ years on the same farm.

We had a huntable population of grouse when I was a kid, today just to hear a grouse at "home" is rare.

In my humble opinion, the one thing that contributed to the loss of grouse, is the loss of habitat.

Grouse don't like corn/soybean fields.

We used to have fence lines, wetlands, and "waste" land that wasn't farmed.

Today, every bit of land is ditched or tiled, there's a house in every woodlot, there aren't any fence lines, and they don't do any clearcutting anymore.

No place for the critters to live, the only animals that thrive are the ones that get along with us.

Turkeys, whitetails, and coyotes have replaced red fox, pheasant's, and grouse.

Man, have we messed things up!

Jim

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[delcecchi]

ruffed grouse in southern mn?   Not sharptails or something?    Guess I learn something every day.

[CigarGuy]

I used to deer hunt the Cooley's (I think that's what you call them) down by Rollingstone, lots of grouse back in the late 1970s through early 80s. You had to be a mountain goat to hunt them. Flush em high, they'd go low and vice versa.

[Wanderer]

1 hour ago, delcecchi said:

ruffed grouse in southern mn?   Not sharptails or something?    Guess I learn something every day.

The bluffs in the Root River Valley have them.  I used to see and hear them when I hunted there for turkey and deer.

[jim curlee]

Oh yea, we had plenty of ruffed grouse back in the day, I'm sure there are still some birds around, but to think we have a huntable population, good luck!

We also had a few bobwhite quail, there are still some flocks in areas of favorable habitat, they are trying to reintroduce them in way SE Minnesota.

No sharptails, haven't had prairie in SE Minnesota in a long long time.

By the by, I think they are called coulee's. 

"Cooleys" are what they called the chinese railroad workers in the movie "3:10 to Yuma". lol

Jim

 

 

 

 

 

[Wanderer]

I still call them bluffs until I get the real prairie in the Dakotas; then I call them coulees. 

 

I wish MN still had some real prairie.  Like when we saw Hungarian Partridge during Chinese Ringneck Pheasant hunts.  I wasn’t out as early as Prairie Chickens and Sharptail Grouse though.  I’ve only seen those in the Dakotas too.

[jim curlee]

I forgot about hun's, probably because there aren't any of them around anymore either.

They have great feathers for tying wet flies, now mine come from Idaho, not from my freezer.

As for sharptails, I've never seen one of them in Minnesota, plenty of them where I bowhunt in South Dakota.

They hang on the power lines in the evening, pretty cool seeing sharptails from pole to pole. LOL

There is a WMA south of Cook, there is a sign there about sharptail management, I ride my hog by there quite often, I've never seen one there either. lol

 

 

 

[Mike89]

and no one ever said they are smart!!  a dumb young turkey was on the cty road most of the afternoon yesterday!!!  almost got him with harley!!  and when I was in the car he was still walking around the same spot!!!  and they would hurt bad if ya hit them I'd say!!  

[delcecchi]

Had to stop for a couple turkeys standing in the middle of France ave in Edina awhile back.   That was strange.   And I nearly got killed by a hen pheasant on 52 just north of chatfield lo some years ago.   I was on my 750 honda, winding it out pretty good when she came out of the ditch and flew right in front of me, bounce off my headlight and went over my shoulder right past my ear.   I was wearing a helmet but it wouldn't have helped.    

[jim curlee]

Headin over fishin around Tower again last night.

Turkeys in the same area tonight as in August.

 

By the by brought home 4 nice 15"-17" walleyes, slip bobbers and minnows, 6' of water.

Who say's the fish abandon the weeds in the fall. LOL

Nice healthy fish, should make a great lunch. 

Nobody else on the lake, I guess the lightning scared-em off.

 

Jim