If you’ve taken up turkey hunting, you might know what I’m talking about when I say turkeys are a bunch of turkeys! Come to think of it, that might even explain where that saying came from…
Here’s a few reasons why these little weasels have me chasing their tail feathers:
- Turkeys laugh at you every chance they get. I’ll be walking on my road and hear them gobble. Or I’ll be driving to town and see five strutting toms, gleefully parading by the highway.
- They lead you on a wild goose chase. Or rather, a wild turkey chase. They leave feathers and dropping under their nightly roost, but always move if you venture out there at dawn.
- Turkeys have predictable patterns, unless you’re hunting anywhere in the region. The turkeys that live on my road, where I cannot hunt of course, cross right by the Turkey Crossing sign around 11 am and 6 pm. We often have to stop for the turkey flock to pass. Once the toms strutted and charged the car, seemingly angry that we were in their way. They were so close I could hear their wing feathers drag on the pavement while they strutted.
- They leave feathers and tracks marking their trails but always stay just far enough ahead of you that you see them but can’t shoot them.
- They always know you’re coming. You can be a mile off and somehow those little beady eyes spot you every time.
- Turkeys will taunt you year round. Everywhere you go in central Oregon, you’ll find wild turkeys smirking at you… except for when you’re hunting. They’re all over the private fields and running around town. They’ll come through your yard because they somehow know you can’t shoot them.
- They know how to wait you out. We sat in the freezing cold wind by their roost till seven pm before we finally headed back. As we rounded the corner, a flock of thirty plus turkeys flew up into the trees.
As you can see, turkeys obviously derive their wisdom from something besides that tiny brain. It really appears that it’d be easy to bag a turkey every year since we see them all over the place, but somehow they give me the slip every time.
