The spring wild turkey hunting season opens Saturday and this should be a banner year, according to wildlife biologists. The spring hatch was excellent and there has been a high survival rate among the juvenile birds. The season runs through May 4, with a two-week extended season for archers and junior hunters. The bag limit is one bearded turkey per day and a total of three for the season.
Lake County is loaded with wild turkeys. In fact, people consider them to be pests in many areas. Wild turkeys have actually only been in the county for about 25 years. They aren”t considered a native bird and were introduced into the state more than 50 years ago as a game bird for hunters. The turkey population has since exploded and they are now found in just about every county in the state.
Many people consider the turkey to be one of the more unique birds in the wild. It has excellent flight abilities and can outrun a dog. But it”s the bird”s behavior during the spring mating season that attracts many bird watchers as well as hunters. The male struts and fans out its tail feathers while its head turns a bright red. The male also gobbles. All this is done to attract a hen.
Hunters attempt to lure a tom within shooting range by making the sound of a hen, which is a series of clucks and putts. The tom normally responds with a thundering gobble. If the hunter stays concealed he is often successful. However, if he makes even the slightest movement the turkey will either run or fly away. Hunters are required to use either shotguns or archery equipment.
Male turkeys are called toms and females are called hens. An immature tom is called a jake and a immature hen is called a jenny. A jake can be differentiated from an adult tom by the non-symmetrical tail when the tail is fanned out. The center feathers on a jake will be about an inch longer than the rest of the feathers on the tail. An adult tom can weigh up to 25 pounds.
With a few exceptions, a tom has what is called a beard protruding from its breast. The beard is actually a set of stiff feathers that grow continually throughout the bird”s life. To a hunter, a trophy beard is one that is at least 9 inches or longer. Occasionally a hen will have a beard but it”s normally smaller than a tom”s. The tom also has spurs and only the tom is capable of making a gobble sound.
All turkeys roost in trees at night. They fly up to the higher branches just before dark. It”s amazing to see a 20-pound turkey sitting on the highest branch in a tree. They are capable of hanging onto the branch in fierce winds and they stay in the roost tree until daylight.
The breeding season for turkeys starts in March and continues through May. Most flocks are made up of from 10 to 12 hens, a dominant gobbler and several young jakes. The jakes usually hang on the fringe of the flock, looking for an opportunity to breed with one of the hens when the dominant tom is busy.
During the day the hens readily breed with the tom. They then go off by themselves and lay one or two eggs in a nest, after which they return to the flock. When the hen has laid between eight and 10 eggs, she leaves the flock for good and incubates the eggs. The chicks hatch in 28 days. At the age of about 10 days the chicks are capable of flying to the tree and will roost with their mother.
In addition to the hunter, the primary predators of turkeys are mountain lions, coyotes and golden eagles. A turkey can live as long as 10 years but most are lucky to survive five years due to predation and disease.
Lake County has thousands of acres of public land open for turkey hunting, the most popular being the Cache Creek Wildlife Area in eastern Lake County, which will be open this year with no permits required. The Mendocino National Forest also holds wild turkeys.
A wild turkey is good eating but is slightly drier and tougher than the supermarket bird. The bird can be either plucked or skinned. One excellent way to cook a wild turkey is to breast out the bird. Rub the breast with butter or place a couple of bacon strips across the breast to keep the meat moist and then wrap the breast in aluminum foil. Cook the turkey on a gas barbecue at low heat for about an hour.
