Managing Wild Turkeys
Resource Sheet
BACKGROUND
GETTING IT DONE
Wild Rio Grande turkeys are a visible part of the wildlife
community at La Reata Ranch. They require a diverse set
of habitat features that varies with the season and includes
dense brush, tall trees along creeks and streams, and native grassy fields. La Reata Ranch includes each of these
elements, and enhancing a particular property’s natural
resources for wild turkeys may be an enjoyable way for
landowners to participate in the community’s wildlife
management program.
Step 1: Understand the Elements of Turkey Habitat
Wild turkeys are native to Texas, and there are three subspecies of wild turkey in the state: Rio Grande turkey
(Meleagris gallopavo intermedia, found in central, north,
and south Texas — including Bastrop County), Merriam’s
turkey (M. g. merriami, primarily a West Texas species),
and the Eastern turkey (M. g. syveteris, native to the far
eastern parts of the state). Turkeys generally live an average of two to three years, but some have been known to
live for up to ten years.
While wild turkeys are now fairly abundant throughout
Texas, they were nearly eliminated from the state in the
late 1800’s. Beginning in the 1890’s, the State of Texas
began to impose restrictions on turkey hunting, including
seasons and bag limits. Despite these efforts, turkey
populations failed to recover to historic levels. The Texas
Parks and Wildlife Department then began a restocking
program in the 1970’s and 1980’s. The restocking program was a success for Rio Grande turkeys, and they are
now a regular part of the wildlife community in Texas and
Bastrop County.
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As with any type of wildlife, turkeys need the right balance
of food, water, shelter, and cover to be successful in an
area. Wild turkeys have separate habitat requirements for
breeding and nesting, brood rearing, and winter roosting.
Good turkey habitat contains a mix of each of these habitat
types, in addition to other habitat components, such as water and food.
Breeding and Nesting Habitat
Breeding and nesting occurs during the spring months.
For mating, wild turkeys require open areas of primarily
grasses and other herbaceous vegetation typically four to
eight inches tall. These open areas must be near brushy
areas to provide cover from predators. Open pastures
within La Reata Ranch that are mowed or lightly grazed
during the winter months could provide suitable habitat for
mating in the spring.
Turkeys nest on the ground in the spring. Nests are usually placed in brushy areas near mating habitat with moderately tall grass. Brush piles or small clumps of brush and
trees within pastures that are not mowed can provide the
necessary cover that female turkeys require for nesting.
The tender, green shoots of grasses and other herbaceous
plants make up a large part of the turkey’s diet in the
spring months. Mowing in the late winter can also help
generate new plant growth in open areas.
If your property has open areas that you would like to
manage as breeding and nesting habitat for wild turkeys,
consider the following habitat management practices:
‹
Mow open areas in the winter months. Keep the
mower set as high as possible to leave some cover on
the ground to help prevent erosion.
‹
Leave clumps of unmowed grass, particularly around
the edge of pastures and around trees and brush, to
provide places for turkeys to nest and hide from
predators.
‹
Create brush piles or plant clumps of trees in large
pastures to provide more habitat diversity and extra
escape cover for turkeys. Consider placing brush and
trees along fence lines, drainages, or other places
where turkeys regularly travel.
3103 Bee Caves Rd. Suite 225 / Austin, Texas 78746 / (512) 327-1180 / www.loomisaustin.com
Brood-rearing Habitat
Turkey eggs typically hatch during the spring and early
summer months. The young birds (called poults) are extremely vulnerable to predation and extreme weather conditions for the first year of their life. Turkeys need tall
grasses and other herbaceous vegetation during this time,
when they feed primarily on insects. The tall grasses
(typically 12 to 24 inches tall) provide cover for the poults
while they forage for food. Scattered trees and brushy
areas are also important as escape cover and shelter from
sun and rain.
Enhance brood-rearing habitat on your property by not
mowing pastures or open fields during the spring and
summer months. Create or maintain brush piles and other
areas of brushy escape cover within large pastures.
Roost sites become particularly important during the winter months, when turkeys spend less time on the ground
breeding and caring for newly hatched poults. It is important to not disturb turkeys at their roost tree during the late
evening or at night, since it is likely to cause them to abandon the tree.
If your property has wooded areas near a creek or stream
that you would like to manage as roosting habitat for wild
turkeys, consider the following habitat management practices:
‹
Do not clear more than 50 percent of the brush from
potential roosting areas to preserve screening cover.
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Preserve tall, mature trees with spreading crowns as
potential roost trees.
‹
Keep people and pets away from active roost sites
during the late evening and at night.
Step 2: Provide Supplemental Habitat Resources
Turkeys in La Reata Ranch may benefit from supplemental
habitat resources, such as food plots, feeders, ponds, and
brush piles, that enhance existing habitat in the community. Enhancing habitat resources can help support a population in times of stress, such as prolonged periods of harsh
weather. However, since wild turkeys prefer natural habitat features, these supplements should not be a replacement
for the appropriate management and use of the community’s natural habitat resources.
Food Plots
Roosting Habitat
Turkeys roost in trees at night to escape predators while
they rest, which make the availability of these trees an
essential part of good turkey habitat. A flock of turkeys
will all use the same roost tree at night, and return regularly to that tree. Roost trees may be identified during the
day by the presence of feathers, droppings, and signs of
scratching on the ground.
Roost trees tend to be tall, mature trees along creeks,
streams, and other waterways. Common roost trees include pecan, American sycamore, cottonwood, willows,
baldcypress, hackberry species, elms, honey mesquite,
and oaks.
Turkeys prefer to use roost trees that have a dense cover
of brush under them and along travel routes to and from
the site. The brush provides screening cover while turkeys are coming and going from their roost trees. Turkeys
also typically spend time loafing and resting in the brush
near the roost tree. Without adequate brush cover, potential roost trees will not be used.
© November 2002
Planting food plots in open fields can provide a more natural alternative to installing feeding stations. Additionally,
food plots may encourage insect production to help feed
poults as they grow through the spring and summer. Preferentially planting the types of foods that turkeys readily
feed on will help attract these birds to your property.
Tips for planting food plots:
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Food plots do not need to be large, but the Texas
Parks and Wildlife Department recommends that a
minimum of one percent of the property should be
planted in winter and summer food plots to qualify as
a wildlife management practice under the wildlife
management property tax appraisal. For lots in La
Reata Ranch, the minimum size for a qualifying food
plot should be approximately 2,178 square feet.
‹
Plants to use in food plots include domesticated forage
crops, like winter wheat, rye, ryegrass, clover, and
oats, millet, and milo. Seeds for these and other common forage crops suitable for planting in a food plot
are available from a number of local seed companies
or farm and ranch stores.
‹
Include both cool season and warm season plants in
your food plot to provide an ongoing source of young
plants and mature seeds for turkeys to eat throughout
the year. Making sure turkeys have sufficient food
Native American Seed, a Texas
native seed supplier located in Junction, Texas, offers a native alternative to using domesticated forage
crops in food plots. Their
“Sustainable Quail and Dove Mix”
includes a number of native annual and perennial
grasses and forbs that would benefit turkeys, as well
as other native game birds.
be constructed from a metal garbage can set on top of a
wooden platform. A raised platform is necessary to prevent deer, raccoons, and other non-target wildlife from using the feeder. Maintaining the cleanliness of the feeder is
extremely important to help prevent diseases in the wild
birds.
Tips for building and operating a turkey feeder:
‹
Construct a feeder from a metal garbage can or similar, clean container by attaching a metal funnel to the
inside of the container that spills out into the bottom
of the container. Cut several holes around the base of
the container large enough for a turkey head to enter
and reach the grain inside.
during the winter months and into early spring can
have a significant influence on their ability to successfully hatch and raise a brood of chicks. Cool
season crops include wheat, rye, clover, and oats.
Warm season crops include millet and milo.
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Place the feeder on a wooden platform approximately
five to six feet above the ground. The platform should
be large enough to allow several turkeys to use the
feeder at once. Tin skirting around the platform will
help keep raccoons and other predators off the feeder.
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Establish food plots along the edges of wooded areas
or in secluded openings in the forest canopy. Plenty
of sunlight is essential.
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Fill the feeder with milo or cracked corn. Make sure
the feed is clean and dry at all times (moldy grain can
cause disease in turkeys and other wild animals).
‹
Mow existing vegetation and lightly disk or till the
soil prior to planting to help establish good germination and keep competing weeds low. Depending on
soil conditions, fertilizing food plots may be recommended. (A soil test can tell you if fertilization is
necessary to establish a vigorous food plot.)
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Operate the feeder from October through March to
provide a consistent source of supplemental food during critical periods.
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Cleanliness is essential to a responsible supplemental
feeding program. Scrub off and disinfect the feeder
and feeding platform regularly to prevent the accumulation of animal droppings, spilled grain, and other
matter. As mentioned above, regularly check the
grain in the funnel of the feeder to make sure it is
clean and fresh.
Contact Native American Seed at www.seedsource.
com or call 1-800-728-4043 for more information.
Turkey Feeders
Maintaining a feeding station for turkeys may be an alternative to establishing a food plot. A simple feeder may
Other Supplemental Habitat Resources
See the following tip sheets in your La Reata Ranch Wildlife Co-op Landowner’s Guide for details on adding other
Feeder diagrams from Cook and Gore 1984.
Landowner’s Guide: Managing Wild Turkeys
supplemental habitat resources to your property for wild
turkeys:
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Water for Wildlife — has information on watering
devices suitable for wildlife.
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Backyard Conservation: Backyard Pond—this tip
sheet produced by the U. S. Department of Agriculture has information on building small ponds for you
and native wildlife.
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Planting Trees and Shrubs—can help you establish
patches of small trees and shrubs for cover or new
overstory trees for roosting habitat.
‹
Planting Grasses and Wildflowers—has details on
planting native grass and wildflower seeds.
Step 3. Managing Threats to Turkey Populations
the early spring. Deer feeders, which typically scatter pellets or corn on the ground, also attract raccoons, skunks,
and other animals that prey on wild turkey eggs. Placing
deer feeders in turkey nesting habitat can decrease turkey
nesting success. By not feeding deer, you can help keep
their numbers low and within the carrying capacity of the
habitat and prevent high concentrations of turkey nest
predators, such as raccoons and skunks.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas
Cooperative Extension Service have both produced booklets on wild turkeys and their management in Texas. See
the following publications for more detail:
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“Rio Grand Turkey Habitat Management” by the
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, publication
number PWD RP W7 100-263, released in October
1995. Available at www.tpwd.state.tx.us/conserve/
publications.
‹
“Learn About Turkey” by Robert L. Cook and Horace
G. Gore. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department publication number PWD BK C2000-053, released July
1984. Available at www.tpwd.state.tx.us/conserve/
publications.
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“Integrating Deer, Quail, and Turkey Habitat” by
Robert K. Lyons and Tim F. Ginnett. Texas Cooperative Extension Service, Texas A&M University, publication number L-5196, released March 1998. Available at http://wildlife.tamu.edu/publications.cfm.
Cats and Dogs
Predation on nests and young can have a large impact on
the reproductive success of turkeys in the wild, especially
when combined with other stressors, such as harsh
weather or poor habitat conditions. Landowners can reduce the impact of predation by managing for good turkey
habitat, offering supplemental habitat resources, and controlling domestic predators (e.g., cats and dogs). Keeping
pets confined to residential portions of your lot will make
wildlife management areas safer for turkeys and other native wildlife.
Deer and Deer Feeders
High numbers of deer can also have a detrimental impact
on wild turkey habitat. Overabundant deer will consume
much of the tender grasses and forbs used by turkeys in
© November 2003