I've seen wild turkeys in grass pastures, picked corn fields, on nice lawns, and in fence lines,
but Ive never seen this before.

There were 3 turkeys roosting 75 feet up in some trees !

I wouldn't believe me either.

I thought they were turkey vultures at first, but no they were wild turkeys.

I could not believe it .

I believe it and have seen it many times in the early morning. Safe from most predators for the night.

Seen it a number of times in the woods.

One doe season years ago I was walking through an area of thick pines and just as I exited the pines into the hard woods I kicked three turkey out of their roost about 50ft over my head. It was dead quiet and dusk about 5-10 minutes from shooting time. Scared the shit out of me.

Turkeys don't sleep on the ground. They almost always roost in big trees.

More than once I've been walking during the day and startled one on the ground and had it fly into the top of a big oak tree a hundred yards away.

(Wild turkeys - domesticated turkeys can't fly.)

quote:

Originally posted by maladat:
Turkeys don't sleep on the ground. They almost always roost in big trees.

More than once I've been walking during the day and startled one on the ground and had it fly into the top of a big oak tree a hundred yards aw

(Wild turkeys - domesticated turkeys can't fly.)

This.

When hunting turkeys, one technique is to find where they go roost in the afternoon late and then come back near there the next morning and try to call them to fly down where you are set up for a shot...

so they sleep, , balancing on a 4 inch diameter limb, 75 feet off the ground ?

As God as my witness...

Yes, they roost in trees.

Yep, it's what they do. They blend in to their surroundings so they are easy to miss.

Jim

That is the way we try and hunt them, find them in the trees the night before and see if you can call them down to you in the morning.

Also,

http://www.livescience.com/328...g-turkey-truths.html

Turkeys sleep in trees

Although turkeys are often thought of as being anchored to the ground, wild turkeys actually spend their nights perched atop of tree branches. This keeps them high above their natural predators, which include coyotes, foxes, skunks, raccoons, snakes and dogs. When they wake up, turkeys give a series of soft yelps before descending; it's a "good morning!" call to make sure that the rest of their roosting group is okay after a night of not seeing or hearing one another.

My BC chases them from the yard and sometimes they go up into a tee. Other times they just step through our 3 rail fence and walk away. Never in any danger from the dog, she always has a frisbee in her mouth!

A few years ago we found about 20 of these big-ass birds in our young trees. We were afraid they would break limbs off. A single report from my 12 gauge had them moving on.

Mike

I won't swear it is the same with turkeys, but there are birds who perch and sleep by locking there claws on the branch. When they lean a certain direction the natural forces cause their claws to contract and lock onto the limb...

quote:

Originally posted by SBrooks:
I won't swear it is the same with turkeys, but there are birds who perch and sleep by locking there claws on the branch. When they lean a certain direction the natural forces cause their claws to contract and lock onto the limb...

Exactly. There's a ligament in the legs of chickens (and I assume most birds) that pulls their toes/claws closed as they squat. The mere act of "sitting" locks their toes onto whatever they're roosting on and their weight keeps them locked until they stand up. No muscle contraction required.

This is based on my amateur anatomy lessons learned while butchering chickens, so it's possible I'm full of it.

They sure do roost in trees overnight. I've had had them scare the poop out of me more than once walking into my deer stands in the fall. Ever since I tried turkey hunting, deer hunting has turned into just a way to put meat in the freezer

I'm going to confess, that this is the first thing that came to mind when I saw the thread title:

Wild turkey are also excellent fliers for their weight. I once saw five Merriam's hens fly about 300 feet like it was nothing. Did it at a good speed too. They were visiting my domestics when I spooked them and they flew.

we have a flock that rome's our neighborhood my previous dog a husky mix would chase them up trees. I have new pup a beagle mix they haven't stepped foot on my property

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
so they sleep, , balancing on a 4 inch diameter limb..

Usually much smaller. I've seen them on branches not much bigger your finger. It's a wonder they can stay on at all, let alone get any rest.

they need to teach the Pheasants to do that , instead of hunkering down in the fence lines or ditch weeds.