Hunting Archery Duck Deer

Wild turkeys flock to N.H. - The eastern wild turkey is prospering in New Hampshire, and experts credit backyard bird feeders.

Photo by Rich Beauchesne

In the fall, flocks of turkeys may be seen, especially during the early morning, in yards and even strutting near busy highways.

The past two years have been especially good for flocks, said Ted Walski, the state Fish and Game turkey project biologist.

“I knew by June 1 we were having a good hatch,” he said. “They’re very cold-tolerant. I never thought I’d see wild turkey in Coos County. Now, there’s some in every town in the state.”

Except New Castle. Walski said he’s had no reports of turkeys on the island. As of August, Walski estimated 30,000 turkeys statewide.

“I didn’t think it would go beyond 10,000 turkeys,” he said.

Walski has been watching the turkey population for 30 years. In the mid-’70s, the state initiated a trap-and-transplant program to invigorate the turkey population.

Walski released 20 to 30 birds in Lee, Durham, Newmarket, Brentwood, Fremont and Exeter.

Then, he and other state Fish and Game officials waited.

“I used to lose sleep,” he said. “I thought a bad winter would kill them.”

Deep snow cuts them off from their supply of food.

Walski believes backyard feeders have made the difference.

“Everyone has bird feeders now,” Walski said. “It’s getting better because they’re getting enough food a couple months in winter.”

Development, as much as it has taken away turkey habitat, has helped feed the bird.

Turkeys eat apples, juniper berries and, especially, sunflower seeds.

“People put out cracked corn,” he said. “Every flock will visit backyard bird feeders.”

Their habitat is fields.

“Scamman Farm and Stuart Farm (in Stratham) they’ve always loved,” Walski said.

While the number of dairy farms in the state has decreased to 135 from 435 recorded in 1984, according to Walski, the turkey population continues to thrive, even in developed areas such as Rockingham County.

Walski talks turkey with other wildlife biologists from New England, New York and Ontario once a year. This year they met in early October “just us working turkey biologists,” he said.

The report is the eastern wild turkey is doing well.

Thanksgiving turkey

Turkeys may be hunted in the fall with bow and arrow, a challenging way to bring home Thanksgiving dinner.

Only 300 of the birds were caught by bow and arrow last fall, compared to 3,000 taken during the spring shotgun season, according to Walski.

Turkeys appear approachable, according to hunters, but they are wily in the woods.

That same turkey you can photograph by the side of the road is different in the woods, said Paul Carlton of Portsmouth, who runs Affordable Adventures hunting trips.

“You look and think, those dumb things, they’d be easy to hunt,” Carlton said. “They’re not easy at all.”

The birds are secretive and have incredible eyesight and hearing.

“You can’t sneak up on a turkey,” Carlton said.

He hasn’t gone out turkey hunting this fall. He usually hunts in Rockingham and Strafford counties, though won’t say where. No hunter will, he said.

Turkey hunters must wear camouflage, use turkey calls, and be patient, he said.

Hunting at backyard bird feeders is not hunting, said Raynold “Binky” Perkins, a Seabrook firefighter.

Perkins has gone out bow-and-arrow hunting for turkey once this season.

“I missed it,” he said.

Neither hunter had a secret recipe for cooking the game bird. Both said wild turkey is tougher than the store-bought, farm-grown variety.

But it is not gamy, Carlton insists.

“Most people, given a turkey, talk about how good it is,” he said, “not gamy, more turkey flavor.”

By Susan Morse
smorse@seacoastonline.com