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Are turkeys hard on a growing corn crop?

Bowhunter57

Bowhunter57

Senior Member
5,435
195
Roaming the country side....Retired.
I'm hunting on a farmer's property that hates turkeys. He says that they'll uproot a corn crop as soon as it sprouts out of the ground. :smiley_boos:

I'm not that familar with the eating habits of turkeys. :smiley_confused_vra

Is this a lagitimate concern?
Do turkeys eat the corn plant as soon as it starts growing out of the ground?

Thank you, Bowhunter57
 
I have never known of a turkey pulling a plant. Anytime a rooting plant is disturbed it leads to trouble. Monsanto I am sure has the answer ;)
 
A study by Purdue university found that farmers often blame turkeys for the crop damage to young crops.. Purdue found this was not only untrue but that the reason the turks took the bad rap is they we're often seen in daylight by the farmers in larger flocks in the fields. Where as the deer may only be seen as one here or there. But the true culprits that actually cause the most damage were the least blamed and those were groundhogs and racoons. Turkeys actually contributed the least to he crop damage and we're actually beneficial, what they are actually doing in the field isn't eating pesticide and herbicide coated seed, but rather bugs.
 
If thats what the farmer thinks and it gets you permission nod your head I agreement and offer to thin the flock a little. Thank the good Lord we arent cursed with snow geese in Ohio. 50,000 hungry snow geese can turn a wheat field into a mud flat overnight. Turkeys arent the culprit of any significant crop damage.

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Every turkey I've killed has corn in its belly, but if you think about it, that'd be stuff that got missed by the combine or put out for deerz (or turkey I guess)

Say they do eat corn though...what's gonna eat more, a 16-24 pound bird, or a 60-200 pound deer?

What's next? Kill permits for summer turkey hunting? "Yea Jeb get the .270 we got 4 tags to fill from the back of the truck and the spotlight"
 
Ridiculous. Turks just get blamed because they're so easy to see in the field... Same way deer get blamed for most crop damage when it's really coon that hurt the most.
 
Thanks for the replies, guys! I'm with you guys on this one, as I thought that turkeys would tend to be more beneficial to the corn crop than damaging.

Coons, deer and groundhogs...on the other hand, should be shot with exteme prejudice. (season permitting...with deer) :smiley_blink:

Bowhunter57
 
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