There’s no shortage of turkeys in eastern Idaho. I spotted a bunch along the South Fork of the Snake River

On the news the other night, we were informed that there is a shortage of turkeys available for Thanksgiving. Then the grocery store sales fliers showed up advertising a free turkey, under 20 pounds, if you buy $150 worth of groceries, another indicator of a shortage of fat, butter loaded birds.

Here in southeastern Idaho, we have a ton of them running around, cleaning grain off the highway near Ririe and a huge flock of them in the Burton area, another huge flock in Salem, another near St. Anthony, Ashton, Moody Creek and even in my backyard.

“I guess you will just have to shoot one of the 100 we have coming into our backyard,” my wife told me.

“I cannot do that as there is no season on them here in the fall,” I told her. “I guess we could try to get a depredation tag from the Idaho Fish and Game.”

“Well, you better keep them away because if they make a mess on my sidewalk, there will be a lot of dead birds to eat!” she replied.

I knew she was kidding because she has never killed anything in her life.

Last Tuesday morning, I decided to check out a private property area along the South Fork of the Snake River that I had been given permission to visit and to photograph wildlife. Before I got to the property, I saw three large flocks of turkeys foraging in the stubble fields. One of the flocks had over 60 birds, with the other two about the same size.

Once on the property, I saw a string of turkeys a quarter of a mile long of mixed birds, snacking their way toward the river. It was led by a group of toms and jakes (young males). Occasionally, a group of four or five jakes would harass an older tom until he would get mad and beat the jakes with his wings. Looking across the disced stubble field, I watched a group of seven males fanning their tails and chasing each other around.

As I drove on the dike along the river, I saw seven smaller flocks with from 20 to 30 birds in each one. Several bald eagles were watching the movement of the flocks as they enjoyed their brunch. There were a group of five jennies (young females) on the bank of the South Fork with a single old hen hiding under a hawthorn berry bush. A bald eagle was watching her, but did not attempt to attach the old gal as she came out and dried her wings and tail.

By 10:00, most of the male turkeys had made it to the thickets, but one handsome tom seemed to have lost one that he was worried about. The females had separated into what appeared to be family groups and the tom would run from one group to another, gobble at each and then run to another one. He finally ran across a road and almost got hit by a car. I hope he found who he was looking for, or I even thought that he might be an exercise nut and had to drop a pound or two. He was very entertaining. That was one time that I wished I could have understood turkey-talk.

I hope each one of you can find a turkey for Thanksgiving at a local store because the season for turkeys is closed until next spring when you can try to draw a permit for a tom. In the meantime, they can be very entertaining to watch – find a large flock and waste a couple of hours; I think watching them is a lot more interesting than the news.

I hope you have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

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