Wild turkeys can be pretty badass sometimes... and also a little bizarre. Here's a roundup.
Since we are all well aware of our local and state game laws, and because we are justifiably concerned with staying ethical and conservation-minded when it comes to hunting, we certainly understand why we can't shoot a wild turkey any time or place that we see one, regardless of the situation.
It's just that sometimes, they seem like they have it coming.
The wild turkey has a mind of its own, and maybe it's up to us to have a little more understanding of how they think. Heck, if we play our cards right, we may even learn a trick or two that might change our luck in the spring or fall turkey woods. Anything that will get us closer to cooking a wild bird is good in our book.
It's during those non-hunting times of the year when we may see them (or hear them), and they'll perplex us with some kind of odd or strange behavior. Sometimes they act almost human, and sometimes they act like something out of this world.
These amazing birds can seemingly have a high IQ one moment, and need a psych evaluation the next.
Check out these 10 times that wild turkeys went on the warpath, danced, and even stopped traffic.
1. Stick Around Long Enough to Get Shot
Here's a little Gould's turkey hunting action just to get your blood pumping. These fellow hunters were just about to tag out on one of the more rare birds of the turkey slam when a bad shot turned into a tagged bird anyway.
2. Fly Up to Your Treestand and Land on Your Bow
3. Try to Steal Your Antler Shed
4. Go Swimming
5. Play Dead
This poor fella thought he had his well deserved gobbler, only to have to chase it through the woods and then ring his neck, but that's not the end of this crazy turkey hunting story!
6. Get Aggressive With the Cops
Aggressive turkey's are a problem in town. State law doesn't allow the police or the ACO to remove them. Contact MSPCA 617-522-7400 for info pic.twitter.com/i42Zc3pXIo
— Bridgewater Police (@BwtrPolice) October 15, 2017
7. Get Aggressive With the USPS
It's one thing to mark your territory, but it's quite another to bring all of your friends and bully the mailman.
8. Dance Around a Tree
9. Circle a Dead Cat
In one of the most bizarre things that you will ever see, a group of wild turkeys somewhere on the outskirts of Boston came upon the sorrowful sight of a deceased feline in the road and then they began to circle it... en masse. Here's more on the story right here.
10. Become a Service Animal
And just for some comic relief, here's a "seeing eye turkey."
Hunters everywhere have had their work cut out for them, trying to outwit these incredibly smart and wary birds. We've always loved the old axiom that if a wild turkey could smell us as well as a deer can, we'd probably never see one.
Turkeys and turkey hunting is never far from our hearts and minds, especially once the deer season is over and done with.
The wild turkey species in the U.S. include the Eastern, Osceola, Rio Grande, and the Merriam's. You need all four to round out the turkey slam, and that's not counting the vaunted Gould's turkey of the American southwest and Mexico.
As the winter rolls on and most common hunting seasons come to an end until next fall, it's only natural for sportsmen and women to begin looking ahead to the thawing weather and the coming of spring. But one thing is for certain: once we get close to April, it's hard to have anything but gobblers on the brain.
Wild turkeys are beloved by hunters as much to observe as they are to hunt. We scout for them, listen to them, and watch them incessantly in the hunt for the right combination of gear, timing, location, and (of course) sounds that will make them come running when the moment of truth arrives.
It's just that these incredible wild game birds seem to have a mind of their own, and they don't mind showing it.
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NEXT: LOOKING BACK ON THE BUCK THAT WAS KILLED BY A BOTTLE
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