Wild Turkey Senses: How They Affect Hunting

Wild turkeys, like the majority of animals, have five senses. These senses include vision, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. While the wild turkey may only have these five senses, just about any turkey hunter that has spent enough time in the woods will tell you sometimes it feels as though they have a sixth sense that strictly allows them to know when a hunter is nearby. This article will cover the senses of the wild turkey and how we can avoid them while hunting.

I can remember a hunt from a few years back in Mississippi that left me scratching my head. It was around 9:30 a.m. on a beautiful spring morning. The kind of morning that most hunters dream about. I found myself stopped on a ridge top logging road and casted a few clucks and yelps down a spur of the ridge. No longer than it took for my to end did a tom hammer back at me roughly 150 yards away.

After analyzing the situation I settled into what I thought looked like the perfect setup to kill the bird. I yelped and the bird gobbled again, only this time he was a little closer. After roughly 10 minutes and a few more soft yelps, clucks, and purrs, the strutting tom came into view. He was approximately 60 yards down the ridge from me and all I needed was for him to close the gap another 20 yards or so for me to take the shot.

The time it took the bird to close another 10 yards felt like hours when in all actuality it was more like minutes. I can vividly remember the tom strutting by the tree that I had ranged earlier at 50 yards and thinking just a few more steps and your mine. But before he closed the distance, the turkey broke strut and I remember thinking “uh oh” when I saw the turkey’s head go from a white color to a dull red. The bird stepped behind a large oak tree and out of my life.

I sat their for over an hour trying to figure out what had happened. I know the turkey didn’t see me, my setup was perfect. Its situations like these that can make a hunter scratch their head and wonder if the wild turkey has super powers when in all actuality they just have an uncanny ability to detect and avoid danger.

Can Turkeys Smell?

If you’ve hunted turkey or been around turkey hunters long enough you have probably heard the saying “If a turkey could smell the only way you’d kill one is with a high powered rifle”. This statement alone raises the question, can turkeys smell and if so, can turkeys smell human scent?

The area of the brain dedicated to sense of smell is the olfactory lobes. Wild turkeys, like most birds, have underdeveloped and small olfactory lobes leading to a poor sense of smell. While the turkey does have some sense of smell it is not good enough to smell a human and they rely more heavily on their hearing and vision to detect potential threats.

So how does the wild turkeys sense of smell compare to other birds? The exception to the rule of birds having a poor sense of smell lies with other bird species like condors, vultures, and griffons. These birds rely on a keen sense of smell that aids them in locating carrion

Do Turkeys Have Good Hearing?

On the other hand, the wild turkey’s hearing is one of the key senses they use for survival. This heightened hearing allows them to hear sounds over long distances to communicate and detect predators.

Despite the absence of external ear flaps, the ear structure of the wild turkey adapted to pick up sound waves along with low frequency sounds over greater distances than humans. These sound waves are funneled through the ear canal, leading to the eardrum and subsequently translated into nerve signals that the brain interprets as sound.

Just how far can a turkey hear? The answer to this question can vary due to several environmental conditions like weather and terrain but under the perfect conditions some sources suggest that a wild turkey can hear up to a mile away. I can confirm this statement due to having birds respond to my calling at distances like this while turkey hunting.

Hearing Supplements Vision

Hearing not only complements the wild turkeys sharp vision but is also critical when vision is obstructed by vegetation or terrain.

While turkey hunting, its crucial remain inconspicuous and quiet, due to the turkeys uncanny ability to pick up on unfamiliar sounds. Effective hunters know to use both auditory and visual camouflage to approach turkeys successfully, recognizing that these birds rely on these two senses to detect threats.

Do Turkeys Have Good Eyesight?

We briefly covered earlier how the wild turkeys hearing supplements its vision to keep them safe due to being a prey species. But just how good is a turkeys eyesight?

In comparison to ourselves, turkey vision is extremely good. This is due to a few key traits.

1. Due to the turkey’s eyes being located on the sides of its head they have monocular vision. Monocular vision allows them a much larger field of view of roughly 270 degrees but can mess with their depth perception. This type of vision is a common trait in prey species that rely peripheral vision to detect movement at great distances.

   Humans however, have binocular vision due to both of our eyes being located on the front of our head, limiting our field of view.

2. Turkey vision is also much better than ours because of their retina. The turkeys, among other birds, have some of the most complex retina. The turkey’s retina allows them to have color vision which is three times sharper than ours and at much larger distances. The wild turkey’s retina also has cones that allow them to detect uv light that is undetectable to the human eye.

How These Senses Affect Your Hunting Strategy

Having an understanding of the keen senses like turkey vision and hearing is crucial for both seasoned and new turkey hunters wanting to successfully harvest dominant toms while turkey hunting.

Strategic Considerations for Hunters

For the best chance of beating a turkeys vision consider the following.

• Use a camo pattern that blends well with the area you are hunting.

• When determining where to setup stick to the shadows and make sure you have something in front of you and behind you to break up your outline.

• Keep movements to a minimum once you are setup. If you do need to move, move slowly and while the bird isn’t looking in your direction.

To keep a turkey from getting suspicious of any noise you might make use the following tactics.

• When walking through the woods, walk slowly and avoid stepping on sticks that could break and make a lot of noise. Also consider pausing as you walk to listen.

• If you are easing through the woods and the leaves are super crunchy, use the noise to your advantage by mimicking how a turkey would sound. Scratching in the leave, soft clucks and purrs, etc.

Conclusion

While the wild turkey might seem like it has super powers at times, they don’t. Turkeys just have the amazing ability to detect and avoid predators and potential danger through the use of their vision and hearing. Once a hunter understands the senses and mannerisms of wild turkeys, they are well on their way to becoming a more successful turkey hunter.