Posts by Steelman
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I didn't think they lived very long but then I read an article where someone got a hen that was banded 12 years before.
So I think they can probably figure an average for how long they live but no one really knows for sure.
Can they do beak aging?
So I think they can probably figure an average for how long they live but no one really knows for sure.
Can they do beak aging?
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The only dependable way, I think, is if the bird you shoot has been banded.
According to PA wild turkey biologist, Mary Jo Casalena, if wild turkeys survive their first year, their total lifetime will range from an additional 1 to 3 years - making any turkey living past 4 years an exceptionally old bird.
That being said PA biologists trapped a wild adult hen thought to be 1.5 years old back in 2012, with several others for a study and banded her leg.
Fast forward to this year and they were doing another study and captured the same hen, now 12.5 years old and they found her in good health, good enough that they were going to put a radio tracker on her for their new 4 year study! (she would be 16.5 if she made to the end)
I'm glad everybody got the gist of my original post.
According to PA wild turkey biologist, Mary Jo Casalena, if wild turkeys survive their first year, their total lifetime will range from an additional 1 to 3 years - making any turkey living past 4 years an exceptionally old bird.
That being said PA biologists trapped a wild adult hen thought to be 1.5 years old back in 2012, with several others for a study and banded her leg.
Fast forward to this year and they were doing another study and captured the same hen, now 12.5 years old and they found her in good health, good enough that they were going to put a radio tracker on her for their new 4 year study! (she would be 16.5 if she made to the end)
I'm glad everybody got the gist of my original post.
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