How to Trap Wild Turkeys: A Complete Guide

Trapping wild turkeys can be an exciting endeavor for hunters or a necessary nuisance control method for landowners. While laws and regulations vary, certain trap designs and baiting tactics have proven effective for capturing these wily birds. Follow this guide to learn the essentials of turkey trapping.

Choosing the Right Trap

The most common and successful traps for wild turkeys are

  • Funnel Traps – Funnel traps are enclosures that guide turkeys through a funnel entrance and prevent escape. Use panels or fencing to build a 6-8 ft wide by 8-10 ft long pen with a narrow funnel opening on one end. Bait the enclosure to lure turkeys in through the funnel, where they become contained.

  • Drop Nets – A drop net involves suspending camouflaged netting over a baited area. When turkeys gather under the net, pull a trigger rope to drop the net and trap the birds beneath it. Quickly secure the edges.

  • Cannon Nets – Cannon nets utilize explosives to propel a net over feeding or roosting turkeys. It requires specialized equipment but can capture entire flocks at once.

Consider the number of birds, the setting, and local regulations when choosing a trap type. Funnel traps are simplest for small numbers, while drop and cannon nets allow for mass trapping.

Selecting the Right Bait

Baiting the trap is crucial to lure in wild turkeys. The most effective baits include:

  • Shelled corn
  • Wheat or oats
  • Milo/sorghum
  • Cracked corn
  • Turkey scratch feed

Supplement with fruits, berries, or nuts native to the area. Make bait readily visible from trap entrances or openings. Consider using a wildlife feeder secured inside the trap enclosure.

Allow 1-2 weeks of pre-baiting to get turkeys accustomed to feeding on the bait before setting the trap.

Choosing the Best Location

Location is key when trapping wild turkeys. Set traps:

  • Near woodland edges that turkeys frequent
  • Along known travel corridors
  • Near active roosting sites
  • At favored feeding areas and water sources

Funnel traps in particular work best set up in areas turkeys already routinely visit.

Conceal and camouflage the trap as much as possible. Use natural materials to blend into the surrounding habitat. Avoid deterring birds with human scent.

Trapping Considerations

  • Check regulations – Most states allow trapping with proper licenses but have restrictions. Research before trapping.

  • Time it right – Focus trapping efforts during fall or just before spring breeding. Avoid early nesting seasons.

  • Prevent injury – Use thick padding inside traps and handle captured birds carefully.

  • Don’t over-trap – Limit trapping to what is sustainable in the local ecosystem.

  • Dispatch or release – Have a plan to harvest or humanely release excess birds. Avoid relocating disease risk.

What to Do with Trapped Turkeys

Before trapping, determine whether the intent is for harvest, relocation or nuisance control. Have a strategy for dealing with captured turkeys:

  • Harvest – Trapped wild turkeys within legal limits can be quickly dispatched. Ensure proper licensing.

  • Relocation – Live-trap and release turkeys more than 100 miles away to avoid them returning. Get permission before releasing on private land.

  • Nuisance Control – Removing turkeys causing property damage may require humane euthanization if relocation isn’t an option.

Proper preparing, tagging and reporting is necessary for any harvested wild turkeys. Maximize the use of each bird taken.

Trapping Turkeys Legally and Ethically

Some final tips for responsible trapping practices:

  • Acquire all necessary licenses, permits and tags.

  • Adhere to relevant regulations and seasons.

  • Avoid over-trapping any area.

  • Use selective and humane methods.

  • Never trap where prohibited.

  • Get landowner permission if trapping on private property.

  • Report required harvest data to wildlife officials.

  • Respect land users, outdoor recreationists and adjoining properties.

With sound preparation and a responsible approach, trapping wild turkeys can offer an exciting hunting opportunity or effective management option where lawful and suitable. Consider all regulations and ethical practices when exploring these crafty capture methods.

how to trap a turkey

When Should You Set Your Traps?

Management trapping is simply a matter of temporarily reducing predator numbers at strategic times of the year. For turkey hunters, that means trapping as close to the nesting season as possible. Most predators are born in the late spring or early summer, and the young-of-the-year disperse in the fall. In February, most of the predators on the landscape are mature adults, and many with established territories. The goal is to remove enough of them to create a temporary void in the areas where turkeys normally nest—long enough for a few extra nests to survive.

Mark my words: The predators will return when the new young-of-the-year disperse again early in the fall. That’s evidenced by the steady number of critters Woods traps at the Proving Grounds each year. And this season, with a couple weeks left, Anse and I have already caught more nest predators than we did last year. Part of that is because we’ve learned more—but you can’t catch what isn’t there.

how to trap a turkey

Setting traps for predators as close to turkey-nesting season as possible can help lead to a stronger hatch. D. Gordon E. Robertson/Wiki Commons

By studying the animals you catch—which is cool in itself—you can see trends that show your trapping effort is working. “For a manager, it’s important to keep track of the weight and gender off all the critters we catch,” Woods says. “On our place, the catch is now slanted toward yearling males, which have just dispersed. That makes sense, because we’ve reduced the resident population of older adult animals.”

Woods laments that the Missouri trapping season, which concludes at the end of January, doesn’t run later. In many other states (Kentucky and Tennessee included), trapping season ends the last day of February. Trapping regulations, including season dates for various species and legal equipment, seem to differ from state to state as wildly as anything I’ve yet researched in wildlife regs. I always like to write a “check your regs” CYA—but if you’re just getting into trapping, seriously, check your regs.

Why Learning How to Trap Can Improve Your Turkey Hunting

I started trapping to save the turkeys. Like a lot of hunters in the southeast and midwest, I’d noticed fewer birds and less gobbling

during the past several springs, and I wondered why. If you ask a biologist, the most common response is: “There’s a lot we don’t know, but we’ve had a long trend of late, rainy springs and those lead to poor hatches.”

That wet, cold spring weather is bad for turkey hatches has been management gospel my entire life, and I do believe it. But in the past few years, I’ve also come to believe that we have a bigger predator problem than we once did, and that the impacts of predation on the hatch are more significant than we’ve given credit. That’s important because while we can’t control the weather, we can manage predation—at least on a local level, with targeted trapping.

I look at it like this: If you’re managing for turkeys anyway via food plots, prescribed fire, timber improvement, and so on, then trapping should be the next skill on your “to learn” list. Removing some raccoons, opossums, skunks, and coyotes from the landscape at the right time of year can do more for the localized hatch than you might realize.

Trapping Turkeys 2017

FAQ

What is the best way to catch a turkey?

The best way to catch turkeys in a large area is to slowly walk behind the birds, holding a long stick as an aid for directing them. Herd the birds into a corner, or preferably a smaller enclosure where an individual bird can be selected and captured. Do not chase the birds around a large area.

Can you catch a turkey in a trap?

Good success was obtained with a “drop door” trap (Powell 1965) made of chicken wire and poles similar to one described by Sylvester and Lane (1946), with a manually operated door activated by a pull cord, but the injury rate to turkeys was very high.

Are turkeys hard to catch?

Turkeys are intelligent wild animals that are wary of humans. Their keen eyesight makes up for their lack of smell and they can detect even the slightest amount of movement, so hunting them is challenging.

How do you catch a Turkey in a trap?

* When setting up your trap, make sure it is concealed and in a location where the turkeys will be likely to pass by. * When calling in the turkeys, use a variety of calls and be patient. With a little practice, you can catch a turkey and enjoy a delicious meal with your family and friends. Hello, fellow turkey enthusiasts!

How do you catch a wild turkey?

Turkeys tend to roost in the same areas each night, so finding these areas is crucial to your success. The most effective way to get within range to catch a wild turkey is to use turkey calls. Prior to your hunt, familiarize yourself with the sounds turkeys make and try to replicate the calls with your voice.

What equipment do you need to catch a Turkey?

The equipment you need to catch a turkey will vary depending on the method you choose. However, some of the most common items include: * Gun: If you plan on hunting turkeys, you will need a shotgun or bow and arrow. * Trap: If you plan on trapping turkeys, you will need a trap that is specifically designed for turkeys.

How do you hunt a wild turkey?

Shotgun and bow are the two legal methods of bagging a wild turkey, with shotgun being most common. If this is your first time trying to hunt turkey, consider taking an experienced guide to make your hunt more successful. A week or two before the season starts, scout the woods to identify the areas the turkeys frequent most.

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