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And the hurricane changes everything!

lawrence

lawrence

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2018
Messages
444
So as Hurricane Dorian Bears down on my part of Florida (central)..assuming it hits..all scouting was for not. Lessons I learned from last Hurricane:
1) Season may not open on time.
2) where i normally go will be flooded (lowlands and river bottom)s. Have some really neat pictures from my camera of deer and dry land that i documented as it the rained became part of the lake.
3) Trees will may not be there. Luckily we are not allowed to hang stands till this weekend. Probably wont..so they are crushed..or it gets so flooded that i would need an airboat to get to them.
4) Gators will be seen where normally you wouldn't see them.
5)Turkeys will be gone and may not come back for a few years.
6) patterns will be disrupted.
7) more snakes
I Will need to find high ground and oak trees.

We shall see
 
I like it wet......keeps the other guys out. Im a central Florida guy myself
 
North Florida here. Swamp out the weaker weekend warriors and go kill a good deer on the islands of dry ground the flooding creates.
 
Same number of deer on half as much land. Of course they will have an abundance of food and cover but you can’t kill them at home.
 
From a conservation standpoint, this thread is going to get interesting. I particularly keyed in on points 4-7. The turkeys will definitely hate all that wetness, but you might end up with some really good funnels for deer and hogs. I’m sure the pork will not mind extra swampitude. Sometimes pattern disruption is a real steroid shot to your season/observations of wildlife (I.e. fires, storms, construction, etc.). If I had to put a nickel on it, I’d bet you’ll have some fun watching what the animals will do and what the hunters won’t do. It always sucks when there’s property damage and casualty, but as long as you’re safe you should have a fun season.
 
they talking maybe 25 inches of rain, that's more than wet.
 
Its bad but news makes it out to be much worse than it is....its more inconvenient than bad if you are prepared. I live in the boonies so it takes weeks to get power again
 
You dont know until you go. You could possibly kill a big one this weekend. Go and check it out. They are often on their feet during breaks in the rain.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
RRussell said:
Do the turkeys just get killed by the storm or just go as far as they can?
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Turkeys don’t do water for a number of reasons. They’re not swimmers, they can possibly (although improbably) drown in rain or small puddles, and water is waaaaaay too heavy on their already-armor-like feathers. They retain a lot of moisture in their feathers and don’t shed it easily, so I’d expect them to stay high, dry, and out of eye.
 
@DelaWhere_Arrow turkeys don’t mind roosting over water. I’ve even seen them wading through water. It would be interesting to see where they go during and after hurricanes. They are pretty clumsy in a tree and I’m not sure they could stay in the top of pines during high winds. I’ve also flown out of Orlando and looked down. It looks like more water than land when it’s not flooded.
 
EricS said:
@DelaWhere_Arrow turkeys don’t mind roosting over water. I’ve even seen them wading through water. It would be interesting to see where they go during and after hurricanes. They are pretty clumsy in a tree and I’m not sure they could stay in the top of pines during high winds. I’ve also flown out of Orlando and looked down. It looks like more water than land when it’s not flooded.
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This. I've seen turkeys and heard gobbles in areas where I didn't want to get out of the boat even with chest waders. Turkeys may be thought of as high and dry birds, but I've seen way too many of them in swamps for it to just be coincidences. Watched four of them wade a creek just last year.

As far as a hurricane killing birds, Ivan and Katrina both killed truck loads of pelicans, gulls, and wading birds. The 1-10 bridge was littered with pelicans in particular after Ivan. Even big birds get tossed like ragdolls in the wind. They just don't weigh anything, and either die of exhaustion, exposure, or collision. But I don't think turkeys would be any more vulnerable than any other species, really.
 
EricS said:
@DelaWhere_Arrow turkeys don’t mind roosting over water. I’ve even seen them wading through water. It would be interesting to see where they go during and after hurricanes. They are pretty clumsy in a tree and I’m not sure they could stay in the top of pines during high winds. I’ve also flown out of Orlando and looked down. It looks like more water than land when it’s not flooded.
Click to expand...
Whenever it rains around here, the easterns are nowhere near standing water. They can get around, but it’s definitely not preferred habitat for them. The water just bogs them down too much. There are benefits to them in staying close to the wetter areas, but they are gonna seek out the driest parts for most of their turkey-time activities. Might be different for other turkey subspecies, or regionally. I always catch birds on roost or in fields and flats after storms.
 
Okay, now I’m in a rabbit hole about turkeys lol. There’s lots of interesting stuff turkeys do in various weather conditions. Post-rain May bring an increase in gobbling activity, while pre- and mid-rain might lock them up in a field, forest flat, or roost where they have higher visibility or lower moisture/wind protection. I don’t think, to @Nutterbuster’s point, they’re at a higher risk for mortality; they’re just going to be more careful with where they step, fly, and wade when it’s Old Man Poseidon’s turn at the gavel.
 
lawrence said:
So as Hurricane Dorian Bears down on my part of Florida (central)..assuming it hits..all scouting was for not. Lessons I learned from last Hurricane:
1) Season may not open on time.
2) where i normally go will be flooded (lowlands and river bottom)s. Have some really neat pictures from my camera of deer and dry land that i documented as it the rained became part of the lake.
3) Trees will may not be there. Luckily we are not allowed to hang stands till this weekend. Probably wont..so they are crushed..or it gets so flooded that i would need an airboat to get to them.
4) Gators will be seen where normally you wouldn't see them.
5)Turkeys will be gone and may not come back for a few years.
6) patterns will be disrupted.
7) more snakes
I Will need to find high ground and oak trees.

We shall see
Click to expand...
Central Florida, beach side (Flagler). Already gone North, to bro-in-laws house in South Georgia. May have to evac here too, but not before some practice hang time. Definitely hoping our home will still be there.
 

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