Do turkeys see color?
Yep... turkeys have wonderful eyesight.
Turkeys see everything.They got them big ole eyes....LOL
Will turkeys spook if I put flouresent orange flagging near my decoy?
Sorry,but why would you want to do that? I think a waving flag of any kind would spook them.
David,
Yes they see color very well. Myself I would not place the orange near your decoy. If your concerned about other hunters. I would place it near your calling location.
you bet, you better have camo nocks.
Set up in front of a tree and if you see another hunter, vigorously wave, but avoid ALL unnatural colors when turkey hunting... hell avoid blinking if you can ;)
Going to get a couple of decoys..Im very excited,never got a turkey with a bow.My Hoyt #55 GM is very well tuned with mangas heads.season starts here in NM April 15th. Bag limit is 2 turkeys in certin areas,with a secound tag!
I would suggest you avoid waving to get someone's attention...people shoot at movement. Rather speak clearly and let them know you are there. If it spooks the turkey, so be it, you will not be injured and live to hunt again.
If you want to incorporate orange; tie a ribbon on a tree branch or around the tree trunk above your calling position. It doesn't hurt to tie one on top of your blind either if you feel the need to signal your location to others.
I was told when I first started hunting Turkey that they could see a wedding band at 50 yards,I wear gloves all the time. They are amazing critters, odd color or movement.....they are GONE!!!!!!!
Great vision and the survival instincts to go along with it.
Still amazes me how well a pop-up blind works on them. Gotta figure that at some point in the not to distant future they'll start to get wise; kinda like some areas where deer walk looking in the trees for the most part.
If they could smell like they see..............you would never kill one :eek:
They even have eyes in the back of their head :D
I'm not sure...never been able to get close enough to one to tell :biglaugh:
I would put it around a tree by ya or something. I get why you would want to do that. I get nervous when I use mine on public land. That is why I dont use a tom or even a jake decoy. But I would say that as long as the orange whatever isnt moving, it should be fine. I got within 15 yards of some this fall with orange on. It was fall turkey and muzzleloader season. And even then things didnt work out, didnt have a shot when they were in close, eneded up taking a long shot! Good luck this season!
They see color very well. As was said above, it's a good thing that they can't smell or we'd never kill one.
If you add a good sense of smell, and hearing to a turkey you have a coyote :biglaugh:
They've got a "third eye" too and can sense when there's trouble. Uncanny, really.
Most of that walnut sized brain of theirs is optic nerve...those critters have a pair of 10-power binocs on a perisope that can stretch around trees to eyeball you. Heck yes they can see color plus pick out movement better than any critter in the woods.
In a turkey's world, a good defense is the best offense. If you see something run, if you hear something run, if you think you see something run, if you think your hear something run, if you're not sure run.
An old saying is the a deer thinks every man he sees is stump, but a turkey thinks every stump he sees is a man.
Here in Washington the logging lands have orange and pink tape all over the trees. I put up orange or pink tape on my set ups in the woods. Keeps me from catching a load of T shot.
So you guys concur? Turkeys see color? :bigsmyl:
Turkeys can see when you do not have a turkey tag in your wallet, I have never seen such suicidal behavior. I had no camo, I did not try to conceal myself, they did not care. If this would have happened once, I would have thought it was a just an odd deal. but it happened three deer seasons in a row when I did not buy a fall tag. They were picking up on something that said I was no threat to them. Last fall they were terrified of me, I had a tag, and they gave me no chances for a shot the whole season.
I hate it when something with a brain the size of a peanut outwits me. Dang them turkeys!
It seems the general consensus is that turkey's see color.
I don't know if I agree with that 100%.
You used to be able to buy flambeau decoys with a hunter orange head on them. I had a set and had birds come in to them on many occasion and it didn't bother them a bit. I killed several over those decoys.
I'm not saying I know for fact they can or can not see color cause I ain't never looked through a pair of turkey eyes. I think what they pick up on so quick is any movement at all. Those boogers can see 320 degrees around their head because of the way their eyes are located.
I do not out of sake of argument use any unatural colors when I hunt birds now but I think it's better safe than sorry. Plus it makes me feel like a turkey ninja LOL.
Just my experience. I don't think you can get those decoys anymore so maybe they can see the color but I'm sure I'm not the only guy who ever killed a bird over them for sure.
As far as the flagging, I would take the advice given by these fella's who posted before me.
Good Luck
Kris
Most, if not all, birds see color. It's critical for them to be able to judge ripeness of berries and such, since their sense of smell isn't highly developed. Browsers like deer and grazers like cattle don't need to see color, so they don't. Primates (including humans) are also fruit and berry eaters without a highly developed sense of smell, so we do see color. It's all a case of necessity.
Turkeys can hear you think and see you change your mind :D
Movement is what they really pick up. I have had them walk all over me during deer season when I have to wear an orange vest.
Turkeys are simultaneously the smartest and the stupidest birds in the world. They can be so hard to kill that you want to pull your hair out. They can be so suspicious that the slightest flaw in your camo or the slightest twitch of movement sends them packing. They can be so dumb that they can't figure out how to get past a wire fence, like they forget they can fly, and will ignore blaze orange at times. Who knows what goes on in that post-dinosaur brain?
I don't know if they can see colors but I'm convinced they can see you blink from 100 yards away :) That's only if you have a bow in your hand, otherwise you have to blow the horn at them, only after coming to a complete stop, to get their butt's off the road.
I would have to say that "yes" they do see color. Why else would the color of the Jakes and Toms head change to red, blue, and red. I believe it signals some dominance warnings to the others.
Good point, Kevin.
I've never experienced anything that would positively convince me that they see color, but it's very likely they do as Don Stokes explained.
It is very odd how their eyesight/brain works. One morning I had a blind setup in the middle of an open field. Three toms came running down the field, on their way to some hens that were located at the other end of the field. They easily identified my blind as something to stay away from, as they veered out around it to get to the other end of the field. Two hours later they returned to my end of the field (with a group of hens) and none of them noticed the blind at all.
That tiny little brain is geared toward survival, to the exclusion of any curiosity. How many times have you seen a deer hang around to try and figure out what they saw? Not a turkey, they won't stop running till they have a lot of ground between them and what they might have seen. I love/hate them for being able to unravel my plans with a brain th size of a pea.