Gobbling Season Winds Down

While we had a severe winter this year, it did break early and spring seemed to arrive earlier than usual.  As a result the turkey mating season began early, at least in my area, and is now winding down.  It was common to hear several gobblers each morning just a short time ago, but now gobbling is very sporadic and one can easily spend a morning outdoors without hearing any gobbling at all. 

Alert Mature Gobbler Pauses As He Moves Through Woodlands

It was common to see the birds strutting and courting only a week or so ago, but now it is rare.  They are more likely to be seen feeding or moving about.  If they do strut or gobble, it seems that the action does not last long, before they lose interest and return to feeding.

Camera Critters: Turkeys And Whitetails

Mature Easter Wild Turkey Gobblers

Spring is a dramatic and beautiful time of year and my primary focus at this point is documenting turkey activity and the emerging leaves and flowers.  Later my attention will shift more toward the whitetail deer as antlers increase in size and the new fawns are born.

Antler growth has been very slow until recemntly, but the older bucks have made a noticeable gain in antler size in the past week.

The Buck's Antlers Develop

Deer are not their most photogenic at this time as the winter coat has a faded, ragged appearance and a lot of the hair is loose and falling out.  By late May or early June, the winter coat will be completely replaced by the beautiful, red, summer coat.

The does are pregnant and their abdomens will grow larger as spring progresses.  Most fawns in this area will be born in late May though mid-June.

Pregnant Doe-Starting To Shed The Winter Coat

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More Spring Turkeys: PA Spring Gobbler Season

At present the mating season of the Eastern Wild Turkey is going full steam ahead and I have been spending most mornings and evenings pursuing the birds with DSLR and Video Camera.

Distant Jakes

I usually see hens or jakes, but the mature gobblers do not always appear. Bird Photography is an added bonus while waiting for them. Recently, I was fortunate to get a decent chance at a male Rufous Sided Eastern Towhee. This bird frequents the woodlands, mostly scratching about in the understory.

Rufous Sided Eastern Towhee

If one is lucky, eventually they get the opportunity at their primary subject, but sometimes the encounters with other species are just as memorable.

Mature Gobbler Guarding His Hens

Wild turkeys are a popular game bird in Pennsylvania. The annual spring gobbler season runs from April 25th through May 25th statewide.

Only turkeys with visible beards are legal. Hunting is by calling only—no stalking. Hunting hours are one-half hour before sunrise until noon. Hunters must be out of the woods by 1 p.m.(Source PGC 2008-09 Hunting Digest)

Hunting pressure can be quite intense in areas open to public hunting and the birds quickly learn that season is in, so they can be extremely difficult to encounter.

I will of course be hunting only with camera, but the arrival of season usually means less photo opportunities.

Camera Critters: Closer Is Better-Eastern Wild Turkey

While the last post demonstrated that it is possible to get photographs at long range, today's photos show that it is better to get close.

This Friday morning came in with stars shining, but a thick low lying ground fog made visibility difficult. Dawn found me hidden beside a remote mountain meadow with turkeys calling in the distance. Just before sunrise the fog started to lift, and calling and gobbling drew nearer.

Canon 40-D 500mm F4

As the fog lifted the gobblers strutted on a distant hillside and eventually came past where I was hidden, giving me an excellent photographic opportunity.

Canon 40-D 500mm F4+ 1.4 extender

Even though one may be able to capture images of wildlife at fantastic distances with the big lenses, it is better to be reasonably close if one wishes to resolve detail in feathers or fur.

Canon 40-D 500mm F4+ 1.4 extender

From now until late May is the best time to photograph these majestic birds, as this is the mating season and the males are far more likely to strut and gobble at this time. It is always a challenge to capture them in an ideal pose and setting. I have never taken a gobbler photo that I am completely happy with.

Even though this spot is nearly a mile from where I photographed the turkeys in the previous post, I am reasonably certain that they are the same birds. A large flock may range over a substantial amount of territory, but will usually revisit favorite feeding and courting spots at least once a week and sometimes much more often.

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Long Range Turkeys

This morning I sighted a flock of turkeys at our farm, which were at least 300 yards (900ft.) away, and possibly more. I base this estimate from my youth when I hunted woodchucks and knew the distances to all of the strategic spots on our property. After all of those years I can't remember the exact figure, but I am certain it is at least that far.

The first shot shows the Canon XL-H1 Camcorder with the Canon 500mm F4 attached and shows the distance to the turkeys well. They are just above the red arrow. I used a 17-40mm at 19mm to take this shot. As a side note I did take video with the 500mmF4 attached, both with and without a 1.4 extender. Without the extender, this rig is the 35mm equivalent of a 3,600mm lens, with the extender it is 5,040 mm. This is not as good as it sounds because at those magnifications, mirage (atmospheric disturbances), and vibration from wind become a problem. Still I may get some usable video from this encounter


After an extensive videotaping session, I mounted the 500mm on the 40D and took several shots. Check label below each shot for comparisons.

500mm- No Cropping

500mm-Same Photo Severely Cropped

500mm- Canon 2x extender-Severely Cropped

These are certainly not magazine quality, or as Ronald "Buckwheat" Saffer would say, "Front Cover Shots", but I do think it is amazing what can be obtained at such extreme range.

Update

Late in the evening there were more turkeys in the most distant field and now there were several mature gobblers. The birds were milling about and gobbling, preparing to move to a nearby roosting area for the night. This time I used the camcorder with the 100-400mm Canon lens at about 350mm. (for some reason this lens is soft at 400mm when used on the camcorder and does not provide satisfactory high definition video) In this case the turkeys were about 500 yards (1,500 ft.) away.

Canon XL-H1: 100-400mm @ 350 mm-500 yards card camera mode

It is always better to get close if one wants excellent quality photographs, yet this equipment is capable of taking snapshots at amazing ranges if one is unable to approach closer. If conditions are good, the XL-H1 will take usable professional video at these ranges, but one is not able to print high quality enlargements from the captures.