# Buy wild turkeys for stocking?



## Wes (Apr 27, 2009)

Can you buy young wild turkeys for stocking on your farm or land? We have a 100 acres near rome, but not a lot of turkeys. Does anyone know where or if you can purchase turkeys to stock and get them breeding there? Or is this just crazy?


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## ryanwhit (Apr 27, 2009)

nope.  not exactly on the legal side of things.


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## sman (Apr 27, 2009)

not a good idea, from what I understand they don't survive well.  100 acres is not enough land to hold them there anyway  feel your pain though.


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## hawglips (Apr 27, 2009)

And they aren't "wild."  They are dumpy yard birds with a hint of wild blood in them.


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## trkyburns (Apr 27, 2009)

Plenty of turkeys around Rome.  If you don't have a lot of turkeys I would say your time & money would be better spent making the property more attractive to turkeys... food plots, thinning, burning, etc.


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## BOB_HARWELL (Apr 27, 2009)

Amen to the above.

            BOB


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## Wes (Apr 27, 2009)

*Sounds good*

Ok. Thats what I need to know. We are planning on putting in some food plots at the end of the summer.


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## BOB_HARWELL (Apr 27, 2009)

You need green food plots year round, also you could plant sawtooth oaks, dogwood & trees that produce winter foods.

           BOB


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## CuttinNrunnin (Apr 27, 2009)

i would think that there arent turkey there for a reason. something is turning them away from your place. theres a million reasons why thats the case, i have no idea which it is, just saying..


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## TenPtr (Apr 27, 2009)

Yep, I agree with all of the above.   Turkeys require specific habitats.  If you could give us an idea of what your land consists of than some more specific answers could be provided.  Cancel out the idea of releasing birds, I understand where you are coming from but its simply not worth the effort.  Food plots wont draw turkeys like they do deer unless the sorrounding habitat is suitable.  Focus on the habitat before you focus on food plots.


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## mallardsx2 (Apr 20, 2021)

I was literally thinking about this today and this post popped up. I figured as much that it wasn't legal.


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## antharper (Apr 20, 2021)

I knew a guy in south ga about 30 years ago before we had a season in the county , he had about 20 turkeys in a big flight pen . He always said they were pure breed eastern . Anyway after a few years he was overrun with them and opened the pen and let them come and go as they pleased. That area of the county soon became very populated , not sure if it was from him or not but everyone in the area thought so . That was before coyotes were over populated and everyone still trapped and Coon hunted . That was also before everyone worried about everything being legal . He owned the land and am sure he didn’t care what someone thought about what he did .


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## Buckman18 (Apr 20, 2021)

He probably didn't have turkeys back in 2009 because the season opened in March, and the hens never were bred?


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## Son (Apr 20, 2021)

Believe it was in the 90's, local fellow in Miller Co. hatched some eggs he bought somewhere. Turkeys were not doing well in pens so he turned them loose. The immediately spread out and came onto our hunting land. Mixed with the few local birds we had from time to time. We left them alone for several years before hunting them. First old gobblers we killed were over 20 pounds. Largest was 25 and 26 pounds. Now, the gobblers we get are far and few due to clear cutting and replanting. We're too thick for turkeys now. But if we do luck luck into a gobbler now, he will average around 17 to 18 pounds. Back to normal I guess.


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