# Utah Turkey elevation



## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

My Utah birds(spring) have been killed in elevations ranging from a low of 5390' and a high of 8956' . I have killed the bulk of my Utah birds in 2 elevation groupings: a fair number right around 6000' and a larger number around the 8000' range...give or take about 200' -300'. Of course I have killed birds all along the gradient, but these two groupings are definitely the two most productive. The number of kills is significant enough to establish patterns.

Now, although this is interesting info, let me add this...I have followed the same bunch of, or single birds on dailey meanderings that easily cover over a 1000 feet in elevation change. Turkeys wander a mile or two in their daily travels and elevation gain or loss seems to be of little importance to them. 

Using their roost as your base elevation, you can count on one of three things to happen after flydown, they will either move up hill, down hill, or stay at about the same elevation, and usually in the opposite direction from where up set up. 8)


----------



## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

All the Turkeys I am seeing this year are right around 5300'. I got into a group of 35 last night and couldn't get them closer than 55 yards. I think my decoys really hurt me last night as the birds were very skittish. I knew the birds were going to come through the area as they have the past week, and I knew better than to have decoys out. Oh well! lesson learned. One Turkey flew and they ALL followed. I was crushed!

I have to edit this, because I forgot to mention all of the Poult's running around. Holy crap! There are a bunch.of yellow feather balls.


----------



## johnrr65 (Nov 7, 2019)

Fowlmouth said:


> All the Turkeys I am seeing this year are right around 5300'. I got into a group of 35 last night and couldn't get them closer than 55 yards. I think my decoys really hurt me last night as the birds were very skittish. I knew the birds were going to come through the area as they have the past week, and I knew better than to have decoys out. Oh well! lesson learned. One Turkey flew and they ALL followed. I was crushed!
> 
> I have to edit this, because I forgot to mention all of the Poult's running around. Holy crap! There are a bunch.of yellow feather balls.


+1


----------



## goosefreak (Aug 20, 2009)

almost all of our Turkeys are killed around 8,500ft. All on the spring hunt

Just this last season, my brothers turkey was killed at 10,000ft and mine was killed at 9,000 ft


----------



## Lone_Hunter (Oct 25, 2017)

It's been warmer this year. I suspect the birds may have been low in April, but were already moving up in the first week of may, definitely by the 2nd week of May they moved high.

It's been my experience that weather shifts will temporarily drive them up or down in altitude as well. Long story short, I car camped on a Friday night, It stormed heavily that night, and we had a cold snap. I walked up the mountain at 3AM to where they were last weekend. Set up in what I thought was the tom's living room after he fly's down, and not a gobble to be heard. Nothing. Three hours later I'm walking down the mountain and I bump the whole group of them way lower in altitude, when they had been up high for at least a week.


----------



## hawglips (Aug 23, 2013)

This thread made me curious so I thought I'd chart the elevation of each UT turkey I've killed since 2000 in May that I could locate the spot on google earth:

5500' - 2
6400' - 1
7400' - 1
7600' - 1
7700' - 4
7800' - 4
7900' - 1
8000' - 1
8100' - 1
8200' - 2

The ones at 5500' to 7400' were pure rios. The rest of them were merriams or of mostly merriams stock. 

BP's observation of a sweet spot 200-300' around the 8000' elevation holds true in my case also....


----------



## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

hawglips said:


> This thread made me curious so I thought I'd chart the elevation of each UT turkey I've killed since 2000 in May that I could locate the spot on google earth:
> 
> 5500' - 2
> 6400' - 1
> ...


Now given this info, I am not sure of what value it is or how to use it. I enjoy finding birds in new locations and have shot birds literally from one end of the state to the other and in a wide range of habitats. I have never really used elevation as a starting point in my search for birds. Maybe I should?


----------



## MWScott72 (May 23, 2011)

I know what I'm doing...hunting between 7-8,000 feet. It's twice as productive based on the limited data available


----------



## hawglips (Aug 23, 2013)

BPturkeys said:


> Now given this info, I am not sure of what value it is or how to use it. I enjoy finding birds in new locations and have shot birds literally from one end of the state to the other and in a wide range of habitats. I have never really used elevation as a starting point in my search for birds. Maybe I should?


Good question.....


----------

