Do Tom Turkeys Dust Bathe??

[wvboy]

I may be showing my ignorance here, but this is a serious question I've often thought about.  I am 50 and been hunting them since I was 8.. I have seen many hens dust, but never a Tom or a Jake for that matter.. I've killed some toms over a dust bowl in my life, but never actually witnessed a male turkey doing it.. and I just did a quick youtube search and all I can find are hens dusting.. it seems logical that all turkeys dust to keep ticks off etc.. but just never seen it and wondered if others have.

Thanks,

[guesswho]

Yes, 100%.

[Greg Massey]

In all my years I have never seen an Adult gobbler, but i have seen a Jake ....

[Sir-diealot]

Yes, it is a picture I very much want to capture!

[Clif Owen]

Pretty sure Jim Spencer talks about one he saw dusting in one of his Bad Birds books. I think he called the bird Pig Pen after the Peanuts character.

[Dtrkyman]

They must not during the spring?  I have never seen it, had a camera on a dust bowl for a while, all hens!

When I first started hunting turkeys I hunted dust bowls often, never paid off!

[mcw3734]

Yes, they can. Saw a gobbler dusting in the late afternoon just last weekend. Having said that, it was the first time I'd ever seen that happen.

[ferocious calls]

Young male turkeys will dust often. Adult toms very seldom dust. Have raised 500+ Eastern toms. Never saw a 2 yr old or older Tom dust. I like to see a video of an adult Tom dusting.

[ferocious calls]

Come to think of it, have not seen the dust fly off an adult Tom when wing flapping.

[ChesterCopperpot]

Whether you ascribe to the idea that turkeys do it because of mites or do it because of feather alignment and separation, toms would suffer from the same issues hens suffer from and dust accordingly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Dtrkyman]

I 100% agree they dust, but they must be nocturnal while doing so...haha

[runngun]

I have seen Rio Gobblers' "squat" under a cedar bush with hens right next to them dusting so much it looked like a mini dust storm.

Bo

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

[Mtd69]

i have watched them dust in my yard in the summer my yard is very sandy soil right next to a field

[RutnNStrutn]

I have seen toms dust, but infrequently compared to hens.

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk

[Spitten and drummen]

Yes sir!