Maine turkey hunters set record

The Flock
            Turkeys are social birds and in winter often separate into three distinct groups: adult males (toms), young males (jakes), and females (hens) of all ages. These flocks begin to disperse in late winter or early spring when courtship and mating rituals begin.Toms set up territories and begin gobbling, strutting, and displaying in hopes of attracting a harem of hens. Most hens, regardless of age, will breed with a gobbler each spring.
Egg laying begins in Late April into May in Maine.
 The gobbler's sperm is stored in the hen's oviduct, so that fertilized eggs may be laid up to four weeks after mating. One mating is usually sufficient to fertilize an entire clutch. Eggs are laid two to three weeks after copulation. A hen lays an egg nearly every day until her nest contains 9-12 ( smaller clutches by younger birds) The hen will not begin incubating until her clutch of  9 to 12 eggs is complete, remaining in close vicinity, and covering the eggs with leaves until that time.  She usually chooses the base of a large, mature tree or stump, such as an oak or beech, in fairly open, isolated woods. However, some hens may nest in idle fields of weeds or grass. Nests are also found next to downed tree tops and brush piles. When the clutch is complete, the hen will incubate her eggs for 28 days. Peak hatching occurs in June in Maine. After two days from birth the young will follow their mother foraging for food. They eat insects, seeds, nuts and some leafy, green plants. Insects are a crucial part of the chicks' diet. Turkeys run in flocks and at night, will roost in trees. At around 10 days, chicks begin flying and will join their mother in a tree at night., they are very susceptible to predation.
Nest predators such as crows, raccoons, skunks, opossums, domestic pets, and human disturbances are the biggest threat to successful hatching. 
Adult wild turkeys have few, if any, natural enemies. 
Although coyotes will sometimes kill an adult bird, turkey densities are seldom significantly affected, 
even in areas where coyotes are plentiful.

As spring changes into summer, hens typically lead their young to open areas with succulent ground vegetation including grasses, sedges, and a variety of forbs and legumes, especially clover. These fields of grass and legumes contain protein-rich insects, which make up 75 percent or more of the poults' diet until four or five months old. Insects include grasshoppers, ground beetles, flies, caterpillars, ants, and crickets. As the poults grow, the seeds of ragweeds, sunflowers, and grasses are favored along with the fruits of dogwood, wild grape, cherry, sumac, and blackberries. Wildlife managers generally agree that artificial feeding of wild turkeys can overly concentrate the birds in a small area, making them more susceptible to poaching and the spread of disease. 
Water is another important necessity. Turkeys need water almost daily, and hens rarely nest farther than a quarter-mile from a reliable water source such as a creek, spring, seep, or farm pond.
Cover
Prime cover includes a mixture of open areas within a mature (or nearly mature) forest containing a variety of tree species including white and oaks, ash, beech, hemlock, and white pine. Turkeys use these mature trees as roosting sites but seldom roost in the same place on successive nights. Therefore, several suitable roosting locations scattered throughout their range are needed.
On cold, winter nights turkeys often seek two to five acre stands of dense mature conifers, which will provide thermal protection as well as roosting sites. Mature woods that contain nut-producing trees (oaks, beeches, hickories) are especially important in winter because they yield carbohydrate-rich food.