Welcome to Wild Turkey Science, a podcast made possible by Turkeys for Tomorrow.

I'm Dr. Marcus Lashley, Professor of Wildlife Ecology at the University of Florida.

And I'm Dr. Will Gulsby, Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Management at Auburn University.

We're both lifelong hunters and devoted scientists who are passionate about hunting, managing, and researching wild turkeys.

In this podcast, we'll explore turkey research, speak to the experts in the field,

and address the difficult questions related to wild turkey ecology and management.

Our goal is to serve as your connection to wild turkey science.

So, you know, one of the things that our listeners keep requesting is very specific information on how to implement brooding cover.

And I think, you know, that answer, the answer to that question is very difficult to come up with because all situations are so site dependent and site specific.

But can you give us a general concept of or walk us through a scenario where you're, you're managing an old field and you're starting out with an exotic warm season or exotic cool

season pasture grass and talk about how you would convert that

and then maintain it over time for brooding and potentially nesting cover.

If it's a perennial cool season grass, as tall fescue orchard grass

Timothy brougham reed canary grass

uh of course smooth brum if you're in the in the Midwest we've all got our

grass problems but for those perennial cool season grass, grasses, they are best

controlled, best treated if sprayed in the fall. And it's at that time when they are actively

photosynthesizing sending nutrients to the root system in preparation

for winter senescence. Although they're cool season grasses, those perennial grasses undergo

a midwinter senescence. And you get a much better root keel on those grasses if you spray them

in the fall. And so if you have an overgrown field with what I call a cool season grass base, you know,

tall fescue in the mid-south is the main one and going into the northeast and even portions of the Midwest.

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