Pennsylvania Game News - October 2020 - 16

they're actually after turkeys.
For hunters who need to bring birds
into shotgun range, and filmmakers like
Gulvas who need them even closer, such
frightful reactions to the unknown can be
a source of frustration.
But it's also part of what makes turkeys
so fascinating, if not the spookiest animal
in Penn's Woods.
While turkeys are well known for their
wariness, if anything, Gulvas said, they're
only becoming more wary.
Filming turkeys nearly every day
through most of the year, for more than 35
years, Gulvas has noticed "a huge change"
in just how wary turkeys have become,
especially in recent years.
This is evident in his filming of "roost
segments," where he sneaks in close to
roosted birds before daylight, then records
everything that follows - from their first
vocalizations that morning, to their flying
down, to their interactions on the ground.
Gulvas said when he first began filming
roost segments about 20 years ago, he
could ease close to a roost, set up against
an outline-breaking background and
expect action close to his camera lens.
These days, however, turkeys more
carefully survey what's below them,
looking before they leap from branches
on their way to the ground. That makes a
stealthy setup more important.
Gulvas believes changes in predator
populations have contributed to heightened turkey wariness. Turkeys today,
in more of the state, face pressure from
coyotes and bobcats like they hadn't in
the past. And it only makes sense they've
taken notice and are taking additional
precautions to keep themselves safe.
"They know their voices can cause
them trouble," Gulvas said.
16

After all, birds roosted together often
begin each morning by talking, which
invariably gives away their position to
predators within earshot - and turkeys
recognize that, he said.
But how turkeys are viewing people
also seems to have changed, Gulvas
said. While camouflage clothing and
an outline-breaking backdrop could be
counted on for concealment during close
encounters in the past, Gulvas believes
turkeys have learned to better recognize
the camouflaged human form - a product
of their seeing more hunters in camouflage in recent years as participation in
the archery deer season and others has
increased dramatically.
No longer is orange the color they
primarily associate with hunters.
And it makes turkeys as challenging as
ever to bring in.
recWhile Gulvas believes turkeys rec
ognize the camouflaged form better
than they used to, it's still an important
ingredient in producing close encounters.
And, in addition to dressing all in camouflage, Gulvas long has attached threedimensional fabric leaves to his clothing
and camera gear. Several years back, he
decided to take things to the next level
with a military-grade ghillie suit.
But it didn't stop there.
Gulvas spent months getting the suit
just right, sewing additional leaves onto
it, then taking it time and again into the
leafless late-winter woods to further touch
it up with camouflage spray paint until it
blended into backgrounds as perfectly as
possible. Gulvas thought the suit would
open doors to turkey encounters like he'd
never experienced before.
"I thought I had the ticket," he said.
But soon after daylight during the

Pennsylvania Game News - October 2020

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