How fast are they?

Labs

Labs

Active member
Pretty darned fast, and they get up to speed quickly.

This afternoon I was driving home from work and came across a rooster picking grit on the side of the road. I was doing 45-50 and he flushed just before I got to him. Rather than head away from the road, he flew down the ditch right next to me as I passed him. That rooster caught up within 30 or so yards and was even with my door for a good 150 yards, then he dropped that big old tail like a drag chute and landed running. It was clear he was in no particular hurry. It was pretty impressive how quickly he attained that speed. No wonder a guy misses behind...
 
As I was on cruise control at 62 mph a cock flushed out of the ditch on the left and began flying exactly the same speed even with my window. This continued for a few seconds. Then he accelerated and flew beyond my car and across the highway at a shallow angle. He alit in ditch on the right about 40-50 feet ahead. He must have reached a speed of at least 70 mph to get ahead and fly across the road in front.
 
I've never really thought about how fast they could fly, but I have often been astonished as to how fast they can run on the ground. Wild turkeys can haul ass on the ground too if you've ever seen them run at full speed. Its no wonder the leg meat is tougher than nails in these birds.
 
If you go to the 3 minute mark, you can see Sage run down a rooster I winged. She's in pretty good shape and was full bore for 30 yards or so to run it down -

Another runner was at the 17:20 mark. To me the amazing part is that the dog isn't that far away when they go down. They've got wheels!!
 
gimruis said:
I've never really thought about how fast they could fly, but I have often been astonished as to how fast they can run on the ground. Wild turkeys can haul ass on the ground too if you've ever seen them run at full speed. Its no wonder the leg meat is tougher than nails in these birds.
Click to expand...
Turkeys prefer running to flying. They only fly when they are chased. I've studied them, and watched them for 30 years.
 
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