Acreage in openings may vary, but should be more than 10 percent of the total annual range, with 30 percent approaching the optimum. Wild turkeys require water, and ordinarily are not found where it is lacking. Construction of one small pond per square mile, or preferably one per quarter section, where no permanent water exists will improve turkey habitat and provide additional nesting sites. Ponds built in timbered areas for wildlife need not be large, but should be deep to provide water during the driest part of the summer. Dimensions of approximately 30-40 feet across and 8 feet in depth are satisfactory.
Acorns are the most important food for wild turkeys.
In Missouri, acorns are eaten by turkeys every month of the year, and more than a third of their diet consists of acorns in fall and winter. This sort of balance will ensure a dependable mast crop, plus the added benefit of openings created when stands of saw logs are harvested. Food plots for turkeys only supplement natural food supplies. They can, however, be helpful in times of extremely bad weather or during drastic shortages of natural food supplies. Winter wheat is one of the best crops from the standpoint of ease of establishment and use by turkeys.