jrbsr

Could some of the experanced turkey hunters share some of their turkey scouting tips?

Thank You

jrbsr

mohunter82

never stop scouting.
i bowhunt deer so even while i'm scouting for deer season i always keep an eye out for turkey sign.

if its raining or has rained look to the fields.
turkey rely alot on their hearing and with the ground and leaves wet they cant hear as well so they move to open areas where they can use their eyesight to their advantage.

Hurricanespg

I look for a multitude of things.....droppings...gobblers have a j shaped dropping. Leaf scratchings in the woods are a good indication of where turkeys have been and might return to. Strutting zones, and dust bowls are always a nice find. Roost areas can be identified by feathers left behind. Tracks...generally speaking gobblers have longer tracks than hens. Food sources like grass, berries, and insects can be quite helpful to find as well.

mohunter82

i forgot. one thing that eddie salter told me is that apperently turkey will eat tadpoles. wierd right but he says that they will gather around small water holdings and apperently love to eat them.

CHAMP198

also a good way to find a Gobblers strutting areas is look for tracks like in an old dirt road you will be able to see his tracks and on each side of them you will see lines from his wing tips where they drag the ground when hes in full strut....one of the best finds cause most Gobblers will use the same strutting areas a lot

jrbsr

Any more tips?

zubba

When I get a new area to hunt, I actually wake up as if I was hunting (before the season but after the birds are actively gobbling in the roost), camo up, and go out & sit where you think they are roosting/flying down. Don't set up any decoys, don't call (so you don't educate them), and don't get up until the area is clear.This way you can hear where they are roosting, you can hear gobbles from other birds around the area, you can see where they flydown to, and you can also observe where they waunder to after flydown...which will likely be their strut zone.

This will tell you a lot. You will then know where to set up to hunt the flydown. If the flydown isunsuccessful, you will know where to go& get ahead of the birds to set up again...the strut zone. When gobblers are henned up, it is very common for them to stop gobbling after they fly down. If you don't know where they strut and they aren't gobbling, then you don't know where to find turkeys...so you end up guessing. However, if you know where they go after flydown, you can circle around them after flydown, get in front of them, and setup. Even though he might not be gobbling, you know he frequents the area. I hope this helps.

fingerz42

I do about as zubba says. I go out about two weeks prior as if it were a hunting day. Wear all the camo you would as if you were hunting, go out at daybreak, and find out where they are roosting. If you dont hear them the first day you go out, move locations and try again. When you find the birds, try to find exactly where they are roosting, even if it means coming in the next day and getting in closer. When you find exactly where he/they are at, stay until flydown and figure out which way they go. (You may want to observe which way they go on a few days to see if they consistently go in a certain direction.)

Once you have figured out where they roost and which way they go after flydown, you now can determine how you will set up on the birds. Since you know where they sleep, then where they go, all you need to do is set-up between those two areas. So set-up 100 yards or so, from their roost,in the direction the birds consistently head toward after flydown, and if you do, you better get the grill ready, because this story ends with a dead bird.

jrbsr

Thank You all for the tips.
jrbsr

Screamin Steel

I look for three key locations. The roost, where they go immediately after flydown, and the third is where the gobblers like to hang during late morning. I would rate #2 as the most important, as it seems to be the most constant, followed by #3 and the roost is great to know, but can chnage very frequently. Find a early morning meeting place where gobblers are used to seeing hens, and his late morning loafing/ strutting zone and you are halfway there.