Turkey scouting

[MJ1657]

When should I start scouting for the up-coming season? I am hunting the b season (April 18-22).

Thanks

[AndersonOutdoors]

I start going into the woods two weeks before April just to see whats out there,start singling out birds if there is a special one around.The more your in the woods calling them in and seeing how they react to your calling the better turkey hunter you will be.

[DonBo]

Birds are flocked up in very specific areas right now. Areas with food. Cattle lots and standing corn fields. Once most of the snow is gone, they will begin to disperse into other areas. Not much sence in scouting till then. If you feel the need to get out earlier, your time would best be spent on securing permission to hunt all those areas you saw birds in last year.

[Bowfin]

If you feel the need to get out earlier, your time would best be spent on securing permission to hunt all those areas you saw birds in last year.

About securing permission to hunt turkeys - How much success do you have in getting permission to hunt private lands? Last year was my 1st year hunting turkeys - I scouted and hunted some public land in zone 225 and saw a lot of birds. I plan on going back there this May during my "E" season but would like a couple back up spots in case my primary public land spot is being hunted by others. I don't want to pester the farmers in the area - they probably get asked a lot from other turkey hunters.

[goblueM]

I have about a 75% success rate in asking - although I always hunted the late season, so most of the hunters had already come thru, which usually meant the landowner or their friends had hunted already.

Asking way before season or after season is a good way of getting some face time with the owner, sometimes it takes a coupla years for them to remember you and say oh yeah this guy is ok

[DonBo]

Depends on the area. It is usually much easier to gain permission to turkey hunt than it is for deer. Many have a real problem with turkeys and would like to see them gone. Also the farmers don't feel "pestered" near as much this time of year as later in the season when they start to get into the fields, then they just don't have the time to stop and talk.

Good luck!

[MJ1657]

I have several hundred acres of private ground to hunt so thats not an issue.

Any other scouting tips would be great.

[Gordie]

Any other scouting tips would be great.

Best tip I give you MJ is find me a spot

[MJ1657]

Unfortunately its not my call to give access.

I have milked cows, and put crops in and took them out for 24 years to earn the privilidge.

[Gordie]

Just messin with ya MJ as I have spots already

[MJ1657]

I knew you were Gordy. Just hoping there still might be an open spot in your duck blind this fall.

[Borch]

I have several hundred acres of private ground to hunt so thats not an issue.

Any other scouting tips would be great.

MJ,

Another tool for scouting is using topo and satelite maps.

Look for ridges, saddles, funnels, water and then with map in hand go check these areas out. It's funny how a person's mental picture of a piece of land changes when they get a birds eye view.

Leave the calls at home. No need to educate the birds before you season and if you bring them you'll be tempted to use them. Look for tracks, droppings, strut marks and feathers in addition to the birds themselves. Early morning is a good time to sit and listen from a distance. I like to check out roost areas at midday. Scouting fields can be done from a distance without spooking birds. If you want to check out the woods for activity go in full camo, move slowly and quietly. Listen for turkey talk and leave scratching. Do your best not to bump birds.

[Gordie]

I knew you were Gordy. Just hoping there still might be an open spot in your duck blind this fall.

anytime MJ, anytime

[MJ1657]

Thanks Elwood!

Thanks to the other guys that posted some ideas for me. It was exactly what I was looking for.

[fletcher]

if you have any: you likely are not using gamecams this time of year.

Put em out: If you have strut zone or path a game cam with time stamp can capture movements and times. If you have private ground and security is not an issue put one on a fence post in the middle of strut zone/field pasture etc. A strutter will trigger cam no problem even at a distance. my .02 if you have history on the place I have found many mid morning strut zones are used every year.

[fletcher]

If time allows wait til just before dark and shock call

This can help pinpoint roost areas for Tommyboy and not really educated them

owl goose peacock crow pheasant car door: all can work

[engfish]

Borch,

You and others have stated on more than one occasion not to "educate" the birds by taking the calls out when scouting. When I first started hunting turkeys about seven years ago, and before I was willing to ask for some help from others, I had no idea whether or not my calling was good or bad, so I went to one of my properties and "practiced" a month or so before my season--always one of the last two seasons.

I can honestly say that some of my best mornings were those mornings I spent practicing. I saw large groups of birds, which was never the case late in the season, and it gave me some confidence in my calling cadence, especially with the diaphragm call. Best of all, it gave me a chance to experience the "rush" before I ever put a shotgun in my lap or before I ever killed a bird.

One of my greatest thrills occurred a few years ago when a coyote came sneaking into the field filled with birds. I thought for sure they would fly, but the gobblers circled up and didn't back off and the coyote decided he wasn't going to be eating turkey that morning.

Seeing is believing. It's one thing to hear about what to do online, but it's another experience altogether so see how live birds react to calling and/or not calling.

I don't practice on the properties I hunt now, but I still go to a couple of places that have birds where no hunting is allowed--she's a non-hunter and doesn't allow me to hunt, but she's willing to let me "practice" there.

Anybody else out there willing to let MJ have some "practice time" without compromising common opinion about educating the birds?

[DonBo]

I personnaly don't believe you can "educate" birds simply by calling, unless you get up and spook them when they come into you. Birds, real birds, are calling ALL THE TIME. It's how they get together and carry on the species. Birds will not stop coming to other birds calling because someone popped a diaphram call in his mouth before the season to see how he sounds to the real thing.

Again, if you spook birds at a location a time or two, they may tend to shy away from that location, or maybe even that particular call you choose to use at that time, but I don't believe you can stop birds from doing what they do by practice calling.

Then again who knows what really goes on in that little bird brain? This is just my opinion.

[sticknstring]

I think turkeys can distinguish tone frequecies in calls with high accuracy. Just as we can pick out that raspy boss hen or the older toms from the 2 year olds and jakes. If you're calling with a slate and a bird comes in and hangs up, you're chances of calling that same bird in with that same call is remote. Anytime you physically call in a bird, they're being educated in some fashion. Now if you're mixing up your calls, not over-calling, and letting areas rest - you'll probably be okay. We've all had those days where you're using your favorite calls and getting no response, so you pull out an old dusty box call and bam... gobbble. Why is that? It's a new frequency the bird hasn't heard before. A new lady on the block - need to check her out, right? Maybe I'm giving the birds too much credit here, like Don said - who knows what transpires in that tiny brain of therirs. But I've seen enough over the years that I don't give the birds any more advantage than they already have, especially when using archery tackle and you need to get them in close. There's definitely more than one way to skin a cat though - just laying out some copper fwiw...

[FLnick87]

I call during scouting. One, to build my confidence but really I just like calling in birds. When the season rolls around shooting a bird isn't my number one concern. But I do like to know if I can call the birds off the roost or if they have somewhere already in mind where they are gonna go and position accordingly. I also like roosting the birds at night, and for this I rarely call. One thing I don't do is use decoys while scouting, but other than that, I try to do what I would do if I were hunting, and in my mind I can say if I would have killed one or not.

[Borch]

Hey I understand the rush. If it were me though I'd go call on say a state park or other spot where you can get the rush without having an impact on birds.

Don has a point that if you only do it once or twice without spooking birds then there will likely be minimal impact. But pair calling with other unnatural sounds or show the turkey that you're there and it will change their behavior. These birds are paranoid. Not smart. They think everything is trying to eat them and they're right.