How to scout for turkeys

[DOUBLE LUNG]

What is the best way to scout for turkeys. Should a guy go to a piece of property and sit and listen for when they go to roast. Or is there another way to do it.

 

[deadeye]

If I want to find turkeys I like to go in the am better than at night. A lot of gobblers don't gobble at night from what I have found. Also you may spook them. I like to get as close as I think they may be and just wait. Let them fly down and go their own way and you can go home. Right now they should be grouped up pretty decent yet. There is a train that they gobble to the whistle of where I hunt. I would recommend an owl hoot call or your choice for a shock gobble call. You can also look for scratchings and poop. If you get a bit a snow like we had this am, it is good to check for tracks. Good luck, but I bet turkeys will be spread out a little bit more once season comes around.

 

[GunnerJon]

I agree with Deadeye. Every year I scout turkeys, I hike to the woods and setup in a high spot, early in the morning before ths sun comes up. Some areas I just pick a tree, camo up and sit down. Listen for gobbles, watch or listen to them fly down and watch them go about their daily routine. Sometimes I already know where the birds are, I stay back aways (like on a field ridge top) and watch them with the spotting scope, just so I don't spook them. I usually get there early in the morning, listen for gobbles, and then scout for tracks, scat and strutting marks later in the morning. Most of my hardcore scouting takes place a week or two before the opener.....that way the big boys won't be in the big winter flocks and they will be roosting close to where they will be when the season opens.

 

[muddy]

i hunt the same spots that produced for me the year before. always puts me in the general area and i can fine tune from there.

 

[docH]

I agree with everyone else. Sit on a ridgetop and just listen before sunrise for any gobbling. I've been hunting the same piece of property for years and the birds always roost on the same ridge year after year. When looking for new areas, I like to drive the county roads in the afternoons and look for turkeys in the fields feeding. When I find an area where they are feeding, I go out and listen (with landowner permission) at sunrise. The key to scouting is low impact.

 

[Shredder]

Don't make the mistake to go out pre season and call a few in for practice (unless you have state ground closeby you don't hunt). Anymore, I just get up early and go listen from the road and it has paid off in the past.