Scouting near roosted birds

[Damson]

I've been scouting a new property off and on for the past couple weeks.  I have found some good sign (scratches, tracks in roadbeds, droppings) etc. 

The other afternoon, I found some tracks walking on a logging road very close to the main paved road that runs through the property.  The tracks go downhill away from the main road.  When I was walking out, I noticed that there were fresh tracks that weren't there when I walked in. 

The next day, I quietly walked in there to see if I could roost one.  A train was sounding its horn about a half a mile away, which made a pack of coyotes go nuts.  I figured if the train's horn nor the coyotes made a bird shock gobble, my owl call wouldn't do anything. 

I noticed fresh strut marks in the ground, which got me excited.  Then I heard a bird fly up to roost.  It had to have been within 100 yds.  It was still 30 mins prior to sunset but it was very cloudy and about to rain. 

If I know that there is a bird in that area and the season starts in two weeks, should I avoid that area until the season starts?

There is also another logging road that parallels the road I'm on about 200 yards away.  I wanted to go and scout it as well, but I'm worried I may bump some birds right before the season.  I don't want to bump any birds, but this is also a new property that I've never hunted before and I'm trying to get a good lay of the land.       

[shaman]

My advice is that it's okay to scout from a distance.  I try to keep my scouting as low-impact as possible.  I do this alot during the pre-season, because I'm recording audio for my podcasts.  I get close enough for the umbrella mike to pick up the turkeys, and then I go quiet and hunker down.  I'm not in a big hurry to see turkeys as much as hear them.  If I'm in place 15 minutes before the first gobble.

I'm making my first trip out to Turkey Camp today and hope to be recording at the Honey Hole tomorrow morning.  Season opens on 14 April.

One other thing:  if you do bump a bird, don't feel too bad.  Most years that I manage to screw up in the pre-season have been banner years for me.  The absolute worst screw-up I ever did was several years ago on a Knob  I was up on top of the knob at first light and was hunkered down.  When the light came up, I was surrounded by turkeys.  I was too close to them, and they all busted out of the trees and scattered. I figured it was all over and stood up-- more turkeys busted.  I figured it's all over and started walking out.  Before I got back out into open pasture, I'd busted 75 turkeys.  It was a rolling nightmare.  The end result:  I filled my tags. Everybody at camp filled their tags.  It was a fantastic year. 

[bbcoach]

Damson, scouting is an everyday job before and during the season.  You have to be where the birds are or are going to kill them.  Finding sign (boots on the ground) and hearing gobbling should be utilized.  Binos help in finding birds at greater distance so we don't disturb them but if you bump birds one day, they will probably be there the next.  Keep putting in the scouting time, now and during the season, and all the pieces of the puzzle will come together.   

[shaman]

Well, then you have my situation.  This is my first weekend back at Turkey Camp.  I went out this morning well before sunrise and set up for recording my first podcast of the year.  Not only did I not bump anything, but there was nary a sound out of the birds all morning.  I did hear a few gobbles but they were at extreme range, well off the property.

I did however, visit The Honey Hole for a bit.  I could not help noticing the V-shaped scratch that let me know turkeys had been in the blind, digging in the leaves probably less than a week ago.  I guess that's good enough.

[GobbleNut]

Although there may be exceptions based on specific circumstances, I believe the concern about bumping birds while scouting is generally overblown.  Humans are pretty well spread out across the landscape and turkeys in most places are regularly going to have interactions of some sort with us during their lives.  They don't recognize a person who is scouting to hunt them from the farmer, hiker, or mushroom hunter. 

I hunted a place one year where the local expert was convinced that if a turkey saw a person, that bird was ruined as far as hunting it.  He chastised us for wanting to scout the property because we would "run the birds into the next county".  There were houses and people living around the property that were going about their human activities day after day,...and you could not get anywhere on the place where you couldn't hear people talking, kids playing, vehicles, and highway noise in the distance. 

The idea that the turkeys there could somehow identify and differentiate between those folks and us hunters was ludicrous.  I say just use a little common sense when scouting and don't try to unnecessarily disturb your birds, but if somehow you accidentally do, don't get too concerned about it.  They are not going to "run into the next county".   

[Happy]

Although there may be exceptions based on specific circumstances, I believe the concern about bumping birds while scouting is generally overblown.  Humans are pretty well spread out across the landscape and turkeys in most places are regularly going to have interactions of some sort with us during their lives.  They don't recognize a person who is scouting to hunt them from the farmer, hiker, or mushroom hunter. 

I hunted a place one year where the local expert was convinced that if a turkey saw a person, that bird was ruined as far as hunting it.  He chastised us for wanting to scout the property because we would "run the birds into the next county".  There were houses and people living around the property that were going about their human activities day after day,...and you could not get anywhere on the place where you couldn't hear people talking, kids playing, vehicles, and highway noise in the distance. 

The idea that the turkeys there could somehow identify and differentiate between those folks and us hunters was ludicrous.  I say just use a little common sense when scouting and don't try to unnecessarily disturb your birds, but if somehow you accidentally do, don't get too concerned about it.  They are not going to "run into the next county".   

In my opinion this may be true in areas turkeys are somewhat used to people. Flood a large remote area that seldom gets human traffic with idiots in the spring calling and marching through the woods and see what happens.

[ilbucksndux]

My preseason scouting on an area that I know and have hunted before I go out before daylight and listen to where they are roosted for several days so I have a general idea where they are. Then slip back out trying to be as low impact as possible. In a new area I would rather know the lay of the land before I hunt it but usually have the best luck just hunting the place. Get out before they start to gobble and get as close as I dare before he flies down.