Scouting/ roosting question

[Wildcard12]

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So this is my second turkey season here in Tennessee, and this year I have decided to try to get out and do a little preseason scouting. From what I understand the birds are still on their winter patterns (I saw a flock of about 20 Tom's just a week and a half ago). The season opens on the public land I hunt in just 4 weeks. My question is, would I be wasting my time by trying to locate birds now? My other question is if birds on the roost will even gobble at a locator call this time of year before the spring really comes. Also, do turkey respond more to one type of locator call more in the morning vs evening? Will birds in some places be more likely to gobble at an owl call than a crow call or vice versa?

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[MK M GOBL]

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So from what I have seen, birds do gobble and strut all year long, just for different reasons and frequency. There is still a dominance order to everything they do. While winter flocked they do band together, but once those juices of spring start flowing it all changes, birds split up and no longer tolerate each other (in most respects). I am somewhat scouting birds the whole year, just knowing/learning what and how the flock is doing. Scouting for hunt time for me starts at about the 2 weeks before seasons start. For us that is first week of April, so mid March I'm after it. I scout the whole time I hunt as well.

As far as locators I use a few, my morning favorites are the Owl, and Crow but have had luck with a goose call, that also seems to work throughout the day, also a Sandhill Crane and Peacock are good day time locators, in the evening that Peacock and back to the Owl, I also have use a Coyote in the evening with good results. Now this is just what works for me, other areas other calls may work better, I used the same calls out of state and seem to work as well. I do at times use a gobble to locate but don't do that on any public.


MK M GOBL