Paulmyr, that podcast was worth the listen!
My observations on turkey hens... Depends on the breeding cycle and time of day...
As extremes:
*I see one or two hens late in the morning late in the season, and I will likely assume that they are leaving toms to go to the nest...
*I see one or two hens early in the season, earlier in the morning, I will likely assume that they are headed toward toms.
So... Late in the season, late in the morning, if I see one or two hens traveling in a decisive direction together, I will go towards the direction they are coming from...
Early in the season, I see two hens walking decisively early in the morning, I will head in the same direction they are (generally trying to circle around).
Interestingly, I have been able to watch hens leaving toms... And often, if not generally, those toms will NOT follow. Often the hens will leave in a group or pairs, and disperse more as they create more distance from the toms... Sometimes the hens will take flight across a road or creek, sometimes the hens will just up and leave (rather decisively), and those toms will remain and display, and drum, and sometimes spontaneously gobble. These are the birds we are looking for...
Maybe biology dictates some understanding that the hens that are leaving will not be receptive, but if they can find a hen (after being left), it seems that they (the now lonely toms) are more likely to travel to find that receptive hen?
But late in the season, later in the morning, I see a single hen, I assume she is on a nest... And, I will assume that she has created some degree of separation from herself and toms... I really do not know what to do with this information, unless she is headed in a decisive direction, in which case I assume she is headed away from breeding toms, and will likely head the direction she came from...
But watching hens come off of nests later in the season, they will often meander around a nest (somewhat randomly) foraging, giving me zero information about the likely whereabouts of to possible tom....