I have pretty much only hunted field areas on farm with fields. A friend showed me some area in the forest here that look like it could be good. There are a few small openings and the rest is all forest. What's the approach for hunting an area like this? I figure I might have to just try to find a bird that wants some love and not sit and wait it out as they could be any where.
It's tough. Especially the taller the timber. Around my parts birds can,get hung up at 60-80 yards. My best tactic is having a shooter 30-40 ahead of the caller.
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hard to tell you what to do differently because I hunt big woods 95% of the time. When I do hunt fields, I take mostly the same approach as I typically do. With that being said, if you're one of those field hunters who likes to sit out a decoy spread, pop up a blind, sit in one spot all day, spot and stalk, etc. that stuff doesn't fly, atleast not around here. Generally my approach would be know the general area the birds hang out in, wait for one to gobble off the roost, go to him, try to get 100-150yds, depending on terrain, and try to kill the bird off the roost. If that doesn't work, then I start walking and calling every few hundred yards. If that doesn't work you can always go sit in an area that birds hang out in and call sparingly, although I very seldom do that. the main thing you need to watch out for is stuff that birds will hang up on, theres a lot more obstacles in big timber than there are in fields.
Get out and scout! Roost a bird if you can and try to kill him at flydown. If you don't get him at flydown that is when the scouting pays off. Circle the birds and get between them and where they are headed. Call softly and wait.
Big Timber is where to me, knowing your gun and pattern pays off. Birds will hang up on you in the timber and while many times you can get them to commit, others you have to pull the trigger at 40 yards - give or take.
Don't be afraid to move on a timber turkey. Just be slow and pay attention with your ears as well as your eye's. A lot of times you will hear drumming or walking before you actually get a visual. The key is go slow and pay attention to everything going on around you, at least twice before you make the next move. Squirrels, woodpeckers, bluejays, and crow's will tell on a turkey in a heartbeat.
The area I hunt in Pennsylvania is mostly woods. I do a lot of homework before season and try to figure out birds patterns and areas where they roost. I do a lot of walking on ridges calling into bottoms to strike birds or like guesswho said listen to the crows. Sometimes it's a hawk or owl but most of the time I've found it turkey. If you don't hear much go to te areas where you have saw birds and sit and call for awhile. You will adjust. Best of luck this year!!
Quote from: Daman on March 04, 2013, 07:35:37 PM
Get out and scout! Roost a bird if you can and try to kill him at flydown. If you don't get him at flydown that is when the scouting pays off. Circle the birds and get between them and where they are headed. Call softly and wait.
Big Timber is where to me, knowing your gun and pattern pays off. Birds will hang up on you in the timber and while many times you can get them to commit, others you have to pull the trigger at 40 yards - give or take.
Why would you think you typically have birds hang up in timber? just curious, my experience has been that field birds hang up worse than a bird in the woods. Birds in the woods can't see a couple hundred yards, but a field bird can.
Quote from: guesswho on March 04, 2013, 07:51:46 PM
Don't be afraid to move on a timber turkey. Just be slow and pay attention with your ears as well as your eye's. A lot of times you will hear drumming or walking before you actually get a visual. The key is go slow and pay attention to everything going on around you, at least twice before you make the next move. Squirrels, woodpeckers, bluejays, and crow's will tell on a turkey in a heartbeat.
I agree with most of what you said, I'll add, don't be afraid to take a bit more time and get the setup right the first time either.
there are a lot of turkey killers who move slowly and wait patiently, and there are a lot who move quickly and often. Its personal preference, and accross the board, its equally affective. I will say that a lot depends on how much ground you have to cover, and your experience level. For a newer hunter, slow and subtle is probably more successful than run and gun. There is probably a happy median that I don't have the patience for.
Though not directed to me I will chime in.
Some of our forests (pa) are so old with tall oaks that without moutain laurel visibility is easily 100+ yards. I know because I carry my range finder with me throughout deer season. Also, these taller timbered areas do not have much ground cover to green up throughout the season.
So basically visibility can be as much as some fields.
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Not much difference birds are birds..I've hunted them in fields and timber..sit down and call they either come in or they don't ...it's not rocket science..just hunt you'll learn what works and what doesn't
Quote from: atoler on March 04, 2013, 11:35:10 PM
Quote from: guesswho on March 04, 2013, 07:51:46 PM
Don't be afraid to move on a timber turkey. Just be slow and pay attention with your ears as well as your eye's. A lot of times you will hear drumming or walking before you actually get a visual. The key is go slow and pay attention to everything going on around you, at least twice before you make the next move. Squirrels, woodpeckers, bluejays, and crow's will tell on a turkey in a heartbeat.
I agree with most of what you said, I'll add, don't be afraid to take a bit more time and get the setup right the first time either.
there are a lot of turkey killers who move slowly and wait patiently, and there are a lot who move quickly and often. Its personal preference, and accross the board, its equally affective. I will say that a lot depends on how much ground you have to cover, and your experience level. For a newer hunter, slow and subtle is probably more successful than run and gun. There is probably a happy median that I don't have the patience for.
How many yrs have you been hunting son? You seem to have a whole bunch of experience
Quote from: atoler on March 04, 2013, 11:29:11 PM
Why would you think you typically have birds hang up in timber? just curious, my experience has been that field birds hang up worse than a bird in the woods. Birds in the woods can't see a couple hundred yards, but a field bird can.
Blow downs, creeks, old fence, dominant boundry ect. can cause a timber bird to hang up. I have have even heard of a shadow causing one to hang up, though I haven't personally run into that yet that I know of.
Quote from: atoler on March 04, 2013, 11:35:10 PM
there are a lot of turkey killers who move slowly and wait patiently, and there are a lot who move quickly and often. Its personal preference, and accross the board, its equally affective.
On a bird you have already located and are messing with I'd take that equally effective challenge any day. Being stuck on one piece of property for an entire season is another example where I'd take that challenge. About the only scenario where I think it might be equally effective would be if you had multiple large property's that you could pound day in day out. I'm not saying running and gunning isn't effective, just that the situation needs to favor that style.
One thing I'll add about big woods is larger clearings. I like to google map large woods, and look for such a place. I've caught Turkeys roosting around clearings, and using as strut zones. Also deeper ravines with large trees is another hot spot for Roosting. If you know where they are Roosting it gives you a place to get close to on a set up.
Quote from: atoler on March 04, 2013, 11:29:11 PM
Quote from: Daman on March 04, 2013, 07:35:37 PM
Get out and scout! Roost a bird if you can and try to kill him at flydown. If you don't get him at flydown that is when the scouting pays off. Circle the birds and get between them and where they are headed. Call softly and wait.
Big Timber is where to me, knowing your gun and pattern pays off. Birds will hang up on you in the timber and while many times you can get them to commit, others you have to pull the trigger at 40 yards - give or take.
Why would you think you typically have birds hang up in timber? just curious, my experience has been that field birds hang up worse than a bird in the woods. Birds in the woods can't see a couple hundred yards, but a field bird can.
If you are talking pine plantation that hasn't had a good underbrush clearing and thinning then I agree with you, but if you are talking about true BIG Timber where you have 80' tall Pines and 100 year old Oaks with little underbrush I disagree.
In Big Timber, it is easy to see sometimes as much as 1/4 to 1/2 a mile if it is flat and that gobbler is looking for a hen the same as a big field.
In pine plantations, obstacles are more of a problem. Thickets, branches, unseen donwfalls, a creek you may not now is there, etc. will all attribute to a bird not coming in. However, I have found in a pine plantation that once he commits I generally get a 15 yard chip shot.
I very much prefer hunting the timber. You may not see as many birds as field hunting, but you tend to kill a lot more. You can get in much closer to the birds before calling.
Is the land hilly ? If so, make sure you and the turkey are on the same ridge. Take care that you are not silhoutted while moving and also when setting up.
Remember, in the woods, turkeys will generally follow the easiest route, just as you would. They also use any openings and even old logging roads to strut. If there is an old road, make sure you set up within gun range of the opening.
Often , in the woods you need to move your set up slightly. This is where decoys can be a problem. The time and movement retrieving your decoy may get you busted.
I know this is not always the case, but the more you know about the land the better. Scouting is huge IMO. Knowing as much about a particular piece of property will greatly increase your success. RIdges, hills, creeks, ditches, fence lines, blowdowns, briar thickets, road beds, clearings. All of these things and more can and will affect your hunt. You can use all these to your advantage, and some of them will be your downfall. The better you know your turf and can use the above to your advantage, the better off you'll be. You can bet the turkey knows where all these things are and so should you. Most of these lessons will be learned the hard way, but those are the ones that stick. Given the chance to hunt woods or fields. I'm taking woods all day everyday. If you are lucky to have hills, there is nothing better than seeing the bird pop his head over the rise and he's in range. It's not as nice as watching one strut from 100yds, but if your setup is right when you see him, you can kill him.
Quote from: guesswho on March 05, 2013, 08:11:51 AM
Quote from: atoler on March 04, 2013, 11:29:11 PM
Why would you think you typically have birds hang up in timber? just curious, my experience has been that field birds hang up worse than a bird in the woods. Birds in the woods can't see a couple hundred yards, but a field bird can.
Blow downs, creeks, old fence, dominant boundry ect. can cause a timber bird to hang up. I have have even heard of a shadow causing one to hang up, though I haven't personally run into that yet that I know of.
Quote from: atoler on March 04, 2013, 11:35:10 PM
there are a lot of turkey killers who move slowly and wait patiently, and there are a lot who move quickly and often. Its personal preference, and accross the board, its equally affective.
On a bird you have already located and are messing with I'd take that equally effective challenge any day. Being stuck on one piece of property for an entire season is another example where I'd take that challenge. About the only scenario where I think it might be equally effective would be if you had multiple large property's that you could pound day in day out. I'm not saying running and gunning isn't effective, just that the situation needs to favor that style.
I guess I was comparing my version of big woods. I typically hunt large tracts of public land with a few scattered parcels of private land mixed in to the equation. I step foot on probably 10 or more tracts of land each year, a couple being only a few hundred acres but most being very big. From the posters initial wording, I took it as a big block of public woods....... If you're hunting only one small tract all season, and hunting it a lot, then yes, I think being patient and not risking bumping birds is important. If you're stuck on one bird, then yes taking a slow approach is best. I try not to let myself get hung up on any one bird for more than 2 or 3 days, I would rather leave him and go kill some other birds, then come back later in the season to see if he is ready to play.
Overall, my hunting style is effective. There are better hunters out there, and I learn new things every year. I do have the land to support it. I only killed 2 birds last year right off the roost, called in another right off the roost for a friend. Most of my birds are killed between 8 and 11, If it doesn't work out early on, I get my butt to walking and strike up birds. I will say that if I could only hunt a few days a week, or stuck to small pieces of property, I would hunt more patiently. But covering ground fits well with my style and past circumstance. I've got the first ten days of the season off this year, and will hunt that way, after that I've got a friend coming in from ks, and I will slow the pace as I'm saving a couple of small private tracks for him.
as far as hanging up in the woods, my response was pointed at the guy who said there are a lot more 40yd shots. yes there are more obstacles in the woods, but I don't experience a whole lot of hangups right at or outside of gun range, If they hang up typically its out of site for me. Because if they are in sight of you, you should have been able to assess possible obstacles that would be in the way of the tom. If he hangs up with out an obstacle, sometimes he is just being a turkey, and a lot of times its a case of overcalling.
Quote from: ridgerunner on March 05, 2013, 06:04:36 AM
Quote from: atoler on March 04, 2013, 11:35:10 PM
Quote from: guesswho on March 04, 2013, 07:51:46 PM
Don't be afraid to move on a timber turkey. Just be slow and pay attention with your ears as well as your eye's. A lot of times you will hear drumming or walking before you actually get a visual. The key is go slow and pay attention to everything going on around you, at least twice before you make the next move. Squirrels, woodpeckers, bluejays, and crow's will tell on a turkey in a heartbeat.
I agree with most of what you said, I'll add, don't be afraid to take a bit more time and get the setup right the first time either.
there are a lot of turkey killers who move slowly and wait patiently, and there are a lot who move quickly and often. Its personal preference, and accross the board, its equally affective. I will say that a lot depends on how much ground you have to cover, and your experience level. For a newer hunter, slow and subtle is probably more successful than run and gun. There is probably a happy median that I don't have the patience for.
How many yrs have you been hunting son? You seem to have a whole bunch of experience
I killed my first two birds 16 seasons ago. I've been blessed to have some pretty great hunters as mentors. I'm not a great hunter, and hopefully I will become that. I'm steadily becoming a better hunter, and that is part of the fun. for the first ten years of my career I was blessed with great private land to hunt, and could get by with being a mediocre hunter. Over the past few years I have switched to hunting mostly public land, and by coupling that with an intensified drive for it, I have improved vastly.
Just curious, are you from GA? I recognize the screen name from another forum, although I'm banned now. Also, if you were trying to imply something, go ahead and say it, beating around the bush does no one any good. If not, then I apologize for reading it that way.
Quote from: atoler on March 05, 2013, 11:54:05 PM
I guess I was comparing my version of big woods. I typically hunt large tracts of public land with a few scattered parcels of private land mixed in to the equation. I step foot on probably 10 or more tracts of land each year, a couple being only a few hundred acres but most being very big. From the posters initial wording, I took it as a big block of public woods....... If you're hunting only one small tract all season, and hunting it a lot, then yes, I think being patient and not risking bumping birds is important. If you're stuck on one bird, then yes taking a slow approach is best. I try not to let myself get hung up on any one bird for more than 2 or 3 days, I would rather leave him and go kill some other birds, then come back later in the season to see if he is ready to play.
Makes more sense to me now.
I like to try to set up in places where I can only see as far as I can shoot egde of a ravine or bench rigde top etc....That way when he can see to where the hen is its to late. Of course it dont always work out that u hear a bird in a place where such things are handy ;D