The area I am hunting has several chunks of the property which are young (8-12 year) pine stands. The majority are 15-20 feet tall with extremely thick undergrowth. Do turkeys use these at all? Should I cross these off as hunting areas and just stick to the hardwood ridges? Thanks in advance for any input.
They absolutely use the young pines. If I didn't
Hunt those I might not ever kill a turkey. My lease
Is basically all pine, young, old, and clear cuts. It has a
Ton of turkey. One of my the best areas we hunt
Is young pine. Hunt them if you find sign. :bible:
They'll use 'em. 12-year-old pines that haven't been thinned can be a bugger to hunt though. So much junk to hang them up, you have to get almost on top of one to get him in. Worth looking at google earth to see if there are any small openings showing up. I've killed a few by finding those little spots and getting the turkey to come there.
Yeah the pine stands are too thick to hunt inside them, I'd probably make more noise than an elephant getting back there! I have found some sign on the trails that cut through the pines, so I may try to setup and just wait them out. I was just trying to get a feel for how and if other people hunt them.
Yep they will use them, have a farm that has a mix. Pines are on the flats with the hardwoods being in the valleys. First year hunting this particular property but I have yet to see or hear the turkeys in the hardwoods.
Killed 2 opening week and they both came out of the pines and every gobble I heard on the roost was in the pines.
Yes it has been a challenge to find a decent spot to setup in but the first bird I killed came right down the middle.
Obviously local conditions have a lot to do with it, but the majority of planted pine tracts around here, in my experience, will have an opening or two somewhere within them. Usually it's a spot that tends to be wet. Could be it was too wet when they were planting or simply too wet to sustain the pines after planting and they died. Regardless, it's worth a serious look via google earth. It's a whole lot easier than stumbling around in a thicket hoping to find a spot.