Anyone on our team hunt heavy timber?.....I have a couple of farms with some good fields but also have a great piece of property to hunt that holds a lot of birds but it is really heavy with oak ridges and swampy bottoms.....Tell me if I'm wrong but the birds in the timber seem a lot harder to hunt....like they are more cautious or shy......
I'm gonna get in there though cause we have seen some good birds in the past..
Dale
Bad that's my kind of hunting the areas I hunt are mostly swamp bottoms and hardwood ridges. It can be a little hard at times especially if
you have alot of hens to compete with. The best thing I can tell you on these kind of birds is try and pattern what they are doing. They will
generally roost the same areas and travel the same routes. I will try and roost them the day before and get in close enough to get between
him and the hens. If that doesn't work I will usually hunt that area to mid morning and hope he comes back looking for that hen he heard earlier. I hope this helps a little I will be more than happy to answer any questions :icon_thumright:
That is about the only birds I hunt. Big woods in big mountains. Hardly any fields or field birds. I've never understood why the birds seem so much smarter, wilder and tougher in the woods but that has been my experience. i think one mistake people make is in the're setup. Everyone likes a big ole' comfy looking tree to sit under and lean on, but I think you should really look for a place that kinda hides you in case a bird slips in the back way. A blow down, a laurel bush or something that will conceal you a lot better.
This is how I was raised hunting turkeys. I killed my first turkey in the late season in the public lands of the PA mountains - he was a three year old. That's about as tough as they get. I hunted him for three days but finally got the set up right and managed to get the stubborn old bird to come in silent.
The other two responses combined would be "my perfect solution". Scouting and knowing where the birds want to be is the most important thing. It's tougher to do since you can't just drive down the road glassing fields. Boots on the ground is the only way to find them.
Secondly, set up becomes so much more important. ThicketThrasher is right about being seen. It is easy to miss a turkey's eyeball thru a bunch of downed trees and laurel. But if you move at all it's like a flare gun to the bird. But woods birds are often more particular about where they will go or what set up they'll approach. A mature gobbler 40-400 yards from the nearest tree line has no predators (except us). A gobbler in the woods has more opportunity to be surprised.
That's a big reason why they come to fields in the rain and wind. They don't have to worry about every moving branch, they can see safety for longer distances. I think this same sort of thing plays true with all of their travel. I've seen the same birds use 5 different entry points and 5 different exit points on 5 different days. But I've seen woods birds (different generations) cross a dirt road at the same tree for a decade.
QuoteScouting and knowing where the birds want to be is the most important thing. It's tougher to do since you can't just drive down the road glassing fields. Boots on the ground is the only way to find them.
That is something that a lot of field hunters don't understand about woods birds. We can't just drive around and find all the places we want to hunt. Sometimes I'll walk several miles just to find out the birds aren't there. This alone may be the biggest and most difficult thing to overcome in hunting Big Woods birds-you can't scout them easily. It takes some effort.
That was some good points made by mausty. Another good thing to remember about your setup always know your surrounding terrain because the birds will generally take the easiest route to you.
I hunt mountain birds in northern AL and farm birds in PA. I kill 1 AL bird for every 4 or 5 I kill in PA. And that is not because they are not in AL. They just don't come runnin like the farm birds. Maybe it is the predator caution thing, or because they can't see what is calling them, but they are just one tough nut to crack. Makes it all the more fun, eh?
OH this is great guys....I know Ill have some questions and be looking for tips once I get out there again this spring. We did kill a really good tom a couple years ago but had a tough but fun time doing it. Glad its not just me that finds em tough to hunt!
I can hunt a mixture of both types, fields and hardwwods/softwoods. Generally in the woods I try and set up as well concealed as I can. As stated before they never seem to come in the place you think. I try and make use of old 4 wheeler paths and skidder roads to allow a little bit more visibility for both the turkey and myself. I've found here they seem just as happy to walk a forest road as they are to walk cross country. Sometimes this may not be possible for myself so trying to figure a good travel route (knowing the property's layout) and trying to intercept them has been beneficial for me.