Strut zone?

[Clif Owen]

Not sure where to post this so if it needs moving; please do it.
I have a question about strut areas or strut zones. Basically, do the turkeys use the same spot from year to year?
I walked into an area I hunted in years past. I don't know how familiar you guys are with a red cockaded woodpecker but this is a species that is probably designed to go extinct. They nest in cavities in live pine trees and the Forest Service marks the nest trees with wide white bands. I noticed that they have gone in and done a lot of cleaning around those "woodpecker trees". I think you could see a turkey probably close to 200 yards unless he got under a hill or behind a tree. I know there were some turkeys in the area in past years so there might be one still there. My question is will they use this area (possibly) or ignore it in favor of previously used areas?
Thanks!

[WV Flopper]

 A male turkey is typically dead within three years of him popping out the egg. A good strutting area lasts for many years "IF" the habitat doesn't change so much it won't support the strut. Many generations of turkeys can and will strut in the same area for many years.

[Yoder409]

A "strut zone" is just wherever he feels like dropping and going at it.  Seen 'em strutting a mile out in the middle of a mountain pasture.......... in a wooded meadow......... in open timber....... on a state highway........ in a briar and honeysuckle thicket.

Perennial strut zones, like roost trees, are that way because there's features and factors surrounding the area that appeal to gobblers universally.   Kill one and the next one down the pecking order will move in.

If you've suddenly got pine groves with 200 yards of visibility under the canopy, you very well could find that area pulling strutters in.  Visibility allows the hens to see his display farther and it also helps prevent critters from sneaking up on him.  The "features and factors" may suit the birds better than the areas they had been using.

[Greg Massey]

Just my thinking as times have changed I'm not sure they have a certain location - strut zone, like they did back years ago...I think it's just strutting now ... IMO


Less hens means the gobbler has to cover more ground ...

[Paulmyr]

If you find a turkey gobbling for a while in a specific a location, you've found an area he feels comfortable. Pay note as these areas are of greater importance if you find one later in the season specifically on public ground. By that time he's been pressured from his usual haunts and he's taken to areas with less pressure.

Whatever you do don't let him know your there until it's time shoot. If you spook him all the work you put into finding one of his "comfort/strut" zones goes down the tubes and you have to start from square one yet again.

If you don't kill him and don't spook him there's a good chance he'll be using that area in the future.