Big Mountain Gobbler Hunting Advice Needed

[Extremesolo]

I am planning an out of state trip to hunt a big mountain area.  The layout is, for the most part, one giant north/south running ridge that is several miles long.  Access is limited but I am more than willing to do whatever work is necessary to get on birds.  There is a creek at the base of the mountain on the East side.  The ridge is mostly wide open hardwood benches from top to bottom.  There are a few ravines but not many that are really distinct.  I have deer hunted it in the fall for a few years but have very little experience turkey hunting it.  Since it is out of state for me, travelling there for much scouting is difficult so I am hoping to pick the brains of some of the guys here with more experience chasing these big woods, mountain birds.  Would you recommend starting at the top of the mountain or down one of the sides?  Because of the steepness and the benches I am afraid if they are a few benches down I may not be able to hear them at all from the top.  Would you concentrate on areas down low near the creek to start in the beginning of the season?  Any help or suggestions from personal experience would be appreciated.

[Old Timer]

I try to do the usual thing looking for sign and roosting trees. At dusk I will try to put them to bed. If no luck roosting the birds I like to start out high I consider this my listening post. Last year I was high and got the bird to gobble. He was on another ridge. We worked our way down the mountain and drove around the backside of the peak where he was at. I worked him for 1 1/2 hours. Never killed that bird. I was trying to call him in for my son. It was one heck of a hunt though, he won. Maybe this year I will! I wish you success.

[Tom007]

I always get as high as I can on these ridge runners. My experience has been that the mountain birds do in fact like to move up the ridges, cruising the tops looking for hens. There have been times when I got stuck mid or 3/4 the way up a ridge on a gobbling bird when I had to work him. They are reluctant to go down to you calling, but on rare occasions they will. Maneuvering to get on their level if you can will increase you chances of luring him in. I truly love hunting these birds, learning their habits and knowing their terrain is the main ingredient to winning the chess game. Obviously trying to roost a bird and getting some scouting in will give you an edge. If you do not have that luxury, just review any topo map or device review of the terrain pinpointing the ravines, streams, and access ways to trek to the top. Leave early, be ready to climb and best of luck, it will be a hunt to remember for sure.....

[ChesterCopperpot]

I live in the mountains and that's all I've ever hunted. Most times water in the mountains is loud. Like you won't be able to hear anything when you're down by the creek. I'd imagine you'll find sign there and that may very well be a decent place to set up and blind call mid to late day if you're not on a bird, but it's most certainly not where I'd start of a morning. Your high spots are ALWAYS going to be your best listening points. Lots of advantages to being high and you'll most certainly be able to hear them below you. Biggest advantage will be the ability to cover ground quickly so that you can listen into each drainage. Other big advantage is you can listen off each side. If you stayed at the bottom listening they may very well be on the other side of the mountain. I've chased a bird all week (and he's flat whooped me! ) but the first day I got into where they usually are I never heard a thing. This ridge system makes a hard right bend, so think a north/south ridge running into an east/west. About mid morning I got to that far side and could immediately hear birds off the backside of that ridge. Once I had them located I've been able to stay on them all week but if I hadn't been on that ridge system where I could cover ground and listen to both sides I'd have never even known they were there. I was within 400-500yds when I got there that first day but with them off that backside you couldn't hear them at all until you got close to that crest.


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[Kylongspur88]

Sounds very similar to an area where I hunt. In the mountains I always try to take the high ground. Birds will generally either roost low in the hollers or 1/3 to 1/2 of the way down the hill and pitch into the hill off the limb. I think birds like to pitch into the eastern side of the hill and work away from the sun more often than not, but that's not always the case. Open benches are good spots to find strutting or birds just hanging out. Logging roads are used pretty heavily for travel or just picking their way through the woods. From the high ground hearing birds isn't an issue. In fact you'll probably hear birds that are miles away and unable to get to. The trick is knowing the area well enough to pinpoint those birds you can get to and being able to get to them without bumping them. If you do bump one he'll sail off the mountain and out of your life forever. You might consider opening up your pattern a little bit. Depending on terrain and where a bird is coming from it's entirely possible he'll practically be in your lap and a super tight pattern might not work in your favor in those situations. Id rather let one walk at a longer distance than completely miss at 10 steps. Last, take an extra pair of socks. A new pair of socks after a full morning or chasing birds is just the ticket to get you through the afternoon.

[GobbleNut]

First, if you are not able to actually "on the ground" scout, consult maps to get a "feel" for the area you will be hunting (it appears you might have already been doing this).  Finding gobblers to hunt in a short trip to an unfamiliar area is often about efficiently determining where to start.  For me, that efficiency is always a function of being able to quickly cover as much ground as I can at those times when gobblers are going to "tell" you where they are (i.e....when they are gobbling on the roost).  Using maps that show terrain features, road and trail systems, and public (and private) access points, etc., you can usually narrow down how you should approach your search most efficiently. 

From your description (main ridge with ravines/canyons running off the sides) and limited access, I would generally agree that walking the ridge is probably the best approach.  However, I have found that that depends a lot on wind conditions.  Walking high ridges in very windy conditions can be a frustrating exercise in futility.  On the other hand, on a calm morning, that would most likely be the most efficient way of finding birds to hunt.  I'm not sure how far it is from the ridge top to the bottoms, but in mountainous terrain, you can usually hear gobbling a lllooong way off. 

Assuming the wind is going to be a factor in the above approach,...and also assuming that access from below is limited,...I would again assess that series of benches you mention, choose one of them that looks most enticing and on the "lee side" of the wind, hit it at first light, and move along listening for gobbling turkeys (and in my case, at least, using a good, loud locator call to force responses from reluctant gobblers). 

If competition from other hunters is possibly going to be an issue, I would consider leaving your vehicle very early, walking in as far as you can before daylight, and working back towards your vehicle rather than the other way around.  That is, of course, unless other hunters are taking that same approach, in which it may be of no benefit. 

Finally, trying to hear gobblers above such things as "creek noise" is a genuine concern, as well.  If you have the choice, avoid trying to deal with any such noise issues when trying to listen for gobblers.  The less background noise you have, in any form, the better in hearing distant gobbling.

[TauntoHawk]

What stage of spring will you be there?

Early season before green up ive gone too high in the mountains before and had the birds still focused low by water where there was more spring growth.

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[Tnandy]

Great advice from everyone. I like what tauntohawk pointed out. Here in the mountains of TN where we hunt, the birds sometimes are "late" getting on top and are still in the valleys as he pointed out, that is, in early season. After season has been open 2,3 weeks, they really begin to gravitate towards the top. You had better be above them at all cost, lol. They love to stay above the hens or at least on the same level, like a good bench coming around a mtn. If i am on top, I like to set up a good 50 yards or so from the edge and allow him to come over a hair. If he isn't gobbling on his way up, just no telling where he may pop up at. That 20 yards to your left can bite you in the rear if you are too close to the edge. I know most seasons are wrapped up but maybe this will help later on or someone else. Thankful for the ol timers that taught me some things

[silvestris]

The Quad map is your friend.  Look for an area where four or five ridges lead off from the main ridge.  These ridges will always have a hollow or sorts on either side.  One of these are likely to have a gobbler roosting within it.  Several gobblers may be roosting in one or more of these.  Gobblers love a roosting spot between two running branches.

[huntrwilliams]

Anyone know if this same logic holds true for western state like Colorado?

Planning a trip out there and trying to sort out how similar birds use that terrain compared to how they do here in Ga. Obviously our mountains are considerably different.

I have found that our birds almost exclusively roost over water within half a mile at most, but unsure if this holds true where a creek system may be much lower in elevation from ridge tops.

Our birds can roost on ridge tops and pitch couple hundred yards down to a creek bottom if needed. Assume this is for security and to get a drink.

Wondering if I should hone in on water as a limiting factor similarly out west or if snow potential could throw this off.


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[GobbleNut]

Anyone know if this same logic holds true for western state like Colorado?

Obviously, this depends on where you are hunting, the unique terrain features you may find, and probably the most important factor...the relative distribution and turkey population densities you may find where you end up going.  If I was to identify one mistake folks that come out here to the west most often make, it is that they start out assuming that turkeys are more or less evenly distributed across the landscape out here.  In most places I have hunted, they are not.  They are found in pockets of habitat that may be miles apart. Start with the mind-set that you have to find those pockets of birds to begin with before starting to hunt.  Covering country and using effective methods of enticing gobbles out of those scattered gobblers is the ticket to hunting out here.

I haven't hunted a lot of places in the mountains of Colorado, but in the places I have hunted there, turkeys are widely scattered and pretty few in number.  They have required many miles of searching to locate using the proper approach and tools.  Of course, there are places in the western mountains where there are higher concentrations of turkeys than described and they are not as difficult to find.  However, my advice is to start out with a mind-set of covering lots of territory wherever you might go to hunt.   

[huntrwilliams]

Thanks for the advice Gobblernut.


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