Scouting strategie

[vabeardhunter]

As the season gets closer or starting, how do your scouting strategies change? Always looking to improve and for something I may be over looking. Hopefully some of you turkey guru's will share some of your secrets  http://oldgobbler.com/Forum/Smileys/classic/icon_thumright.gif

[Marc]

Weeks before the season, I am just looking for turkey sign and areas that hold turkeys...  Walking logging roads, looking for footprints, poop, or feathers, and looking for likely strutting areas.

If I can, days before the season, I will go to my spot at daylight, roost them and pattern them (without making a sound).  In California, the birds are gobbling weeks before the season, and I hear them just about every time out duck hunting in the foothills.

If I can get eyes on them without disturbing them all the better...  I do not sit somewhere I think turkeys will go, I sit somewhere that allows me the best vantage point to figure out where they are and what they are doing.

[dejake]

Ditto.  By about 2 weeks before the opener, I know where they're roosting.  If I haven't seen them, I'll go in in the morning and set up, and wait to see what's there and what they're doing after fly-down.  I like to have a particular bird targeted for opening day.

[MK M GOBL]

So I have a number of farms I hunt (Some prime turkey ground IMO) and I will scout and locate a number of toms every year, this will start first day of spring. At first I am dealing with birds in the winter flock stage and I will get a pretty good feel for what our bird numbers look like. I watch these birds go through a number of stages as they break up, deal with pecking order and pick out roosting spots. I do a lot of this from the truck and using the binos and locating calls. Once these birds get there harem of hens together I will start to note which are my "dominant" toms, I do this by watching how many hens are in his harem (the more hens generally the older and more dominant birds), I will also note when I have "Multiple" toms that are together (usually doubles and some triples) knowing this I will wait to target these toms when I either have another hunter or two with me or if I have 2 tags for that season, giving us the opportunity to "Double". I keep up with birds on almost on daily basis and by who and where I am hunting. I also note how many toms I am seeing and figure for at most a 50% kill off any farm, if I hit that number I layoff hunting that farm for the season. As I go through the season I never pressure any given farm and will plan to hunt a few different farms by the week and can rotate back though them throughout the season. My way of hunting "Right" keeping the pressure off any given farm. Now I have a few farms that other hunters are on and pay attention to these as they can get "buggered" up pretty quick when other hunters are not successful and keep hunting that farm throughout their season and pressuring those birds. I will give those farms a weeks rest before I go back in. I am also taking in to account where we are in the season and breeding cycle and what the hens are doing. I hunt during 8 weeks of seasons from "Learn to Hunts" and Youth Season which start in April and run through the Open Season till the end of May. I will usually have 15-20 hunts a year and am continuously scouting through every season.

There is even more to this but this is some of my basic scouting technique...

MK M GOBL

[vabeardhunter]

Lot of very good useful information. Thank you all for sharing with everyone. I'm of the opinion that there is no such thing as too much preseason planning/scouting, as long as it's not messing up your ability to be successful on that property. Def gonna put some of the information to good use.
Brian

[mtns2hunt]

Lot of very good useful information. Thank you all for sharing with everyone. I'm of the opinion that there is no such thing as too much preseason planning/scouting, as long as it's not messing up your ability to be successful on that property. Def gonna put some of the information to good use.
Brian

On private land I believe in low impact scouting. I use trail cameras and watch and listen from a distance. Getting spotted early will make your hunt more difficult. Prime time is the first week and you do not want to hunt pressured birds in my opinion. I never worry about killing off all the gobblers on one farm as others move into the vacant territory similar to the way fish do.

On public land I do long range scouts by getting in as far as possible and positioning myself on a ridge to hear better. A good topo map will give you all the info you need. I never call to a bird as I feel this increases the chance of discovery.

[ilbucksndux]

I like to look over topo maps and Google maps and get a good/better lay of the land. Ill walk logging roads looking for tracks,poop, feathers. I like to go out early in the mornings and listen for them on the roost.I slip out quick and quiet so they dont know whats up. Then go back and try and figure out the best place to hunt them. Ill do this in several different areas so I have a good idea on how many gobblers are in a place and always have plan B,C,D if someone is already at a spot when I get there.