Patterning turkey

[Bigeclipse]

OK so I have been turkey hunting for 6 years and I have been successful every year but I think my success is because my areas I hunt appear to hold birds every year. I do very little if any scouting and instead run and gun the two 150 acre properties I have to hunt and I have always wound up finding a gobbler. My question though is patterning. I heard that while turkey appear to be walking around randomly, their end goal is very much like deer...they have their roost area which tends to be the same (during the spring) unless they are pushed out and then they have their main feeding/poulting areas which is where the tom's tend to also be or at least nearby. My question is this...I have a field where I get pics of turkey but it is VERY random. They do not show up every day but rather every few days and at varying times of the day. What does that say to you?

[Rzrbac]

When I first started turkey hunting 30+ years ago I hunted a large piece of private. Turkeys seemed reasonably easy to pattern during season. On the public I hunt now, it's very random.

If you are getting random pics in a field, the first thing I would do is look at weather patterns. I would look to see if perhaps cloudy/rain/wind coincide with their appearance. Another thing to remember is food sources. Those hens are still gonna feed. In the spring, various food sources keep popping up and can alter a turkey's routine.

[Bigeclipse]

When I first started turkey hunting 30+ years ago I hunted a large piece of private. Turkeys seemed reasonably easy to pattern during season. On the public I hunt now, it's very random.

If you are getting random pics in a field, the first thing I would do is look at weather patterns. I would look to see if perhaps cloudy/rain/wind coincide with their appearance. Another thing to remember is food sources. Those hens are still gonna feed. In the spring, various food sources keep popping up and can alter a turkey's routine.

good points. I will have to check the cam pics but if memory serves me correct they were always sunny days which I thought was opposite (turkeys love fields when rainy). It's not a big field/food plot ~2.5 acres of a mix of clovers right now. I do know hens do lay eggs on the field edge as I have seen egg shells the past 2 years there. Maybe that's why they started showing up there because the clover has started to really pop up in the last 2 weeks.

[Greg Massey]

Before season , yes i think you can pattern to extinct, after season opens and the pressure starts , i think turkeys will roost about anywhere on a given area of the farm etc ...  Yes you can know the usual roosting spots , but that doesn't mean a whole lot after the hens and turkeys are going thru the crazy mating period ...