Scouting tips appreciated

[Sungrazer]

Drew a tag for a new to me area of Illinois. In the past I've looked for scratching, feathers, dropping's  and tracks late winter scouting, am I wasting my time this far out? Im trying to figure out what areas Turkeys use to narrow down the search on state owned public ground. Should I wait until closer to the season opener to pinpoint roost areas?

[Gooserbat]

No time afield is wasted, but nothing is going to take the place of listening and looking for strutters from afar.

[Paulmyr]

I'd use my time to get as familiar with that area as possible. I'd save the serious scouting for closer to spring break up. You'll be much better suited to get around without spooking birds if you do here gobbles or see sign closer to the spring season.

For now I'd work on getting to know the lay of the land.

[deathfoot]

As stated earlier...no time is a waste. Finding sign now is a good sign, it means the turkeys are there now and that's a good start.

I'll second the lay of the land comment. Now is a great time to go out and get familiar with the land especially since the leaves are off the trees. Everything may look different in the spring. If you have an app (onX or HuntWise for example) mark possible roost sites, where you see sign and that sort of thing.

You'll also want to draw out several plans. Plan A then if a vehicle is in that spot, go to plan B. And then plan C if need be. Always good to have several options.

I've drawn tags on WMA's that were a ways away and scouted when I could. It's better to have put in the time now if you have than to never have stepped foot on it come turkey hunting day.

[Yoder409]

I'd use my time to get as familiar with that area as possible. I'd save the serious scouting for closer to spring break up. You'll be much better suited to get around without spooking birds if you do here gobbles or see sign closer to the spring season.

For now I'd work on getting to know the lay of the land.

Agreed.

I've hunted places I'd never seen in the daylight til the sun came up on Day 1 and my gun was in hand.   I don't prefer to do it that way.

Lay eyes and boots on the area as much as you can.   Right now, more for being familiar with the lay and having the knowledge of how to get where you need to be when you have one gobbling in a few months.

As far as roost sites........ I'd personally try to show up a day or two before I started hunting and do my coffee cup recon on gobbling birds.  A roost site in March might be a roost site in April or May.  A roost site on Thursday or Friday will very likely be a roost site on Saturday.

[jhoward11]

I agree with lay of the land. Those birds may be wintering somewhere else right now. IL is fairly flat. Where's the drainage ditches, creeks. Where do I cross those ditches without getting soaked. How do I get from one field to the next unseen. I would be looking for those things. The first time I went to another state, I went out 2 weeks early and spent that weekend nosing around, glassing for these exact things. I done alot of what-if-ing they do this. Good luck!

[Tail Feathers]

Where the birds are now isn't necessarily where they will be come spring.  But they won't be too far off.  Get to know the land intimately now, and keep an eye out for great nesting habitat (or what will be in the spring) because the hens will gravitate to that and the toms follow.

[Greg Massey]

Start now figuring out your lay of the land and obstacles and follow the food source.  Never overlook your creek bottoms, as these tend to green up first etc...

[Bowguy]

I'm the opposite. Animals feeling pressure are harder to kill. Listen, locate, watch w binos from afar. I agree w learning the land but I'd hurry up n get that done so I could leave the area alone til season

[Paulmyr]

I'm the opposite. Animals feeling pressure are harder to kill. Listen, locate, watch w binos from afar. I agree w learning the land but I'd hurry up n get that done so I could leave the area alone til season

I generally use the same approach  when it starts getting closer to crunch time but I don't think a guy walking through the woods few times  1 to 2 months before the season is going to have a lasting affect on turkeys. In my opinion the knowledge gained from getting to know the lay of the land far out ways the possiblity I might spook a couple turkey that might be 10 miles away in a month or 2 once season opens after the spring break up.

When the time comes time for serious gobbler locating you'll have a better understanding  of where that gobble come from and how to get to it without spooking any turkeys on the way in while your sitting in your truck with binos in hand intently listening.  If you do it properly, once the gobbling starts up you'll have a better understanding of area the turkeys like to hang, what travel routes they are using to get there, and possibly the best route to take to get into prime position quickly and quietly. I know Onx is a great tool but nothing beats boots on the ground when comes to preseason scouting.

In my opinion I'd much rather risk the chance of spooking a couple turkeys in February than go stumbling bumbling through the woods blindly in the dark and commiting the crime of spooking turkeys off the roost on opening mourning or anytime during hunting season for that matter. Im talking from experience on that one.

[GobbleNut]

Lots of good information provided above and it covers most of the bases. 

A couple of points I would emphasize for anybody hunting a new location:  The use of maps, either through an app or the old-fashioned printed paper kind is, in my opinion, critical in familiarizing yourself with any new area, public or private, that you might be hunting.  In your case, studying maps of that WMA that show the overall boundaries, land status of surrounding properties, and ease of access on both the WMA and also from those adjacent private properties, can be critical elements in today's competitive hunting climate.  Other components good maps will show you are terrain features, water sources, varying habitat types including that all-important roosting habitat, openings, etc. that allow you to get a "feel" for the country you will be hunting without actually physically being there.

Of course, actually being able to visit the area, whenever it might be possible, is equally important, but that mental picture you can compile by comprehensive use of mapping sources is invaluable as far as I am concerned.  Surprisingly enough, I have traveled to many places to hunt where both long-time local hunters and also out-of-staters in some cases were totally clueless as to such basic things as property boundaries, access points, road and trail systems, and the like.  Again, get good maps or a map app and study the area you will be hunting, regardless of whether you will be able to physically get there before the season or not.

The other point,...again, in my opinion,...is that the last week or so prior to the opening of the season is when you want to spend as much time as possible actually physically being on the property and going through the proper gobbler-locating strategies that I believe most experienced hunters use to both find individual birds to hunt as well as to get an idea of what the overall turkey population might be.  If your time is limited in how much you might be able to scout, focus on that time period when gobblers are actively and reliably gobbling,...that is, generally the week or two immediately prior to the start of the season, and even more specifically, at first (and perhaps, last) light in morning and evening. 

[Sungrazer]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Walked just over 7 miles on two separate days at a new to me area that looked good on OnX. As I've experienced in the past it looked quite different from a boots on the ground perspective. No physical sign whatsoever but I did find what I believe to be a roost area come spring and eliminated 5 of 7 field areas as possible setups. I have 4 more areas that look good online that I've never set foot in, I'll walk those next. IMO these areas I'm checking typically do not receive pressure from the end of Deer/Upland until Morels start popping up so I'm walking ground now and will try to locate from afar as season nears after the flock breaks up. Family health issues prevented me from scouting much last year, walked in first day spooking a bunch of birds off the roost, determined to be more prepared this year.

[762hunter]

I'd agree with what has been said. Walk and get a lay of the land now. When you go back you'll have an idea how and where to listen from.


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[Dtrkyman]

Pm me, I hunted turks in Illinois for 20 years, basically from one end to the other, I may have been where you are going!