When do y’all get serous about scout?

[Lone Star Eastern]

I have been "scouting" all winter while in the woods woodcock and duck hunting, and also driving around areas I've seen turkeys.

I'm going to be in the woods this weekend actually scouting for turkey sign on public land that I don't know as well. Manly just ready to get back into the woods.

I'm curious if there is a week/month that you've designated in our mind on when you like to start walking to woods hard.


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[Tom007]

Every season, I start my exercise/scouting regiment on or around Feb 1st.  I do not call, I go to my spots, look for sign and listen. I never want to be seen by a bird. I use bino's to identify them at long distances. Last year I had a few Jake's that I saw that will be targeted this season along with a few Older birds. I wear camo, have a cup of Java, and do a whole lotta walking. I pick the most consistent birds in the best terrain for my openers. That's my schedule every year, been workin pretty well for me....good luck......

[Yoder409]

I'll be out every morning it's fit to be out once they start gobbling.  But only because I love the sound to the core of my being.

If I were purely scouting for the purpose of killing a bird, I'd start 3-5 days before I planned to hunt.

[Lone Star Eastern]

Every season, I start my exercise/scouting regiment. I do not call, I go to my spots, look for sign and listen. I never want to be seen by a bird. I use bino's to identify them at long distances. Last year I had a few Jake's that I saw that will be targeted this season along with a few Older birds. I wear camo, have a cup of Java, and do a whole lotta walking. I pick the most consistent birds in the best terrain for my openers. That's my schedule every year, been workin pretty well for me....good luck......

Good info! Do you like to start any particular month, or just when you can?


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[GobbleNut]

To me, finding turkeys to hunt during the spring season is fundamentally about understanding that the gobblers will generally start reliably gobbling on the roost in the mornings about a week or two before the season starts.  Personally, I always concentrate on that time frame, if I can, in my scouting. 

To me, a few good mornings of being out at the first hint of daylight (not sunrise) and covering as much country as I can for that first hour or two of daylight listening for gobbling birds is a key component in my success wherever I have hunted.  The gobblers you find doing this will likely be roosted in the same vicinity pretty consistently, giving you the information you need on where to hunt when the season actually starts.

One thing for sure, if I am not hearing gobbling turkeys on the roost in my early morning scouting, I am marking those places off of my list of where to hunt.  For me, it is as simple as that. 

[Zobo]

Yup, like Gobblenut I use my ears a lot, especially two weeks prior to opening. But I use my eyes all year long.

[Greg Massey]

Usually around the second week of March ... no calling just scouts, listening, binocular watching and talking with the local neighbors that don't turkey hunt... LOL...

[Tom007]

Every season, I start my exercise/scouting regiment. I do not call, I go to my spots, look for sign and listen. I never want to be seen by a bird. I use bino's to identify them at long distances. Last year I had a few Jake's that I saw that will be targeted this season along with a few Older birds. I wear camo, have a cup of Java, and do a whole lotta walking. I pick the most consistent birds in the best terrain for my openers. That's my schedule every year, been workin pretty well for me....good luck......

Good info! Do you like to start any particular month, or just when you can?


Sorry, I try and start Feb 1st. I will add that. Be well...

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[Uncle Tom]

Am already seeing flocks of hens with couple gobblers among them strutting, so any time now will be hearing gobblers sounding off. I usually start this time of year covering some ground in early mornings.

[g8rvet]

Hunted a new area last year and started my scouting much earlier.  When I am hunting new ground and it is possible, I like to look at the lay of the land as much as look for turkey sign.  I hunted it all last year and have a good feel for the terrain and where the birds want to be, so this year I will start a week before.  If I had more time, I would scout earlier. 

[cracker4112]

I think its mostly dependent on where you will be hunting, and how well you know the land.  I'm lucky in that my primary 2 spots I hunt are private, and I've been hunting each for years.  Cameras and deer hunting let me know year-round whats around, and by turkey season I've got a good idea of what I'm dealing with. Down here the birds usually start gobbling by the end of deer season and that also helps.  I'll go a couple days before youth opener and see if i can pinpoint where they are roosting this year, but it will be one of the same places they always do.

If I'm hunting a new place, I like to visit it to get the lay of the land and any time is a good time to do that. Then a week or a few days out, I'll go listen.

[Sir-diealot]

Unfortunately I am not allowed to scout the land I hunt.

[Lone Star Eastern]

Unfortunately I am not allowed to scout the land I hunt.

Lease rules, or what?


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[Sir-diealot]

Unfortunately I am not allowed to scout the land I hunt.

Lease rules, or what?


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I am not sure why, never wanted to push it, only place I have to hunt and if I lose it I won't ever be able to hunt again. I wonder if it has something to do with me being partially disabled, they may be worried I could fall which is a possibility, I fell in front of the one owner last year taking down a blind.

[bbcoach]

I hunt mostly on our deer lease so I'm always seeing birds from October to December.  January and February, my hunting buddy and I are getting ready for the upcoming deer season putting lime on our foodplots, trimming shooting lanes and watching the winter flocks.  With our opener on the 8th of April, we will earnestly start our early morning scouting several days a week, around the 15th of March.  By this time, the gobblers will be gobbling, hens will be receptive and we can watch their early morning activity.  We will glass and try to see what their travel routes are at this time.  A week before our opener, we will have a good idea of where the birds are and going and we'll develop an opening day plan.  Once the season gets into high gear, we adapt to where we hear and see birds.