Correlation between where turkeys are in the fall vs. spring?

[Brillo]

Now that deer season is winding down I am scouting for spots for next year and finding a ton of turkey scratching in some areas.  I assume they are looking for acorns mostly but some scratching is in other areas. Have you noticed whether turkeys will come back to those areas in the spring after break up?

[GobbleNut]

Turkeys can move around during different times of the year based on the habitat conditions and in relation to the availability of preferred food sources.  Those conditions and food sources may or may not occur year-round in the same place.  When "push comes to shove", it all boils down to verifying turkeys you may have seen somewhere at a certain time of the year are still there come hunting season.  Most of the places I personally hunt, turkeys are pretty loyal to staying in (relatively) small areas. 

For spring turkey hunting, in particular, that "this is where the turkeys are" verification process is generally pretty simple when done immediately prior to the start of the season. The propensity of male turkeys to tell you exactly where they are once the breeding season comes on is their one "Achilles heel".  In my opinion, that is the single most important factor a spring gobbler hunter should focus on.  Unfortunately, with the number of hunters we have competing for those birds nowadays...and an increasing number of hunters that are aware of using those locating tactics...those gobbler's Achilles heel is also the Achilles heel of hunters, as well. (Thank your lucky stars if you hunt somewhere that you don't have to worry about that)

Of course, it doesn't hurt to start looking for those spring birds where you may have seen them at any time of year.  They may well be in the same vicinity...but know how to go about finding them in case they are not...   

[silvestris]

Nuts versus bugs.

[Brillo]

Nuts vs. bugs and verification.  The oaks they are scratching under now are not the best bug places in the spring.  Clear cuts are better and the turkeys in my area seem to relate to clear cuts more in the spring.  They tend to roost in mature stands of hardwoods near semi open areas such as clear cuts and fields.  After the season starts they avoid the fields because of the pressure G.N. alluded to.  Thanks for helping me think this through. 

[Paulmyr]

Don't give up on the oaks too soon. During times of cooler weather during the spring nuts are a good source of high energy food. When the temps start to warm turkeys convert to food that is high in protein, bugs as well as plants like clover. In my opinion I think hens would need to convert to higher proteins foods sooner than gobblers in preparation for eggs development.

That being said, I would think if the areas you see turkeys in during the winter have a diverse enough habitat where both "nuts and bugs" are readily available than turkeys will likely hold there through the year. If your seeing them in a mono culture like a large hardwood forest or cut grainfields the odds are good they'll disperse to habitat more suitable that offers food sources high in protein as the season progresses, temps climb, and the need to generate body heat decreases.

[eggshell]

All good observations from everyone. In my area they often are in the same area, but two different factors come into play in the spring. In fall and winter it is all about food and energy. In the spring food is secondary to prime nesting and brooding habitat. Spring woods are full of sprouting green plants and that is what you will find in gobbler crops. Winter flocks break up and birds disperse into territories for breeding. Sometimes this will move flocks a couple miles or more. I do not scout my spring areas until a few days before season. I don't want to know what was there, I want to know what is there.

[bbcoach]

The correlation, IMO, is FOOD, FOOD and FOOD!  During our fall deer season, I see numerous groups of turkeys move through my food plots and shooting lanes.  Since we can put down corn and I have winter rye and brassicas planted, the turkeys are plentiful.  Once our spring season begins, breeding starts and green up takes place, the turkeys will break up the large groups and move throughout our lease.  As all of us know, the hens are the leaders during this time of year.  My recommendation is enjoy your fall and winter sightings but when spring rolls around SCOUTING and FOOD will allow you to fill your tags.  I start  scouting, about 4 weeks before our opener, locate the smaller groups (gobblers and hens) and by our opener I'll have several areas to concentrate my efforts on.  IMO Food drives most wildlife movement, so the hens will be on the food and the gobblers will be where the hens are.   

[YoungGobbler]

What I think is that they spend winter in big groups where there is good food and cover and they will follow the food if they need to move and then when spring comes, they disperse for the breeding period and I would think that leaders hen and leaders tom choose the top places to breed and inferior ones go where they can... And/or, maybe they remember where they had food sources or where they spent summer last time and they go there...

I am scooting weekly and will be throughout winter but around 1st of April (opener is 26th),
I will be scooting every day to follow the flocks and see who's where and get ready to find a place for opening day morning...

[bbcoach]

What I think is that they spend winter in big groups where there is good food and cover and they will follow the food if they need to move and then when spring comes, they disperse for the breeding period and I would think that leaders hen and leaders tom choose the top places to breed and inferior ones go where they can... And/or, maybe they remember where they had food sources or where they spent summer last time and they go there...

I am scooting weekly and will be throughout winter but around 1st of April (opener is 26th),
I will be scooting every day to follow the flocks and see who's where and get ready to find a place for opening day morning...

Well put Young Gobbler.  These are my sentiments as well.  Around the first of March, here in Eastern NC, I'll be in the woods just about every day.  Most DNR's say about 70% of the breeding is done prior to their States opener, so it makes sense to do your scouting heavily during this time.

[YoungGobbler]

What I think is that they spend winter in big groups where there is good food and cover and they will follow the food if they need to move and then when spring comes, they disperse for the breeding period and I would think that leaders hen and leaders tom choose the top places to breed and inferior ones go where they can... And/or, maybe they remember where they had food sources or where they spent summer last time and they go there...

I am scooting weekly and will be throughout winter but around 1st of April (opener is 26th),
I will be scooting every day to follow the flocks and see who's where and get ready to find a place for opening day morning...

Well put Young Gobbler.  These are my sentiments as well.  Around the first of March, here in Eastern NC, I'll be in the woods just about every day.  Most DNR's say about 70% of the breeding is done prior to their States opener, so it makes sense to do your scouting heavily during this time.

Last year I was lucky, males were in full rut and females were not ready yet (from my perspective)... It was easy.

[GobbleNut]

Last year I was lucky, males were in full rut and females were not ready yet (from my perspective)... It was easy.

That's turkey hunting for you.  Sometimes we hit conditions that make success easy...and at other times, it can be agonizingly difficult.  Over time, anybody that hunts turkeys much, and in different places, conditions, and circumstances, is going to encounter both extremes and everything in between. 

I think we all hope for hitting it right and for our hunts to lean towards the easy end of the spectrum...but to fully appreciate those times, it is also good that we occasionally find ourselves in those more difficult circumstances.  As has been stated in the past, hit it right and we all think we are experts...and hit it wrong and we can all can look like novices. 

For me, personally, I like it better when I can end up feeling like I'm an "expert'...but all too often, the turkeys are more than willing to set me straight.   

[YoungGobbler]

Last year I was lucky, males were in full rut and females were not ready yet (from my perspective)... It was easy.

That's turkey hunting for you.  Sometimes we hit conditions that make success easy...and at other times, it can be agonizingly difficult.  Over time, anybody that hunts turkeys much, and in different places, conditions, and circumstances, is going to encounter both extremes and everything in between. 

I think we all hope for hitting it right and for our hunts to lean towards the easy end of the spectrum...but to fully appreciate those times, it is also good that we occasionally find ourselves in those more difficult circumstances.  As has been stated in the past, hit it right and we all think we are experts...and hit it wrong and we can all can look like novices. 

For me, personally, I like it better when I can end up feeling like I'm an "expert'...but all too often, the turkeys are more than willing to set me straight.   

One thing is I will always stay on my toes and never assume that I will be able to get on birds. From my small experience It's alot about findind where they are and from now to opening day, winter will be hard on them and there is nothing that garantees that they will be where I'll be able to hunt them
Next spring... Many challenge can happen, if rut begins earlier, if there is other hunters... Anyways, i surely am the perfect exemple of the novice who had it easy and now thinks he's an expert 

[shaman]

I've hunted the same 200 acres in SW Bracken County, Kentucky since 2002.  The land is a series of finger ridges dropping down to a couple of creeks that have water flowing 100% of the time.

Not much changes from year to year or even season to season.   There are a series of roost trees, usually about halfway up the sides of the ridges, where the flocks go.  From there, they usually go to the top of the ridge, out into open pasture and graze, and then go back into the woods to loaf.   Which trees they roost in varies from one side of the ridge to the other. They may leave one ridge completely and all go over to the other side of the farm.   They may stay in the woods all day and never come out into the pasture,   However, given a week or so, they return to their normal haunts and practices.  It is all driven by weather patterns, but I'll be deuced if I can discern any set rules for what causes Turkey to leave one side of the property and go somewhere else. 

The gobs and hens separate in late spring, and form separate flocks.    This is how we find them in the fall.  They are all in the same areas, but segregated.   There was a good hatch this year so the hen flocks bloated with lots of jakes and jennys.   These flocks tend to line up line-abreast and move down a given pasture, and then turn around and walk back up.  The gobs just kind of bunch up and peck around in a general direction and then disappear when the reach a treeline.

The one time of year where it all goes crazy is at the end of winter.  We have one ravine we call Hootin' Holler.  It has fairly steep sides and a lot of tall oak and hickory trees.   When the winter flock forms, they all want to roost in that one ravine.  There may be 75 of them roosted at a time in 100 yards of ravine. They all come out into the surrounding pastures at mid-morning at start forming their spring flocks.  Within a week or two,  they're back to where they were the previous spring.

[Brillo]

Shaman, thanks for your answer on this.  In Michigan the birds seem to flock up in the late fall/winter then disperse as small groups in the spring.  There is a winter flock of about 100 birds that I frequently see on an ag field.  That flock is on the edge of the area I hunt which is about 20 miles square but I don't see other flocks.  There must be many other flocks around in the winter in spots I don't know about, that then disperse into a few square miles. I really have no idea where most of the birds I hunt in the spring are spending the winter and that bugs me.

[Cut N Run]

I feed the deer every day around my place and have for 30+ years. It is a safe spot where nobody hunts or pressures them.  I figure that since I take from somewhere, I need to give back somewhere too. So, why not feed on my property where I can also observe and enjoy them?  About 20 years ago, turkeys started showing up to pick up what the deer missed and they visited fairly consistently...until the leaves start to come off the trees.  Then, they relocate for the winter.  The turkeys stay gone until right about the time leaves start popping out on trees.  The turkeys are responding to an artificial food source, yet their behavior remains the same as those on a 100% wild diet, which made me realize the food source is irrelevant.  Turkeys have seasonal patterns they follow, even if abundant food is available.  They may not use the exact same location(s) every year, though they definitely remember food sources and take advantage of what's there, be it natural, a food plot, or (some fool who) scatters grain.  They also bring their poults and some of those might also stick around.  There are some bearded hens in the flock, which helps me identify those individuals and proves some of the same birds return during the warmer months.  I have no idea what drives their behavior, I just know that it happens the same way every year.

Jim