Scouting or just trusting your spot?

[Zfhunter1]

Still pretty young and learning a lot of stuff with my dad seems like we alway trust the spot. Does it pay off to scout and look at multiple properties and other spots on public land. Always seems one of us kills every year atleast. Do a lot of you scout or just show up opening day?


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[Clif Owen]

At the very least, I would listen several mornings in different areas. For one thing, someone might be at your first choice spot when you get there. And then..you need a place after one of you shoots. Lots of other reasons but those are a couple

[Lcmacd 58]

If you always hunt private with no other outside hunters influencing the turkeys and their movements....trusting the spot will work
However if your hunting public the more areas your familiar with the better you off you will be

[Kygobblergetter]

I still scout my private spots but probably more just because I'm itching for turkey season. Hunting on public out of state it's just scouting while I hunt.


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[appalachianassassin]

I haven't scouted in probably 15 years. Most days, I'm in a place Ive never been when day breaks. Some days I'm off the mark, but most days I'm right in the game.

[Tail Feathers]

Scout, scout, scout.  And I've located several birds in the two or three mornings leading up to the opener with any luck.

[Wigsplitter]

Scout when you can before season- where scouting results shine is when the birds aren't talking or playing the game very good. Been a season saver a couple times for me!!

[GobbleNut]

I have lots of places that historically hold birds on a giant piece of public land and I almost never scout those places prior to the season. In addition, with the increasing influx of hunters we have here, most of those places are getting hit pretty hard at the start of the season so there is little use in scouting them anyway.

On the other hand, I am increasingly map-scouting out-of-the-way locations that I think might hold pockets of overlooked birds. Sometimes I will try to find time to scout those out, but the distances to those locations often make that impossible without committing at least a couple of days. As such, I often go in blind and hope my guess about those places holding gobblers is on target.

Hunting out-of-state a few times each spring, I am always relegated to trying to pin-point places that will hold turkeys by perusing maps and satellite images. That is just another facet of spring gobbler hunting that I enjoy, and find to be rewarding, when my pre-hunt research (long-distance scouting) proves to be correct.

[Tom007]

20 + days scouting 2 states. I just listen. I want to know exactly where they are, I enjoy it just as much as hunting. I usually find a "new honey" hole to try. Good luck to all

[eggshell]

I don't scout much anymore. Back when seasons were very short and birds were not widely spread out it was critical to scout, but these days I just listen a couple mornings before the opener just to decide where I want to open up at.

[Yoder409]

I still scout my private spots but probably more just because I'm itching for turkey season. Hunting on public out of state it's just scouting while I hunt.

Same.   Yep.

[Davyalabama]

Trusting the spot works, until the flocks start breaking up.  The gobblers are no longer together, they are moving between groups of hens.  Now, the small little jakes (that we don't kill) may hang around each other or close to the hens, but you aren't chasing these anyway. 

You have to be ready to move, change areas, know where they want to go up in the day.  I heard them here yesterday, tomorrow they are a mile away and out of hearing.  Please don't even take this as ----- "it's always the case." ---- I've just seen it happen, a lot.

There are places, that have great woods, little pressure, plenty of birds, you set up any day and hear multiple birds sounding off every day of the season.  I would then find out where they want to go up in the morning, mid day, and then the evening.  You need to know these areas, you need to know how to move with the birds to get in front of them.  I've killed a bunch of birds coming to their roost areas in the evenings, killed them up in the day knowing where they wanted to be, etc.    Now, when the hens go to nesting is when the gobblers are going to start roaming, that's that mile thing I was speaking of earlier.  Nesting throws you and the area for a loop, be patient, he will be back in a day or so......

[Zfhunter1]

Thank you all for the knowledge always good to hear what everyone thinks and how everyone does it a lil differently.


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[jmart241]

Scout as much as possible every morning im not working every night always try get a idea where they might be at certain times of the day. I just can't stay home I want to know where they are

[Will]

I scout. Although the places I hunt typically have birds in the same areas year to year, I still check for sign and new dead fall or tress to sit against.