while the breeding phase will progress before your season opens, the field will still be important because its not only a strut zone because gobblers like the open view it provides, its also a feeding area for the hens, rich with insects giving them the protein they need for laying. The gobblers strut there because the hens are already going there to feed. They are accustomed to seeing hens go there and theyve made it part of their routine. U can bet it wont be hard to call a gobbler to that field when the season opens. Take your scoiuting a step further and determine where they enter and exit the fields, how long they linger in the am's, and i like to determine if there are any secondary strut zones such as a saw clearing just inside the woods where a bird may pause and strut awhile before or after leaving the field, similar to a whitetail staging area. These can be deadly places to intercept a gobbler before he ends up in the middle of a big field with hens and out of range.
