scouting strategy?

[new2turkey]

Hi guys, I've been getting ready for my first year turkey hunting up here in southern Maine, and I have one more question about preparation...


I've got my gun, calls, decoys, camo, etc...


But what about scouting? There is a spot I plan to hunt, the pit where I usually shoot at is covered in woods... I've been told from others there are birds there, and there are plenty of them... But how do I find a spot? I mean do I just wander through the woods until I find some sort of sign?? There is about 10 sq miles in this area...

Thanks guys!! Good luck this spring...

[Hawgnman]

Look for roost trees near creeks. They will have droppings under them.

A week or two before the season, go to a high spot and listen for gobbles at day break.

Also look for dusting bowls. They will have tracks and wing drag marks.

Set up near (50-100 yards) the roost before fly down. Check feeding and dusting areas if roosting area doesn't produce.

[new2turkey]

thanks hawgnman... I'm not sure of any creeks, but I haven't looked on the land very much...

Thanks for the advice...


Any other suggestions?

[PANYHunter]

Look for roost trees near creeks. They will have droppings under them.

A week or two before the season, go to a high spot and listen for gobbles at day break.

Also look for dusting bowls. They will have tracks and wing drag marks.

Set up near (50-100 yards) the roost before fly down. Check feeding and dusting areas if roosting area doesn't produce.

x2

I would also add if the location allows glassing fields from a distance can help too.  Its hard if there are no fields, but it may give you a good starting point.

[Boparks]

It has always been easier for me to get birds off a property the second year versus the first because I knew more about the terrain and bird habits of a particular area after hunting / scouting it for a season.

You can walk roads, look for tracks, drag marks, dusting sites, feathers, and scratch marks where they feed. It's easier if they're dirt roads just be cause you can quickly see tracks etc. I look around mud holes and sandy spots where I hunt.

As mentioned going in before season and listening (not calling) to gain idea of where they're roosting and the direction they're traveling will make a difference.

The 10 sq miles sounds like a good problem to have to me.

Just take it section at a time. Sometimes you just get lucky even riding around and seeing them. I mentally note where and time of day when I see birds and try and understand why they are where they are.


All this information obviously helps but it really is crucial especially on days birds are quiet and you have to know where to set up and blind call.

It's hard to commit to putting time into an area unless you're confident they're using it.


Just my 2 cents

[Jay]

Before I hunt/scout any new land I google up a map of the area which I take with me. You can learn a lot about terrain, rivers, etc. You have to get out there early to locate roost areas by the Gobbling, and mark your map where those area(s) are. In some areas once they fly down, they shut up. Why I have been successful hunting Public is, I don't usually hunt close to my truck. I want to hike away from the other hunters, so I scout mile(s) away in most cases. You have a large area, which is great, so every day you can spend scouting it is to your advantage. Some do a run and gun with crow calling during the day to get some shock gobbling to help locate birds, but that has seldom worked for me. As some will say is wrong, I use a box and get aggressive, only if I have the cover to beat a hasty retreat without getting seen. MANY times this has worked for me, especially since the box sound will carry a long ways, and later you get Toms looking for mates after flydown breeding, and more susceptable to Gobbling back. A sound a Gobbler can't help to respond to is another Gobble. I also use a Gobble call preseason to locate, that also many will say that you shouldn't. After a day on Private in Nebraska that we hadn't heard anything, and thinking there wasn't a Gobbler in miles, I hit the Gobbler call, and found out quickly they WERE there. Take a good set of glasses with you, and what I've seen is a lot of Hens moving to fields. The important part is where they are coming from, which is probably Roost. Look at your map to see where that might be. Next scouting day move into where you think that is early to see for sure. Later in the day towards dusk I'm looking to see where they are heading, which is probably the roost area. That's the basics that has helped me.

[new2turkey]

Thanks alot Guys!! I really got alot of constructive feedback for sure!


And I really like the map idea...

[TauntoHawk]

Big woods turkeys can be a lot harder to pattern but not impossible. I don't know much about your woods so ill just give you some tips on what I look for when I am hunting the big woods in PA and have fields and pastures.

I look for oak ridges with big tall trees for roosting, somewhere where the birds usually can see up and down the hill pretty good before they fly down. You should find plenty of scratchings in these areas if they are roosting in the same area regularly. You need to find areas in the woods that will offer stutting zones if there aren't fields. Open flats, old logging roads, clear cuts, powerlines are the best. Areas where some trees have recently come down and allowed some sun to get through usually offer good cover and grassy areas for hens to hide their nests and feed close by. Creeks are a good place to start too because birds really seem to like roosting near water.

Also look for little saddle and hollows, turkey will head for these areas in high winds. (one of my most productive strategies)

[jbrown]

I like what Hawk had to say... I glass fields, walk woods roads lookin for tracks, scratchin and dustin places. I listen for gobbles from the roost and makes notes in a book about all the sign I see or hear. Try to locate as many gobblers as you can before season and keep a note book on each bird...does he gobble a lot, does he always go in a certain direction after fly down. All these little notes add up to dead gobblers. Don't bother any birds you may find before season. When you hunt, pick a comfortable place to sit, be persistent and don't tell anyone about YOUR gobblers!!

[new2turkey]

Thanks guys! I'm learning alot...

[hobbes]

I've never ran into "roost trees" but areas the birds prefer to roost.  I usually find those by listening to birds gobble from the roost in the mornings.  Even then, in big woods country, they'll move around to wherever is convenient for them.  I'll scout for scratching, tracks, strutting areas, and the like to give me an idea where birds like to spend time, but the majority of my scouting is to learn the lay of the land and not necessarily look for sign if I already know there are birds there. 

In completely new areas, I'm looking for birds so I look for tracks in trails around mud holes as much as anything.  Lots of scratching is nice to find also, but this is easier to find in hardwoods with heavy leaf cover.  Then I'll locate birds by listening as many mornings as I can for up to a couple months before season, with days before season being most relevant.  More often than not, I don't care where I've found sign........I'll be hunting where I hear gobbling and hopefully understand the lay of the land.

[manville ridgerunner]

Up in Maine you probably have quite a bit of snow.  It helps if you know you have birds in the area.  You could ask somebody who has hunted there to make sure or the property owner. When it snows here in Indiana and I get a new spot I'll look for turkey tracks in the snow.  I hunt in a hilly area of southern Indiana so the first place I'll look is on the ridge tops and creek bottoms.  I also find that if there is a creek that runs through the property birds like to roost near it.  Where I do most of my turkey hunting I found the birds will roost abut 25 yards or so down from the top of a ridge. This gives them a good look at what's down from them, what's up from them and whats on the next hill over.  Another place to look for sign in a hilly area is on the shelves of a hill, places where it flattens out. It doesn't even need to be that wide.  In the years that I have turkey hunted I haven't tried to pinpoint roosting trees...too many trees to look around.  But I'll tell you like others said, Get out there a week or two before the season starts at dawn and listen from a ridge top for the gobbling and try and pinpoint how far you heard it.  Don't go chasing them though or yelping because you'll give them an education before the season even starts. I'd be lying though if I told you I never gobbled to get a response, can't help it.   Also, this time of year on a new property I like to look to see where the barriers are that a turkey is likely not to cross such as a certain fence structures so in the spring you know what you're working with.  That's screwed me a few times. 

[savduck]

Keep it simple. Creek bottoms, gas right of ways, power line right of ways, old logging roads, etc.

[cahaba]

Very good advice from everyone. It will take a while to learn property that big. Take one section at a time. The problem I have with new land is birds getting hung up on things I didn't know was there. Map study will eliminate some obsticles the rest you with have to learn by putting down some boot leather.

[ElkTurkMan]

Very good advice from everyone. It will take a while to learn property that big. Take one section at a time. The problem I have with new land is birds getting hung up on things I didn't know was there. Map study will eliminate some obsticles the rest you with have to learn by putting down some boot leather.

IMO the number one most important thing is knowing where your obstacles are at. Definately burn some boot leather and try your best to know where every ravine, creek, thicket, blow down, etc is.  I took me forever to get this through my head, but I am finally figuring it out.  I definately think I could have put a few more in the freezer had I been more diligent with my scouting prior years.
Good Luck Hoss!