found two new likely areas on public land today. heard some gobbling and some hens and walked up on at least a couple of longbeards and let them walk away before backing out. both areas are new to me and hopefully will put me away from the crowd on opening day. The second spot I will go back in the early morning sometime before season just to see where they are roosting, but I found very fresh sign and an iridescent hackle feather that means it came from something with a beard... so I will go back there soon and see where exactly they are roosting. Then I will have a plan A and B for opening morning, plus a couple other spots I have hunted in the past. My usual spot is getting pretty overgrown (needs bush hogging) and last year someone beat me to the spot on opening morning. However I did kill my first full grown longbeard there last spring and my first turkey ever (a jake) the year before. That spot is always a place I like to visit sometimes but it does go downhill fast as the season progresses (birds disappear from the area) Just wanted to switch things up and find a couple wooded areas as opposed to the big fields that I always used to look for. So far it looks like I'm in business, should have an OK chance on opening morning assuming the birds stay on my side of the river and nobody walks in and screws it up.
