Picking a spot on public land

[mkretch]

Good afternoon fellow Tom chasers,

I'm planning ahead a couple weeks to my second turkey season here in the mountains of NC and was hoping to lean on you for some wisdom re: picking my spot.  Last year saw a lot of hours in the field and two busted birds but nothing in the cooler.  I did learn a lot and had a lot of fun, and would love to finally score this year on my first bird, especially because I drew a special one-day permit only hunt with my daughter.

She and I did some scouting last weekend on a new area where some mountain biking buddies said was full of turkeys (they don't hunt, don't think they'd lie to me to protect another spot!)  The terrain is mature timber, lots of ups and downs (7-800 feet from valleys to peaks), criss-crossed with biking/hiking trails (state forest). 

There are two possible spots I've identified thus far:

1.) I've got a promising area (about 1 square mile) where birds were spotted, but there's no real 'clearings' to be found save one near a ridge top.  That said, it's small (25 yards across), with some scrub grass but mostly exposed rock face and about a 10 degree incline.  I didn't see any turkey sign there, just old deer droppings, and it's about 100 yards off a mountain biking trail.  It looks ugly as lovely little fields go, but there aren't many options.

2.) The second option is in a lower elevation of the same area, some lakes in the vicinity and lots of walking trails/logging roads.  The only clearings are those made for high tension lines, and in that case it's literally 200 yards wide by miles and miles over the hills.  The open areas kept by the state have little foot traffic (the woods near them have much more, especially in nice spring weather) and they're more or less dead grass/briars/ugly looking brush but with great visibility (read- wide open) especially at the higher points along the lines where you can see 1-2 miles or more.

Is all this human activity (bikers, hikers, etc) going to change the birds behavior?  Given that we are one of only a dozen or so that got these one day permits for 15,000+ acres total land, I'm not too worried about competing for either spot.  That said, since my daughter and I only get one day, I want to make it count.  It's about an hour from the house, and work combined with new baby will make it tough to get out there again prior to 4/13 so I'll have to work with my aerials, topo maps and one full day of scouting already accomplished (we did see turkeys but on private land 1+ miles from these spots, a group of 6-7 toms and a separate group of 15-20 hens). 

I've got a pop up blind so my 6-year old can enjoy herself without having to worry about a little movement. I plan to make our special day about her, of course, but would love if we could cap it off with a nice tom or jake to take home to her sisters. If both of these sound like a bust, I'd love to know, and I can continue my search.  Neither one gave me the 'warm and fuzzy' feeling I'd like, but I'm still a rookie!  Your input, as always, is greatly appreciated.

[gotcha]

Its pretty much impossible for someone on this forum to suggest what one out of the two spots you described would be best.Turkeys love the woods,dont think you need to be on a field edge to kill a turkey.Have fun and make the best of it.

[trackerbucky]

Any chance you could show up there before daylight some morning before your hunting day and listen for gobbles?  Without a doubt that is my favorite method to scout.  You can often listen to them fly down and track where they are traveling if they gobble as they go.  Sometimes they will stop and strut/gobble in one spot.  Then plan to set up somewhere along the travel route or better yet where he stopped and strutted/gobbled when you're actually hunting.  Nothing works every time, but this has worked for me in the past in a new area.

[mkretch]

Thank you both for the helpful feedback.  I'll see if I can't make an early AM trip before work next week, listen for some gobbles and hope for the best.  I'll let you know if we manage to stick one.  Best of luck to both of you as well. 

[trackerbucky]

Best of luck to you and your daughter as well. There's nothing better than taking a kid hunting. Let us know how it works out.

[ThicketThrasher]

Don't get hung up in thinking that turkeys need fields or clearings. They Don't! I agree that it would be helpful if you could listen one morning and try to locate a bird or two, but if you can't, I would pick the area with less traffic and start there. If there is an area that is elevated, go up there and sit down before daylight and listen. 

[Gobblehead30]

Blinds are for spots where you know turkeys will be and might be slow for your daughter unless the place is crawling with turkeys.   If you cant scout one morning then get there at dark thirty and go to the best ridge or over water and listen.. If you can get somewhat close to gobbling then pop up and give it a whirl if not I would put your daughters running shoes on and turn this into a hike.

[catman529]

Don't worry about the clearings or lack of them, stay in the woods. I changed my tactics this spring from fields to woods and killed 2 birds on opening weekend both in the woods on public land. Most public land hunters will flock to the fields anyway. When you pick your likely spot (fresh turkey sign etc) go and sit on a high place like a ridge before first light and listen for gobblers on the roost. Then you can move in and figure out a more specific area to concentrate. Good luck

[alclark2]

Don't worry about the clearings or lack of them, stay in the woods. I changed my tactics this spring from fields to woods and killed 2 birds on opening weekend both in the woods on public land. Most public land hunters will flock to the fields anyway. When you pick your likely spot (fresh turkey sign etc) go and sit on a high place like a ridge before first light and listen for gobblers on the roost. Then you can move in and figure out a more specific area to concentrate. Good luck

+1 I know birds will visit fields and food plots but I think they sometimes associate them with danger/people. In my case, I had birds in a thick nasty creek bottom gobbling away. Came back the next day and setup down there before they showed up and took a nice bird. I got lucky and he followed the same pattern.