First post! Mtn. Hunting vs. Valley Hunting

[C.Kimzey95]

Hello everyone! New to the site and like what I see! Would like some advice! This will be my 8th year turkey hunting. I'm located in Southern middle Tennessee! Recently obtained a deer hunting lease up on the mountain and it has several turkeys on it as well as scouted a big tract of public mountain land that has turkeys on it. Any tips on hunting these birds and an explanation of how they differ compared to hunting birds in the "Valley"?
Thanks All!

[Bowguy]

Where I live which isn't Tenesee mountain birds are tons easier being they're more isolated from people messin w em. I'm not a field hunter n when you say valley I cant be sure if that's what you mean. But if not Id hunt them the same.
Locate em preseason, roost em night before, try for em tomo starting out in the dark, way early n fairly close

[Happy]

The Main difference in my opinion is to be in shape. I won't say mountain birds are tougher but I will say you will probably work harder. Try to stay high (but don't skyline yourself) and work the bird from the same level or slightly above.  Also mountain birds tend to not weigh as much as field birds nor do they usually have the hooks. Always exceptions though. Personally I love hunting mountain birds.

[Marc]

All of my hunting has been in wooded foothills and canyons.  I have hunted some meadows and clearings in such areas though.

As stated, try to get above them (a lot easier to work a bird uphill)...

Also, if I am hunting heavily wooded or brushy areas, I am less inclined to use a decoy.  I have had birds hang up on me with decoys, whereas they will continue forward motion looking for that hen if they do not see her. 

Open areas or clearings, decoys could still be useful if you are inclined to use them.

I have a difficult time judging the distance of a gobble in wooded hilly areas as well.  I have had birds that were farther than I thought (across a canyon with good acoustics), and I have had birds I thought were some ways off that ended up being much closer.

I feel I have a better chance hunting those wooded areas...  If can see the birds, they can see me...  I figure the woods are a bit more forgiving when you do get a response...  Maybe tougher to find them, and without birds gobbling, it can take some real patience.

[C.Kimzey95]

Thanks for the responses, by valley I just mean non mountainous terrain (term me and some buddy use to compare deer hunting areas). I hunt lots of hardwoods,big ridges,pastures, hayfields, and lots and lots of rolling hills. I'm very familiar with staying above birds and such however I was unsure if hunting much steeper terrain would bring about the same tactics. I've watched birds roost on big bluffs on the sides of the tops of the mountain and fly down onto benches. It would make sense to me that they would work there way back up as the day goes along to get back to roosting on the edge of the top. I guess I'm just trying to get the best grip I can on hunting them before season opens this spring! Any other tips/tricks would be appreciated!

[Happy]

Word of advice. Don't try and approach birds from below. Always circle way wide. They will almost always pick you off from above. In my experience they will pitch from the tree to the short side of the hill most times. Scratching should show you preferred direction of travel and you can scheme accirdingly. Also don't rush off on the first gobble you hear. Sound is funny in the mountains and it can totally mess with you in terms of direction and distance. Make sure you have him coursed correctly. Good luck and by the way. Welcome to Old gobbler.

[C.Kimzey95]

Happy, thanks for the response! I'm familiar with the sound being funny hunting a lot of lake land. Is it something similar to that? Sound carrys across the sloughs and branches of lake differently and can be quite confusing at times. Set up on a few that ended up being a slough over but can sound like they're in your face.

[Marc]

Word of advice. Don't try and approach birds from below. Always circle way wide. They will almost always pick you off from above.

That is some really good advice...

If it is late morning (running & gunning) and you are going to gain some ground, you might park for a few minutes and see if you can get him to gobble again to get a sense of what direction he is going.

[C.Kimzey95]

Thanks! Really excited to try my hand in a different environment.

[Happy]

What I meant by the sound being tricky is that in a few of the areas I hunt I am basically surrounded by mountains. Sound can bounce off of one hillside and totally mislead you as to the origin of it. Now my hearing is horrible (ask my wife) due to many years around machinery. But there are a few areas where I hunt where it really difficult to pinpoint a gobbler.

[C.Kimzey95]

I understand! Thank you!

[wvmntnhick]

Listen well to the young man giving advice above. He's been at this game a while. He understands and works harder for birds than most men ever will. Kind of been my mentor of sorts. As for sound bouncing, look out. I've hunted birds at stonewall Jackson WMA before and it's horrible. Those dang things sound like they're three ridges over until up get to the next ridge only to find out that you've bumped the. Off the roost or that they're actually on the opposite side of the road all together. Get up high and listen first.

[TauntoHawk]

I got a good mix of both hunting in Greene, NY the west side of the county is 3000-4000 Catskill mountains and 30min away on the east side is the Hudson River with large open farms.

to over simplify it.. Valley birds are easier to find, harder to kill, and mountain birds are harder to find, easier to kill. And what I mean is farm birds usually have farm less woods so roosting spots are much easier to identify plus they spend a lot of their time in the open which makes finding them even when they arent gobbling much much easier but it can be tough when they are 600yds from the nearest tree with hens to hunt. Mountain birds can be tough to find and move on because they can have a million trees on thousands of acres to roost in but once you've found one if you can get the terrain in your favorite they can be much easier to move in on and set up. I make sure to spend time hunting both types of birds

As far as basic tactics.

Mountain birds you want to get above, try and get high before they start gobbling to listen plus its easier to move quickly on a bird downhill rather than up.

Field/Farm/Valley birds I like to roost the night before and play close to the roost as possible the next morning, I am typically trying to kill these birds right at fly down.

[Happy]

Appreciate the kind words. Still have lots to learn about this game though. And I don't know if 35 counts as young. If it does I will take it though.

[C.Kimzey95]

In y'alls experience how beneficial is getting down on the shelves/benches compared to staying on the tops? I understand how being above is a definite benefit in most all cases. Would you all focus on the tops more so than getting climbing down? I'm accustomed to hunting hill country so the walking doesn't bother me all that bad.