Travel directions and droppings

[RiverRoost]

May be a dumb question but can you tell which way a gobbler is heading based off his droppings? Meaning does the hook on the "j" dictate the way he was walking when he dropped the deuce.?

[Happy]

Can't say as I have ever analyzed it that much. Guess you could follow a tame one around and find out.

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[Rzrbac]

No, you may know which direction he was facing but that's about it.  It would take a good woodsman to discern that much from a single dropping.

[RiverRoost]

Well my thinking here is that from what I've seen that as the turd dries out it turns white. So would the first part to hit the ground be the part that dries out first and dry the direction he's walking. Maybe I'm thinking too much into this but if you get on a hot trail of droppings how do you tell which way he's heading

[MickT]

Yep overthinking it. It seems that one end only turns white.

Even if your assumption was true-
What if the ground is wet at the moment of impact?

Ever seen turkeys strike out on a straight path when something wasn't chasing them? Rarely.


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[MK M GOBL]

You can mostly tell by taste, the sweet end is what drops last.

I really never looked at this, When I see droppings I am looking only to see if it is a roost site, but other than that they have nothing else to do with where I hunt.

MK M GOBL

[fallhnt]

Ever see a turkey pee? Didn't think so. The white part of the turd is urine. I wouldn't use a turd to tell what direction a turkey is going but you can tell the sex. After you tag a bird you will know which way it's going.

[fallhnt]

My point....the urine is in the poop. The giveaway, "The white part of the turd is urine ". Your samples look to be from nesting hens.

[silvestris]

I need to wake up from this dream.  No way that question was asked and answered.

[HFultzjr]

My take on the whole thing is, when a turkey poops, he travels away from it.
Question answered.......................LOL

[kjnengr]

Ok, so all you have to do is find the tracks right next to the turkey turd.  Which ever way the tracks go, the turkey went with them. 

Elementary my dear Watson!

[FullChoke]

An old indian once told me this old indian trick for tracking turkeys. He said that to be certain of the travel direction of the turkey look for his tracks, that the turkey tracks look like an arrow and they usually point towards his previous turd. Back track him until you find that J-shaped turd, then do an about-face turn. That's the direction that he is heading in.



FC

[Marc]

May be a dumb question but can you tell which way a gobbler is heading based off his droppings? Meaning does the hook on the "j" dictate the way he was walking when he dropped the deuce.?

Taste test...  The more "bitter" tasting side is the direction they are headed...

Honestly, I will look for footprints in the surrounding area... 

In general, I am less concerned with direction, and more concerned with gender...  And the simple fact that there are turkeys in the area I am looking.

[catman529]

Droppings no but scratch yes. If there's a lot of scratch you can make a good guess on direction of travel by the majority of the scratch. Of course there will be a few that were faced another way. This is mainly a fall hunting tactic though, hardly use it in the spring.


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[GobbleNut]

I can ascertain exactly where a turkey is and how far away by his droppings.  Then again, I think it has something to do with the old adage that "it takes a real turd to know one".