Pre-Season Scouting

[Alavoie52]

Hello all,

First I would like to thank everyone on this site for all the great information, and anyone who views and responds to this post.

With spring and my first turkey season approaching I cant help but get out and get some boots on the ground in some areas where I think I could set up for Spring. public land is hard to come by in my area of the state, but after some research and a lot of time on Google earth I've found a few that I think could work. This past weekend I went out to one spot around 8am. I walked quietly scanning the ground for any possible signs as well as listening for anything. every 300 feet or so I would stop and listen and either let out a few yelps or a crow call then listen. I thought at one point I heard a gobble out in the distance. at first I thought it was just turkey fever setting in but my buddy heard it as well. we made out way to where the gobble came from and found that this area has a lot of ATV tracks and what looks to be where people come out and party (Beer cans, empty brass and shells, and general litter). We left at around 5pm with only hearing what we called the ghost gobble. My question is do you think this wouldn't be a good spot due to the possible level of human activity in the area. I understand turkeys habits change greatly from winter to spring, but if I didn't find any real signs should I ditch the area and find another? or wait until about 2 weeks out from opening day. thank you all for the help

[falltoms]

Turkey's can put up with some human disturbance.  I wouldn't worry too much unless they are there a lot. The turkeys are still in there winter flocks in some areas and other places just starting to break up,don't give up on a spot that you think may hold birds. Check it out in a week or so. You don't necessarily need calls to find birds while scouting. Eyes,ears and good boots

[Bowguy]

Ok a lot depends on where you were as to the phase birds are in. First of all I'd ditch the turkey calls. Do not educate them.
Say the birds are in a winter pattern. You'll see big flocks. Find as many as you can in as many spots as possible. You'll need them.
You can find them by driving roads, checking back fields etc. should be real long range. No pressure.
No guessing either if "this is a good spot". The birds will tell you.
Once the birds bust up into smaller flocks they'll be nearer where you saw the winter flocks. Just less and more spread out.
I'd be listening for them. Maybe a crow call, owl hooter, no turkey calls.
Note where they frequent, which way they go. Again long range, no pressure. You'll see patterns. Use em to your advantage. Did I mention find as many as possible?
You're gonna need em and don't go for easy birds. The harder they are to locate (off the beaten path) the less competition.

[LaLongbeard]

Cannot over state that  pre season calling is a bad idea. Some states it's even illegal. If there's Gobblers  in the area and your there at daylight you should here them gobble. At that point the gobbler is located no need to crow call or hen yelp it serves no purpose. As the season gets closer spend as much time as you can at daylight in your hunting areas and you can get a decent idea of how many gobblers are in the area.

[mightyjoeyoung]

All great information. I don't know how many mornings I've spent first finding birds at distance and then sitting quietly,  without making a peep and just using my eyes and ears, keeping my own impact to an absolute minimum.   As said, turkeys are creatures of habit and once I've located birds I try to see patterns.  If I locate a gobbler/flock and I see them in the same spot, within roughly the same time frame my chances of killing that bird just went up exponentially.   Preseason means ZERO turkey sounds from me, locators only when absolutely nothing is heard and stay far enough away from the birds as possible while still being able to pattern them. You do this and you just gave yourself an edge over the guys that aren't.

[Alavoie52]

Thank you everyone for the responses and tips, Next time I go out ill be sure just to be eyes and ears, no calling. ill keep everyone posted on my findings.

[LaLongbeard]

One more thing I should have added. I hunt public land and last season week  before the opener I parked on a hill before daylight and had a topo map of the area on the hood as the gobblers sounded off I'd mark there approximate roost locations and which way they headed until they stopped gobbling or went out of hearing. Heard 6 gobblers from that one spot. On the opener nothing, the gobblers were still in the area but all the scouters stomping thru the woods shut them down. If  someone would have parked in the same spot on opening day they would have thought there wasn't a gobbler in the area. Just because they stop gobbling doesn't mean they have left the area, that's were preseason scouting can really pay off. And they never did get vocal thru the season one or two gobbles from the limb on a good day and quiet but that's public land.

[GunRunner]

Walk, look, listen, use a locator call occasionally.......but never ever call them with any kind of turkey call!!  Never!!

GunRunner

[Sir-diealot]

Walk, look, listen, use a locator call occasionally.......but never ever call them with any kind of turkey call!!  Never!!

GunRunner

FACT, you don't want to educate them.

[makestomstremble]

I hunt a mixture of private and public land. I use binoculars alot, drive roads in and around the wma looking for tracks, droppings, drag marks, feathers, etc. Listen at daylight and dark for birds, I do not even bring calls, save that for season (even then, I use sparingly. Birds are usually plenty educated on public). Like the one fella mentioned, have back up spots, not unusual to arrive and find someone already there with out of state tag. Best of luck.

[kjnengr]

One more thing I should have added. I hunt public land and last season week  before the opener I parked on a hill before daylight and had a topo map of the area on the hood as the gobblers sounded off I'd mark there approximate roost locations and which way they headed until they stopped gobbling or went out of hearing. Heard 6 gobblers from that one spot.

At this point, do you try and get closer and try and pinpoint exactly where they are, or do you just stay on top of the hill and get a general idea of where they roost and the direction they are going?

[BTH]

Go back to the area where thought you guys heard a gobble. I would do it in the early morning when they seem to be more active. I always try to listen pre season a week or 2 before the season starts. Also my favorite is when it's the 2nd or 3rd warmest day in a row during this time. I like a goose call or a wood duck call for a locator as well.

[Alavoie52]

Thank you everyone for the replies! Update on the situation, went back to the spot a few weekends in a row and tried to find turkey sign. I figured with all the snow melting tracks in snow should be easy enough to find, unfortunately I did not find any. On the way back from that spot I figured I would try another lot that I had my eye on. As I start to walk around I can see tracks everywhere, I run back to my truck and grab my trail cam and set it on what seemed to be a very traveled game trail. One week later I had birds on camera, 2 toms, 3 jakes, and 5 hens. I didn't go back for a few weeks in fear that I would bump them, but when I did return I didn't notice any new sign but did for a fact hear some gobbles in the distance. I set my cam in the previous place and left as soon as I could not to scare anything off. I have been trying to find their roost spot and strut zone but have had no luck. The cam shows them walking west on the cam at around 1100 and back the other way at 1900. From this I would figure that the roost is in the direction they were traveling at 1900 as this is near sundown.