new gobbler need some help

[bassman95]

Hey ya'll

this is my first season here. Im in central Mississippi and have been scouting both private and public land but haven't seen many tracks/droppings at all. All I've seen are these scratchings. My question is, are they from turkeys?

[GobbleNut]

Hard to say looking at those pictures, but if I was to speculate, I would say no, they are not from turkeys.  Now, if there were lots of places where it appeared the leaves had been raked back, I might reconsider that opinion, but I certainly wouldn't conclude from that one leaf disturbance that there were turkeys around.

If you are new to this, my single word of advice would be to get out as many mornings as you can an hour before sunrise until sunrise and listen for gobbling.  That is the surest way to know there are gobblers around. 

[LaLongbeard]

Looks like a squirrel to me. In the Southeast we have armadillos, hogs and plenty of squirrels. Turkeys will usually scratch a spot to the Bear dirt, they have strong legs. A squirrel will scratch a small place like the picture, little small spots over a few feet area there looking for something they buried previously and it takes them a couple tries to find it. Armadillos will root up a spot and digg into the dirt there will be a scratched spot and then dirt thrown on top and a hole. Hogs just root up a pile of dirt and leaves.
You just need to look carefully at the sign you should be able to see tracts if it's hogs and sometimes foot prints of turkeys in the scratching

[bassman95]

thanks for taking the time to reply guys. Ive been going out early in the mornings like you said, but haven't heard any turkeys, ever. Is it possible that the birds are just quiet due to hunting pressure and all the louder ones having been shot year after year? Ive been blowing the owl hooters and crow calls too and the only responses Im getting are from owls and crows. Should I bring out a box call or something next time and cut on it a bit after sun up just to see if I can get a response? Strangely, I was walking one day out on some public land that a friend said held turkeys and practicing on a mouth call and actually saw one running towards me about 80 yards up the road. He never gobbled and had I not seen him, id never have thought that there were indeed turkeys around. It seems that finding these turkeys is a heck of a lot tougher than finding deer

[bassman95]

Here are the scratchings I saw, hopefully these pictures are much more clear. I usually see these all together in a specific area. These were by a river. They seem to generally be connected, and not isolated, as if possibly whatever animal was wandering and scratching along a path.

https://imgur.com/3HO1sbY
https://imgur.com/ykJU1Ho
https://imgur.com/soXTf9e
https://imgur.com/80KUuVs
https://imgur.com/dXQSpbI

[silvestris]

Doesn't look like anything turkey to me.  Leave your callers at home pre-season.

[tomstopper]

I agree that its probably not from turkeys. Usually when they scratch, it will look like an area where the leaves will just be thrown all over. Good luck this season.

[bassman95]

Hey ya'll so I went out again today and found more scratches and I am confident these are indeed turkey scratches. I got down close to the ground and realized that there were little green droppings with white tips just like the pictures and I even found a perfect print.

My question is, can I set up on this feeding area if I don't have them roosted by opening day? Do turkeys return to the same feed area every day or do they go and scratch somewhere else?

[charlesgoff71]

I'd rather hunt some sign than no sign. If I couldn't locate some birds  before season that's where I would start.

Sent from my SM-J727V using Tapatalk

[bassman95]

The turkeys will return to the same spot I assume to feed or do they wander and feed at random spots?

[G-dub]

Like goff said, if you can't locate any birds, hunt what signs you have.  They probably won't come to the exact spot but at least you'll be in the general vicinity.  I also concur with silvestris, don't call pre-season.  These birds get wise in a hurry, no need to give them a headstart!!

Good Luck!!

[bassman95]

ok, ill do that. Im going to a different spot in a bit to try and roost some for the opener tomorrow

[bassman95]

Got my first gobbler this past Wednesday on public land, just wanted to say thanks for all the help. Now its time to get that 3 bird limit

[strum]

Got my first gobbler this past Wednesday on public land, just wanted to say thanks for all the help. Now its time to get that 3 bird limit

Thats awesome!!!  congrats . Feels good dont it?

[mspaci]

here in ny they are still flocked up, I hear on here ppl are out scouting in ny & surrounding area. Makes no sense, they will disperse & until then its just wasting time. Ill save my energy until the season when I really need it. Will just make calls til then. Mike