Do turkeys hang out in creek bottoms? Or up on ridge tops?

[Mossberg90MN]

Simply put, turkeys are creatures of habit, and those habits are formed as a function of satisfying their daily needs.  Learning where and when they satisfy those needs is a big key to knowing where to be at any given time during the day.   

The easiest place to call a turkey to is the place they want to be to begin with.  Very often, that place is generally going to be in the same vicinity, at generally the same time, every day. Sometimes that is on a ridge, and sometimes it is in a bottom,...and much of that has to do with the habitat they live in and how they have adapted to that habitat type.

What's that saying again?  Oh, yeah,..."Learn the habitat, learn the hunt" 

Yes definitely agree with that! Which is why I headed for the ridge top assuming they would be feeding there. I guess considering that I didn't see any or much sign, it's safe to say they went down into the bottoms.

[shaman]

When I got started, I had only a few sources of information.  They all said turkeys went to water first thing.   That is not the case where I have been hunting most of my life.  However, as a result of this advice, I did a lot of useless hunting in creek bottoms.

Where I'm at, in the Trans-Bluegrass of Kentucky, turkeys will generally roost on the side of ridges and then work their way up to the ridgetops.  I've seldom seen them go downhill in the morning. 

[Hobbes]

Turkeys will do what they want.  Like anything else, they'll follow a pattern sometimes for days and seemingly abruptly change that about the time you think that you have it figured out.  Turkeys will eat darn near anything, so they find food sources from ridge tops to riverbottoms.  The only sure thing is they are focused on hens in the spring.  I'm looking for gobbling birds and will set up accordingly wherever I find him.  There is no magic spot to always set up and kill a bird.  Uphill, downhill, sidehill, sloshing through a bottom, flying across a creek, or dive bombing off a mountain top; a lot of us have seen them do it all.  Don't limit yourself by assuming they always do one thing or another.

[Turkeytider]

With these South Georgia birds, heck if I know. Occasionally they'll roost up on a ridge. Sometimes in the bottoms. Other days there will be a couple up on the ridges and a couple down in the bottom. Where they decide to go after pitching down is anybody's guess, it's like playing the slots in Vegas. Some days they come out to the fields; some days they don't. I've confirmed that theory using the time lapse mode on trail cameras looking over plots and fields. I've been chasing them a long time now and I still don't see any set pattern to what they do. They also rarely gobble in the evening, roosting is a laughable concept. Usually you just go to a prime listening spot before daylight, hope they gobble early, and strike out towards one. I have also slipped in close to general roosting areas about an hour before dark, and listened for the wing beats when they flew up. That's as close to roosted as you'll get one 98% of the time here.


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I`m in Georgia too and can concur. On the property my buddy and I hunt they can be ANYWHERE. I will say though that there are certain general areas that they tend to be in or moving through. That`s particularly useful to know if you like to afternoon hunt like I do.

[StruttinGobbler3]

I also like to afternoon hunt. There's little or no gobbling and requires a lot of patience and cold calling. Not nearly as exciting as hunting them off the roost, but I've killed a lot of turkeys this way. I hunt fields that they like to feed and scratch in, and I'll also hunt this way down in the timber when I find areas with heavy sign and scratching. Not the same thrill as calling one strutting and gobbling to the gun, but this method kills birds.


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[bigriverbum]

are you in southeast minnesota?(driftless area)

if so, i'd stay on top of ridges unless you strike birds way down in the coulees.  even then i'd stay along the sides of the hills until compelled to go into the bottoms. at least until later in the season when things green up and you have some cover

just my opinion

[Mossberg90MN]

are you in southeast minnesota?(driftless area)

if so, i'd stay on top of ridges unless you strike birds way down in the coulees.  even then i'd stay along the sides of the hills until compelled to go into the bottoms. at least until later in the season when things green up and you have some cover

just my opinion

Yup, SE Minnesota.

Right now I'm just trying to pattern the birds or really just find there hang out spot. Just to give me a good idea on where they are hanging out most of the time.

I probably won't drop to the bottom unless I get one down there that simply won't come up the ridge. If I can get down there and use the terrain to get in tight.

As I said before, just trying to pattern and get all my prep work done before the season starts.

[Turkeytider]

I also like to afternoon hunt. There's little or no gobbling and requires a lot of patience and cold calling. Not nearly as exciting as hunting them off the roost, but I've killed a lot of turkeys this way. I hunt fields that they like to feed and scratch in, and I'll also hunt this way down in the timber when I find areas with heavy sign and scratching. Not the same thrill as calling one strutting and gobbling to the gun, but this method kills birds.


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Yep, you really have to love the woods to enjoy afternoon turkey hunting. You`re going to be sitting a lot! It has its own unique challenges for sure and I would hazard a guess that most of the run and gun boys would go out of their gourds! One old saying is that if you get one to gobble to a call in the afternoon, get ready, he`s coming. I`m here to tell you that`s true!

[bigriverbum]

I also like to afternoon hunt. There's little or no gobbling and requires a lot of patience and cold calling. Not nearly as exciting as hunting them off the roost, but I've killed a lot of turkeys this way. I hunt fields that they like to feed and scratch in, and I'll also hunt this way down in the timber when I find areas with heavy sign and scratching. Not the same thrill as calling one strutting and gobbling to the gun, but this method kills birds.


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Yep, you really have to love the woods to enjoy afternoon turkey hunting. You`re going to be sitting a lot! It has its own unique challenges for sure and I would hazard a guess that most of the run and gun boys would go out of their gourds! One old saying is that if you get one to gobble to a call in the afternoon, get ready, he`s coming. I`m here to tell you that`s true!

all of my most memorable birds have been taken late in the season in the afternoon. if they're willing, those birds will cross a county for a hen.

[bigriverbum]

the problem with going gung-ho running around the woods in the driftless area is our hills are so steep.  before we get leaves on the trees a bird can see you from the next hill over or even the next one. if you're going hill to hill you're traveling so much further than a crow flies and probably spooking everything in the area

i find it best to stay cautiously on top of hills simply because it conceals my movements to birds that are not immediately in my vicinity

[Mossberg90MN]

the problem with going gung-ho running around the woods in the driftless area is our hills are so steep.  before we get leaves on the trees a bird can see you from the next hill over or even the next one. if you're going hill to hill you're traveling so much further than a crow flies and probably spooking everything in the area

i find it best to stay cautiously on top of hills simply because it conceals my movements to birds that are not immediately in my vicinity

Yup my thoughts exactly... which is why I haven't gone down into the creek bottoms for fear of buggering turkeys. I've been hanging out on the tops and trying to glass down into the bottoms. But mainly I've been doing listening from the roads.

[StruttinGobbler3]

I also like to afternoon hunt. There's little or no gobbling and requires a lot of patience and cold calling. Not nearly as exciting as hunting them off the roost, but I've killed a lot of turkeys this way. I hunt fields that they like to feed and scratch in, and I'll also hunt this way down in the timber when I find areas with heavy sign and scratching. Not the same thrill as calling one strutting and gobbling to the gun, but this method kills birds.


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Yep, you really have to love the woods to enjoy afternoon turkey hunting. You`re going to be sitting a lot! It has its own unique challenges for sure and I would hazard a guess that most of the run and gun boys would go out of their gourds! One old saying is that if you get one to gobble to a call in the afternoon, get ready, he`s coming. I`m here to tell you that`s true!

I agree, afternoon turkey hunting requires a level of patience some just don't have. And you are absolutely correct; if you make one of these hardheaded Eastern birds gobble in the afternoon, he's on a suicide mission.


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[Turkeytider]

I also like to afternoon hunt. There's little or no gobbling and requires a lot of patience and cold calling. Not nearly as exciting as hunting them off the roost, but I've killed a lot of turkeys this way. I hunt fields that they like to feed and scratch in, and I'll also hunt this way down in the timber when I find areas with heavy sign and scratching. Not the same thrill as calling one strutting and gobbling to the gun, but this method kills birds.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Yep, you really have to love the woods to enjoy afternoon turkey hunting. You`re going to be sitting a lot! It has its own unique challenges for sure and I would hazard a guess that most of the run and gun boys would go out of their gourds! One old saying is that if you get one to gobble to a call in the afternoon, get ready, he`s coming. I`m here to tell you that`s true!

I agree, afternoon turkey hunting requires a level of patience some just don't have. And you are absolutely correct; if you make one of these hardheaded Eastern birds gobble in the afternoon, he's on a suicide mission.


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My buddy just shakes his head , LOL! He says he can`t believe somebody can sit that still, for that long, in one place. I told him you just got to learn how to love chipmunks, lizards, song birds sitting almost on your head, squirrels dropping acorns on your head....I love it! And....most of the time coming up empty !

[THattaway]

If he gobbles in the afternoon he usually ends up dead.


As far as "patience", I took the picture below of a certain box call making cousin of mine a couple seasons ago on a hunt with him. I snapped the pic, texted it to my wife and asked her to post it on facebook. A few seconds later I heard his phone go "DING", he roused and looked at it and said "asshole!".


And I've killed piles of turkeys in river and creek bottoms. Must be a different topography from most of yall.

[Gooserbat]

I find them where there is three things.  Strutt zones, food and hens.