My Ramblings
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Well this is going to be more of my observations and comments
about different things I have read or observed while turkey hunting
and scouting. Won't be in any particular order as it is just my
thoughts on things as I think of them.
I'm not sure the areas that everyone hunts turkeys in the state of
Indiana, but where I hunt them, there really isn't any woods big
enough to do a lot of the things you read about. Where you hear
a tom gobble but he is walking a ridge through the woods and is
going the other direction. You're suppose to circle the tom, get up
in front of him by a hundred yards and get him in close enough for
a shot. I have a small forty acre oak woods and a twenty acre pine
woods that I hunt and neither is conducive to this kind of tactic.
I'm pretty sure that this idea can be done in places like Jasper
Pulaski and further south in the state, but where I hunt, it just
won't work. So I have had to adapt a field or meadow hunting
style.
Scouting your hunting areas well in advance and all the way up to
season is crucial in my opinion. Knowing where these birds roost
and what they do during the day is your top priority in my book. If
you can find a strut zone, you should be able to catch your tom on
it at some point in time.
Speaking of strut zones. These are areas where the tom likes to
"strut his stuff" for all the ladies. If you go back to these ridges in
the forest that I mentioned earlier, a strut zone on the eastern side
should be a morning strut zone and ones on the west side should
be an afternoon strut zone. I look for them in field edges as that is
where I do most of my hunting. They should look like a figure eight
in the dirt from the tom dragging his wing tips in the dirt.
When you scout, you don't need to see turkeys to figure out what
is going on. Read your turds. A tom turd will look like a fish hook
or a question mark or a J, depending on who you talk to. A hens
turd will look more like a normal bird dump.
Turkeys love to dust themselves. When you find dusting sites, you
can find feathers. They lose them all the time when dusting. Learn
which bird lost the feathers. You can look up online what feathers
from each different bird looks like. Adult flight feathers will be more
rounded than that of the pointed juvenile birds. Breast feathers off
of a tom will have a black or dark outer margin and will be more flat
than the more rounded lighter colored breast feather of the hen.
Another tactic you can use to locate roosting areas is to use an owl
or crow call. The tom will gobble at it out of instinct. You can do
this the morning of your hunt, before it gets light, and locate a
roosting tom. Now if you have been scouting the area in the
mornings, afternoons, and evenings, you should have a pretty
good idea of his routine when he is roosting in this particular area.
I have seen them fly off of their roost tree right out into a picked
corn field in the mornings. From there, they went straight over to
a ditch for their morning drink. Perfect ambush site. You have to
be careful in this ambush area. Odds are the hens are going to be
coming in for a drink first while the tom, or toms, are out in the
field strutting. If you're not seen and do not spook the hens, the
tom will present you a shot.
I will briefly touch on calling here, but I will get more in depth with it
later on. I have heard some people say they call only a little bit of
the time, while others will call about half the time. Still others will
call most of the time. What you are trying to do when calling is
make a tom come to a hen. Usually, in nature, the hens will go to
the tom. It isn't natural for the hen to call the tom to her. If
you're a tom and you're with few hot to trot hens, and you hear
this other hen off in the distance out of site start talking like she is
ready to put out like its a prom date, would you leave your harem
for this strange hen? Especially if there are some sub toms in the
area with your hens. They might just bang your hens while you're
off chasing this one lone hen by herself.
Some will also tell you some gobblers will come to another gobbler
call that is with another hen, but what if the gobbler you're calling
isn't the boss gobbler? Is he going to risk another butt kicking to
go to a hen that could be with the boss?
about different things I have read or observed while turkey hunting
and scouting. Won't be in any particular order as it is just my
thoughts on things as I think of them.
I'm not sure the areas that everyone hunts turkeys in the state of
Indiana, but where I hunt them, there really isn't any woods big
enough to do a lot of the things you read about. Where you hear
a tom gobble but he is walking a ridge through the woods and is
going the other direction. You're suppose to circle the tom, get up
in front of him by a hundred yards and get him in close enough for
a shot. I have a small forty acre oak woods and a twenty acre pine
woods that I hunt and neither is conducive to this kind of tactic.
I'm pretty sure that this idea can be done in places like Jasper
Pulaski and further south in the state, but where I hunt, it just
won't work. So I have had to adapt a field or meadow hunting
style.
Scouting your hunting areas well in advance and all the way up to
season is crucial in my opinion. Knowing where these birds roost
and what they do during the day is your top priority in my book. If
you can find a strut zone, you should be able to catch your tom on
it at some point in time.
Speaking of strut zones. These are areas where the tom likes to
"strut his stuff" for all the ladies. If you go back to these ridges in
the forest that I mentioned earlier, a strut zone on the eastern side
should be a morning strut zone and ones on the west side should
be an afternoon strut zone. I look for them in field edges as that is
where I do most of my hunting. They should look like a figure eight
in the dirt from the tom dragging his wing tips in the dirt.
When you scout, you don't need to see turkeys to figure out what
is going on. Read your turds. A tom turd will look like a fish hook
or a question mark or a J, depending on who you talk to. A hens
turd will look more like a normal bird dump.
Turkeys love to dust themselves. When you find dusting sites, you
can find feathers. They lose them all the time when dusting. Learn
which bird lost the feathers. You can look up online what feathers
from each different bird looks like. Adult flight feathers will be more
rounded than that of the pointed juvenile birds. Breast feathers off
of a tom will have a black or dark outer margin and will be more flat
than the more rounded lighter colored breast feather of the hen.
Another tactic you can use to locate roosting areas is to use an owl
or crow call. The tom will gobble at it out of instinct. You can do
this the morning of your hunt, before it gets light, and locate a
roosting tom. Now if you have been scouting the area in the
mornings, afternoons, and evenings, you should have a pretty
good idea of his routine when he is roosting in this particular area.
I have seen them fly off of their roost tree right out into a picked
corn field in the mornings. From there, they went straight over to
a ditch for their morning drink. Perfect ambush site. You have to
be careful in this ambush area. Odds are the hens are going to be
coming in for a drink first while the tom, or toms, are out in the
field strutting. If you're not seen and do not spook the hens, the
tom will present you a shot.
I will briefly touch on calling here, but I will get more in depth with it
later on. I have heard some people say they call only a little bit of
the time, while others will call about half the time. Still others will
call most of the time. What you are trying to do when calling is
make a tom come to a hen. Usually, in nature, the hens will go to
the tom. It isn't natural for the hen to call the tom to her. If
you're a tom and you're with few hot to trot hens, and you hear
this other hen off in the distance out of site start talking like she is
ready to put out like its a prom date, would you leave your harem
for this strange hen? Especially if there are some sub toms in the
area with your hens. They might just bang your hens while you're
off chasing this one lone hen by herself.
Some will also tell you some gobblers will come to another gobbler
call that is with another hen, but what if the gobbler you're calling
isn't the boss gobbler? Is he going to risk another butt kicking to
go to a hen that could be with the boss?
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