Scouting Techniques

Kinda new to turkey hunting, so needing a little advice from all you pros out there... What are your guys secrets/techniques/advice to scouting in both the morning and evening. Thanks guys...

Well, trail cameras over some scattered corn will let you know if turkeys are around, thats for sure. But to find the areas where there are turkeys, I do most scouting from the car. Watching the open fields, and driving along in the morning and evening, stopping every few hundred yards, and letting loose with an owl call will make those gobblers show you where they are at.

I'm in the same boat as you Dave, so I'll be keeping my eye on this topic. But I have been doing a lot of scouting from my truck. Driving up and down the country roads by my house and using my binos to search for birds. Been trying the owl call but haven't had much success with it. There's a pretty busy highway near my house so they may not be able to hear it if they're very far off.

Im new ay it to so im looking forward to the replies aswell.

I hunt mostly public land that dont have fields to watch,so what would be good to look for in the timber?

Ive just been going to where ive seen them while deer hunting and so far its payed off but i have alot of sits where i dont see anything

Scratching, Roost Sites, Droppings, Feathers and Dusting Spots. If you are on a dirt road strutting marks. My personal favorite is getting in the woods at first light and finding the roost(s). Nothing better than hearing an actual owl hoot, followed by a gobble or two or three or ten. I spend a lot of time listening in the presseason at dawn and dusk...i listen for wings flaping, droppings hitting the ground, spitt drumming, tree talk, fly up & down cackles. Crows really like to give away turkeys. Not because they gobble sometime to the crow call, but they have a tendency to follow the turkey for some reason.
Getting into the big woods is my favorite part of hunting and the most important. I have hunted big woods my whole life. These past two years i have been hunting a State Game Land here in PA that is over 10,000 acres. The SGL is surrounded by state forest which is at least double that acreage if not triple. That land is bordered to the west by two private tracks of land (open to the public), one is 12,800 acres and the other is i believe around the same. maybe a little smaller. This is the same acreage of land Adam killed his coyote with the Bow last year. Video is posted somewhere. I was the rookie camera man on that advanture...haha. Anyway, to me its all about getting in the woods and getting to know the area and habbit they live. Pretty much like deer hunting except without all the scent control. In the fall we look for scrapes, rubs, crap, tracks and even trail camera pictures. Turkey hunting is pretty much the same. Look for scratchings, dropping, dusting wholes, tracks and feathers and you are bound to find some turkeys in the area.
A good video that taught me how to turkey hunt is Challenging Pressured Gobblers by Denny Gulvas. Its not your typical hunting video of watching hunt after hunt and kill after kill and all you learn is nothing but how to edit video and put music to it. There are actually tactics applied to those hunts, which Denny explains prior to the hunts he shows. Everything from Set ups, camo clothing, calls and finally and maybe most important scenarios. but he knows his stuff more than anyone i know. If you want to learn how to turkey hunt and how to hunt well the video is the way to go.

boy you opened a can of worms on that subject. here ,you will get all the answers you need .take heed to all that's said and you will succeed in your hunt. please share your stories and your pics .we will all enjoy them. good luck

Thanks to all who have posted... Thanks for all the info Early Morning Gobble, some good stuff there. Keep the posts coming!

haha... would be a heck of a debate though.

I don't get to scout as much as I want to but try as much as I can because scouting pays off big time when it comes to season.

The first thing I do is try and figure out where the big roost. I have gotten on birds in the afternoon based of feeding routines, but I prefer hunting birds when they are roosted. If you spot birds in the fields in the evening stay and watch them. Obviously, try and make sure they don't see you. Watch from a distance. Once it starts getting dark they will work their way to their roosting tree. And when they fly up it is LOUD. There will be no question when you hear them go up. If you find a roosting area your chances of getting on birds sky rocket.

If your scouting in the evening obviously spotting birds feeding helps. If you don't then walk to woods to try and find sign. Look for large trees that has water under it. A lot of the times birds will roost over water because they feel safe that way. Look for scratches or even dusting bowls. Those are great signs and more than likely birds will have a strut zone nearby.

Thanks for the all input! Good luck. Dave and myself are to go out tonight and scout. So we will see!

JackHammer wrote:

Thanks for the all input! Good luck. Dave and myself are to go out tonight and scout. So we will see!

No turkeys... but did call in a nice doe that was very curious of where the turkey was at that kept making all the noise. Hung out for a while and did a lot of snorting. Fun to watch her.