With the 2013 Turkey Season being about a month away, it is time to start making your plans. Scouting began during deer season, but many of us haven’t been out since the end of December. It is time to start scouting for birds.
Scouting for turkeys starts early in the morning and ends late at night. In the mornings, get to high ground well before daylight and listen for gobbles as they come off the roost. Mark those areas on your map. If you don’t hear gobbling early, you can use a crow call as a locator call. Turkeys tend to “shock” gobble to crow calls and can help you find quiet birds.
Spend time walking trails and looking for strutting birds. It is a little early in the season for the birds to be strutting, but you likely will find some birds still grouped together. This will help you to pattern the birds. As you hike the trails be on the look out for roost areas. These areas can be identified by the droppings under the tree.
In the evenings, get back to high ground or travel along dirt roads. Listen carefully and you will hear the birds go to roost. Some will gobble going to roost, but either way the flocks will be very loud as they fly up. This will give you a place to start the next day.
Patterning the activity over the next month will help you be ready when the season starts on March 23rd.
Dirt Road Dispatch 