Dirtroad Tips

If you haven’t been out Turkey Scouting yet, it is time to get out.  The weather is finally breaking to more consistent warm days and the turkeys are on the move.  We addressed scouting procedures in earlier posts.  Head out early and sit on the dirt roads before sunrise.  Fortunately with Daylight Savings beginning, we don’t have to wake up so early to get out before daylight.  Avoid using any turkey calls until the season starts.  Just like with ducks, turkeys become more educated as the season goes on.  Don’t give them the advantage.

A lot can be learned by getting out on the hiking trails at the beginning or end of days.  You will find the birds starting to gobble on these warm mornings and strutting the ridges.  There are only 10 days until the first day of the season.  Do you homework, pattern your shotgun, and see you in the woods on the 23rd!!!

As much as Georgia has needed this rain, it is time for a break.  With between 5-8″ falling across the region in the month of February alone, most of the lakes have gotten very close to full pool.  Lake Lanier and Lake Hartwell are both about 6 feet below full pool, but that is much improved from the beginning of the year.  Even Lake Allatoona has cut their deficit in half.  Many of the power lakes are back to full pool in North Georgia as well.

These poor weather days have restricted the time spent outdoors and given all of us the blues.  These heavy downpours have prevented hiking, fishing, and hunting the end of the small game seasons.  The good news is that once we get past the next two days, we get into a drier stretch of weather.  We still have 4 days left in small game seasons and 27 days until the start of turkey season.  The good weather days that are ahead should be spent hiking, fishing or scouting.

During our downtime on these rainy days, we can prepare for the upcoming year.  Although we should have already changed decoy lines and anchors, replaced bolts and straps on the tree stands, cleaned and stored guns, plugged holes in the canoe, and built wood duck boxes, this year has given us some additional time to complete these tasks.  The last several years have flowed so quickly from one season to another, we were rushed to finish everything.  We should also be replacing fishing line on poles and checking our tents for holes.  I recommend popping up the tent in the family room to check for holes and leaks.  It is fun for the kids (and parents that act like kids) and will stir up your spouse!  Make sure that you avoid the ceiling fans, but there is nothing like a little indoor camping to get in the spirit!!!

Warmer and drier weather will be on us before we know it.  Take these nasty rainy wet weather days to prepare!

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.

The current weather pattern is putting a damper on the last couple weeks of small game season.  Consistent rain over the last two weeks has prevented a lot of the small game hunters from getting out.  The rain looks like it will break this weekend with colder temperatures.  This should allow for some prime weather to chase rabbits, quail, and grouse.

Wild quail are getting more and more difficult to find in Georgia.  Some private farms still have coveys, but very few public land opportunities exist.  Those that have found public land coveys need to be careful to not reduce the coveys to a size that isn’t recoverable.  With the large coyote populations found across Georgia, the quail population takes a huge hit automatically.  Keeping covey sizes at 6 or more birds is extremely important.

Rabbit populations are doing well.  This will rain will keep them active in the coming week.  Rabbit hunters will find the next few days to be some of the best of the season so far.

Grouse hunting continues to be difficult across the northern part of the state.  With limited logging, the lack of new growth forest is keeping the population lower than expected.  Some of the best WMAs for grouse hunting in GA include Blue Ridge, Cooper’s Creek, and Swallow Creek.  Opportunities in general are limited, but if you put in the miles and energy, you can have some good success in Georgia.  Better success will still be in Maine, Wisconsin, and Michigan, but many hunters will find the shorter travel and opportunities more than adequate.

These small game opportunities also allow hunters a dual purpose- to scout for turkeys and deer and hunt for small game.  You will be surprised at some of the great areas that you find during small game season.