Where did they go?

[Mepperson]

Me and a friend have scouted LBL for 3 days now and have seen only 1 bird. We have logged several hours in the woods and around fields. We have seen some tracks and apparent scratching but little else. Does anyone know where in LBl the best locations are? We have mostly looked around the back of Sugar Bay in area 5. I would appreciate any pointers or help locating my first turkey. Thanks.

[quackrstackr]

Not sure I would rely on a website for any credible answers to a location on public ground right before season comes in. :D

You may get some after season goes out or while people are reporting what they killed...

I can tell you this much, Sugar Bay is an extremely high traffic hole. ;)

[WBBP]

I agree with Quackrstackr, Sugar Bay is pretty popular and I have had a lot of friends do good there.

For myself, I always liked area 10 down on the border. Not as much pressure and enough birds.

Good luck.

K

[Mepperson]

Thanks for the good info. Where would you hunt area 10?

[nutcase]

I was scouting near sugarbay yesterday and didnt see, hear, or smell a bird. I saw one near jenny ridge cem. and only saw one bird and he was trying to cross the road.

[SixPack07]

Public land is always tough cause I'm sure the birds get kicked around so much that it would be hard to pattern them.

[quackrstackr]

LBL had such a poor mast crop last year it may be tough all over. Be interesting to see what it did to the population.

I would also advise if you try area 10... get as far away from all that horse riding mess as possible. They WILL mess up your hunting and don't think a thing about it either. The horse riders pretty well have free run of the vast majority of area 10 now.

[mcdenney]

Not good news guys. I got drawn for the first two days of the quota hunt and I was hoping to at least hear/work some birds. This will be my first time to hunt turkeys at LBL. I used to hunt deer down there about 20 years ago. If they are that hard to find then I am wondering whether this is going to be worth my two days of vacation or should I just save them for the regular turkey season where I know there is turkeys.

Is there anybody hearing any birds at LBL right now? Is the turkey population in good shape this year? If I remember correctly I think 500 people are drawn per session, wonder what last years success rate was?

[SixPack07]

I say any day you have to hunt is worth it.

[quackrstackr]

If it's a blind trip and burning 2 vacation days to try to hunt LBL versus burning 2 days somewhere you know you will be in turkeys... it's a no brainer.. save your days and hunt during regular season.

Turkey hunting in LBL is not an easy proposition by any stretch of the imagination. The birds tend to be spread out over a huge area. Makes it tough to find them unless you put in some miles and legwork ahead of time. Even if you do find the birds, they seem to be a different breed there than they are everywhere else. Hardest birds to kill I've ever seen bar none.

Seems to have been a spike in the coyote population there too, which probably won't help anything.

[mcdenney]

Thanks for the comments but I don't expect any turkey to be easy, takes out all the fun. Therefore, I am ready for the challenge. However, my expectations are to be in a general area where you can hear/find some turkeys or know they are there somewhere. These guys are saying they haven't heard or seen any birds, in some cases over the period of a couple days to 3 days of scouting. No birds is a waste of time while some birds can be a challenge.

[SixPack07]

I understand that. Like someone else said though, hard to believe some guys when they say they aren't seeing anything. Might be trying to keep the place to themselves. Do you know and trust them? Good luck whatever you decide!

[nutcase]

alright sixpack, any time you what to go with me to lbl and look around, just jump in the truck and drive your butt down here(not mad just stating) personally I dont mind telling people where i see or have seen birds , because I can only shoot one a day and a limit of two this spring. and if I can help anyone out i am more than happy to do it.

[SixPack07]

Sorry, wasn't trying to say you weren't telling the truth. I just know some guys that wouldn't tell their best bud or mom where they had seen a turkey, especially if it was public land. I'm the same way as you. I tell everyone that cares to listen where I am seeing birds, what they are doing, and what I think they are going to be doing. I don't mind someone else getting to fill their tag, and if they did it on account of me giving them some good info, it feels like I scored a little win myself. Again, I didn't mean any harm.

[nutcase]

by the way sixpack, when are you going to grace Kentucky with your presense?

[mcdenney]

Didn't mean to start anything here guys. Just wanted to discuss some of the comments at the top of this post on "Where did they go". Thanks for the comments.

[SixPack07]

Already been through your state a few times and I'm sure I'll be back some day. I'll be sure to let all the newspapers know in your area when I'm coming so you can have a parade ready for me :rolleyes:

[quackrstackr]

Therefore, I am ready for the challenge. However, my expectations are to be in a general area where you can hear/find some turkeys or know they are there somewhere. These guys are saying they haven't heard or seen any birds, in some cases over the period of a couple days to 3 days of scouting. No birds is a waste of time while some birds can be a challenge.

That's what I was getting at. Besides LBL turkeys being hard to bag once you find them... it may take the 2 days that you are here to find them if you're not going to have the chance to do it beforehand.

[Mepperson]

Well, since last post we have seen two birds (maybe the same one). They were toms with a pretty good beards. Both birds were about to cross the road about 1/4 mile from each other. One at around 6:00pm yesterday and the other about noon today. Could someone give me an idea of the general pattern toms go through this time of year once leaving the roost? Some good information about this stuff should be somewhere on the net. Any ideas? Thanks for all the help. And by the way, I and Nutcase are straight up with you guys. I wouldn't start a post about not seeing birds if I had seen them. It would be kinda wasting my time and yours. :D

[SixPack07]

I'm not a turkey biologist or anything, but I guess this is what I have observed

They will gobble on the roost
They will fly down to where they know or think hens are
They will stay with the hens until the hens leave to go nest for the day
They will disappear
lol
Well then they usually head to a midday strutting area, sometimes in fields, sometimes in the woods on a little cleared ridgetop or old logging road, then they start working their way through the fields in the afternoons for some bug feasting, and head on their way to the roost for the end of the night. Again, nothing about this could be true to you, just what I've seen.

[Mepperson]

Do they move in a circle? I read or heard that they move in a loop or circle rather than straight out and back. Any truth to this? By knowing this it may help me locate a general pattern or route.