Sharing Knowlege part 2

[Stumed]

First I would like to say thank you to Teacher and Droptinetom, for thier replys God bless you.

But, what would you do, if say the only area you could hunt was rough steep terrian, very few open woods, lots of deep valleys and cliffs (seems like every where I go is coverd in cliffs) some man made fields that you know everyone and his bother will be at., and if you go off the beaten bath, thats if you can get through the abodent thickets, that you are a map reading expert, or don't get depressed by the ugly laurel bottoms. Some of these areas just give me the creeps because they are so dense, there not open woodland with slow rolling and the sun shining threw, like your in a Bill Jordan video, if I could hunt land like that I would not have to go around, dessprit for Knowlege. I would get to be like you all, and get to bag one. I can't imagin what it is like to walk out of the woods with a Turkey over my shoulder, in stead of a froun on my face.

[KYhunter79]

Get out there and scout the turkey. Find out their habits. Where they roost, where they dust, how they like to feed, where their strut zones are, etc. Then setup according to being in between where the turkeys are where they want to be.

Hunting public land is tough because of the hunting pressure that the birds have adjusted to and because you may be calling against not only hens but other hunters. However, just because a woods doesn't look like you think it should doesn't mean that it doesn't hold turkeys or that you can't kill one there. You just have to put the effort forth and don't get discouraged. Stay with it.

[Stumed]

Thank you, but how can you tell wich wa y they are going, if you were a Turkey where would you go? Out in the woulds I try to hunt, food and water are plentyful, although I see some scrachings, and dropings. for a little bit thin its like the dissappear. As far as roosting, I hear they like the East side of finger riges in strong tall trees with long horizontal limbs, that keep some of the weather off them, and to look under those locations for droping,I have, and have never seen anything like that. But I know there are turkey out there.

[KYhunter79]

Tell which way they are going by observing them or finding out where they are roosting and then finding other places they go to and trying to cut them off somewhere in between there.

[Tom Threetoes]

If you can find fresh scratchings you can tell the direction of travel by looking at where the leaf litter is thrown up on the undisturbed leaves. Tom

[turkeyhunter91]

Turkeys love to roost around cliffs,and i have to agree with what was said find the turkey sign and you will find turkeys.

[turk2di]

Try hunting during the week when many will be gone! Plus if the terrain is that rough, many will not bother with it anyway;)

[predator]

Get out in the woods a couple weeks before season at various times, watch and listen. Do not call, but spend time trying to pattern the turkeys without spooking them. Daylight is the best time to locate gooblers on the roost. I always like clear calm mornings for listening for birds on the roost and windy, rainy days for scouting their feeding areas at mid-day. Not a sure thing, but smart pre-scouting will give you a jump start when season opens.

[BlueGrassVW]

First I would like to say thank you to Teacher and Droptinetom, for thier replys God bless you.

But, what would you do, if say the only area you could hunt was rough steep terrian, very few open woods, lots of deep valleys and cliffs (seems like every where I go is coverd in cliffs) some man made fields that you know everyone and his bother will be at., and if you go off the beaten bath, thats if you can get through the abodent thickets, that you are a map reading expert, or don't get depressed by the ugly laurel bottoms. Some of these areas just give me the creeps because they are so dense, there not open woodland with slow rolling and the sun shining threw, like your in a Bill Jordan video, if I could hunt land like that I would not have to go around, dessprit for Knowlege. I would get to be like you all, and get to bag one. I can't imagin what it is like to walk out of the woods with a Turkey over my shoulder, in stead of a froun on my face.

The place you describe above is my favorite type of terrain to hunt birds.
I dont have any real tips...the only thing I can say is you have to get out there and learn as much as you can through trial and error. Eventually it will become like second nature (hunting them that is). It took me a few seasons to be able to think turkey :D and Im still not an expert.

Also the terrain you describe above (DBNF) is just as easy to hunt birds on as the slow rolling hills in Bill Jordan Video IMO. You just have to have the birds in the area!

[waphunt]

i hunt in estill co one yr call a bird up the side of a clift you woudn;t think he woud come up it but he did { dead bird }

[buckfever]

First I would like to say thank you to Teacher and Droptinetom, for thier replys God bless you.

But, what would you do, if say the only area you could hunt was rough steep terrian, very few open woods, lots of deep valleys and cliffs (seems like every where I go is coverd in cliffs) some man made fields that you know everyone and his bother will be at., and if you go off the beaten bath, thats if you can get through the abodent thickets,

1. Scout for Roosting Areas - Hit the woods before sunrise in March or early April on several clear bluebird mornings. Walk the very top of the ridgelines and listen for the gobblers. Use a locator call (i.e. goose/crow/owl call) to induce them to gobble for you. If it's before light or right at first light, the tom is probably still on the roost. Once you hear a roosted tom, make a mental note of his location. After you hear one, move several hundred yards further and listen for other birds. At this point, you're trying to determine how many huntable toms you have in your hunting area. If you can locate 3 different toms, you're well on your way to scoring.

2. Try to Determine Travel Patterns - Let's suppose that you now know where 3 birds have been roosting. In your next trips to the woods, go back to those locations and listen for bird "A" again. If he's in the same spot, great, you're in business. Just hang around for a bit. Once he flies down, there's a real good chance that you'll hear him gobbling as he heads to a feeding/strutting area. Once you know this, you know (a) his roost site; and (b) the direction he heads once he flies down. You might be able to do this for multiple birds.

Pull up a satellite aerial photo of your hunting area off of one of the many websites (terraserver, yahoo maps, etc.). Pinpoint where the turkeys were roosted and the direction they were headed. If there are open fields on that line, I'd be betting that the tom was headed there to feed/strut. If there aren't any open fields, think about what's drawing him in that direction. It might be a big oak flat that still has acorns for him and his hens to feed on. He might be headed to an old logging road on a ridge top across the hollow to try to find some hens. If you can sort out that puzzle, you've almost won the battle.

Turkeys will tend to use the same strutting areas over and over. If the sun is already up and you hear a tom gobbling his head off that's not really moving, you've probably found a strutting area. Make a note of that. On days when you're not having any luck, go sit in that strut zone for a few hours, and see whether that tom won't come back. IMO, strut zones on logging roads or ridge tops at mid-morning can be deadly.

IMO, way too many turkey hunters make the mistake of relying almost exclusively on hunting roosted turkeys. They go in on opening day, wait to hear a gobble and then try to set up on that roosted bird. If they don't score and/or the tom goes off with hens, the hunters don't have a plan "B". They end up simply setting up blind on field edges where they saw toms while driving out of their farm (and believe me, I've been there many times and done exactly that). You, on the other hand, might not score on your roost hunt, but you will have a pretty good advantage in knowing the direction your tom likes to head. Just circle around in front of him and hammer his ass. Easy peasey. :)

:D

[EKY.MTN.HUNTER]

good post, Im sure many are re-thinking their opening morning strategy now (I am).