RE: new washington turkey hunter
Shaunpm, giving up a good turkey spot is like losing your virginity to an ugly chick. No matter how excited you are about it, you don't dare tell a soul. And if you do, you speak in general terms. "It was OK", or "she didn't look too bad". You following me here.<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle> Good ones, especially on the west side, are hard to come by. I won't leave you hanging though. My partner and I are going to check out a few spots in the Capitol Forest on Sunday morning. I'll e-mail you to let you know what I know about the Capitol Forest in general, but I won't get specific. I've got to hunt 'em too. I will say that the birds are pretty well scattered out from what I understand. I also think the area around Summit Lk gets the least amount of pressure around there.
If you've found droppings, I'd spend my time looking that area over REALLY well. You've got to remember that your not dealing with elk, deer, or even Easterns like you see in videos. There are so few in any given area, that you may have found as good a spot as there is around that area. I may be asking you for directions to your spots. Spend a few days in there poking around. If you can get in there at first light or dusk, listen to where they are flying down/up from. Listen for hens tree yelping. They tend to roost in the same general areas, so if they stay there until the season rolls around you're halfway there. Then, just show up the evening before the hunt and roost your bird for the next morning.
If you bump the birds now, you aren't hurting your chances during the season. It will also be a good time to see what kind of gobblers are around since they will be in larger groups. As I said earlier, their patterns will likely change between now and April 15, but you will have a good idea of the number of birds in the general area. Just keep your eyes open for J turds, and pay attention to the size of the tracks you see. It's really hard to mistake a mature gobbler's track for a hen's. Feathers can give info too, so don't ignore them and walk on by. Shoot me an e-mail anytime you want to talk turkey.
Hunt hard, live right, and tell your kids you love 'em!