RE: Scouting Questions
I stop spending a lot of time in the woods looking for scratchings, droppings, feathers etc. I just go out a couple of weeks before the season and everyday thereafter I can and listen from high points. I prefer to listen from open fields, by doing so I can better determine exactly where a gobbler is calling from.
Gobbles in the early morning and just before dark can be heard a very long distance. I have about ten of these locations I have used for many years. By using this method I can locate many more birds than walking through the woods. Scouting by looking for "Sign" alerts the gobblers of ones presence and limits the area one can hear birds at prime time. The details aren't important hearing the bird on his roost is important to me and all I need to know for starters.
I am able to determine close to where the gobbler is roosting, get there before daylight to hear him sound off and give me his exact location, so I can move in close......