hello all,

Ok, 2nd year of turkey hunting, i was j/w, when scouting, is there a good general area to start looking? or can one spot be just as good as the next? I mean, is there a certain geographical characteristic that tends to breed more birds than other parts? or is it just a matter of picking a spot out of the thousands of acres of public land and trying to work from there? any help with be appreciated and used. thanks

Food plots, canopies for roosting sites, brush cover, and any ag land you can fin will most likely include turkies in some sort. Look for tracks, droppings, predator tracks, and like I said appropriate food plots. Also, look into the weather patterns, and when winds and the cold travel throughout the suspected habitat. All these things will lead to locating turks.

Turkeys on public land don't come easy!!!

The best way to find turkeys is to get in the woods and wear out a pair of boots or two

Good luck on your Quest for private land Gobblers

geterdun
- what part of MD are you from?
- One good characteristic of land holding early season gobsis to find elevation that faces east and south. The gobs like the morning sun, and the elevation allows them some escapeoptions. Otherwise, they like to roost over or near water.
-fsh

fsh--
i live in Baltimore, Md, but i would be hunting at Green Ridge State forest in far West Md, Allegany county.

Most tracks and droppings will last until the next rain, and feathers will generally last until the next year.

Lookfor if the turkeys are scratching in the leaves, the leaves will be piled up. Often, if the turkeys have been scratching there that day, the bottoms of the leaves will still be wet.An old scratching will not have any fresh dirt around it

Turkeys are never far from water. Find hollows with a creek, trickling streams, thick areas nearby and it should be turkeyville

Go out in the AM(before sunrise) and listen starting in late March. The toms should be gobbling by then, you should be able to pinpoint them. Don't be discouraged about hunting public land, past 5 years I have bagged 2 toms and a jake, all on public land. Just keep your calling to a minimum, calling just enough to let them gobblers know where you are.

bullcan,

that is excellent information, thanks. How do u suggest i pinpoint the turks? Should i just simply pick a spot, start from there by calling , then walking a hundred yards or so, then calling again? It just seems that Greenridge state forest (MD) is so large (44,000 acres) that finding turks woiuld be hard, but i guess its not because they are everywhere, i guess. anyways, thanks alot buddy....also, if i pinpoint birds in late march, what is the chance they will still be around that area come opening day?

Geterdun
- locate gobs in mid-March. (Best to look at thetime for sunup, and be on a high listeningpost 1/2 hourbefore sunup-they shouldbe gobbling on their own by that time.) Forget about opening week up at Greenridge unless you like lots of company/competion (so I've heard from guys who have hunted there in the past). One facet is that many gobs will be with hens on MD's opening day, and will escape hunters' efforts to tag them. The birds you locate before the season may still be there later on, looking for the hens that have gone to nest (after ~23 - 25 April). Try to find gobs in March where you have to hike at least 1/2 mile from a road or trailhead. When the forest has leafed out in the later part of the season, you will not be able to hear the birds from afar. It will help if you know where they used to hang out...
- good luck, fsh