scouting?
 

This is going to be my first year turkey hunting. I hear alot of people talking about going out and scouting. What I am supposed to be looking for when I am out there? Any help would really be appreciated. Thanks, DA

RE: scouting?
 

First of all let me say whatever you do DON"T go out, and use your turkey calls scouting. It alerts the Tom's to your calls using, and often causes them to hang up or not respond at all.
As far as scouting I think its a must before season opens. I like to go out at dawn, and just listen to where Tom's are roosting, and gobbling from. I then try to move closer to them, within 100yds is plenty. I try to see where they fly down, and which direction they move to. This will tell me where to setup. If I can't go out at dawn. I go near dusk, and see where toms fly up. If I go out, and don't hear any gobbles naturally I'll use a crow call or Owl hooter to spark a gobble. Anything along these lines to help locate roosted birds helps you pick setups.
As far as daytime scouting I may glass fields from a distance, look for dusting areas, and scratching areas where feed. Droppings under tree's are a good sign of a roosting tree. Feathers, wing tip drags can indicate a Tom's strutting zone. All these can also give you ideas of setups. Hey its all part of the fun, Good Luck & Enjoy!!

RE: scouting?
 

BuckAlley gave you some good advice, but I will scout anytime of the day I get the chance. I figure that I want to know where they are using and what time of the day they are there. You have to keep your eyes open and watch out not to spook them. I look for leaves raked back where they have been feeding, dusting spots, drag marks, droppings, tracks (note whether there is a general direction that they are traveling. Also note the size of the tracks- when you see a tom' tracks, you'll know it.) Sometimes I will backtrack the tracks to see if I can find where he flew down. His feet will land together ant then he will start walking. If you know the area well, you may be able to tell where they are heading and avoid spooking them. A perfect scouting trip is oe whe you go in, find sign, make solid deductions about what that sign means, and get ou undetected. You will probably not know whether you were detected, but you can try. Also, I don't go "afield" the last week or 2 BEFORE opening day. I will only try to locate them on the roost then. While I'm out there, I also look for antler sheds. And if you find any box turtle shells, let me know. I like to make turkey calls out of them.

Don't forget to have fun!

RE: scouting?
 

Good advice, especially about not calling during scouting. Another thing you want to accomplish is to get to know your hunting spot real well. For one thing,you'll be moving around in the dark a lot. For another, you'll need to know where the fencelines, brushy areas, ditches, and other obsticles and travel lanes are. You want to be sure that when you set up on a hot bird, that he can get to you, and reduce the possibility of getting him hung up.