buckrubboy

What is the easiest way to find where they roost when your scouting befre the season starts? Sit and watch them before they fly up or what?

Shawn Perkins

yeah i just go to where i think they are the night before. and if i see them, i just leave and dont spook them. they should be in that general area in the morning

FlywayControl

Listen at daylight.

wi_buckstomper

go in early find a good listening spot and wait to hear them gobbling up in the trees.

TNHagies

Go to the general area you expect them to be. They normaly will do some calling of an evening. Take an owl hooter and a crow call. Many-a-birds I've killed after roosting them the night before. The trick is not screwing it up once you roost them

vmartin

if i can add something i would say that some turkeys get down out of the trees in the morningthe same way they went up in the evening but other turkeys get down going one way in the morning and enter a different way in the evening. it just takes a little scouting to see if they have a routine like this. when hunting hened up toms right off the roost it is good to know this as you may not get a chance at them even thoughyou are set up on the roost tree.

RoundTopGobbler

Like TNHagies said go to the general area where you believe the birds to be and and use an owl hooter around the dusk/dawn times and a crow call during the day.I have beaver pond near where I hunt and in the spring we have geese coming in and out all the time so I also carry a goose call with me as well. The birds gooble like crazy to the geese, and sometimes when nothing else can get them to gobble a few honks will get them.

Strut&Rut

Vocal birds are always the best sign, but if you're hunting an unfamiliar area, there are a few rules of thumb...

First, look for physical sign. Scout the area as hard as you can during the middle of the day. Look for high traffic areas, and then look for evidence of the roosting area.

Second, try to determine what types of trees the turkeys in your area prefer for roosts, and then go directly to the base of those trees and look for feathers and/or droppings. A good roost area will be littered with sign.

Third, a good roost area typically has at least 2 of the following characteristics:

1) a nearby water source
2) a nearby food source
3) a nearby dusting area
4) the trees are situated either on a bluff or 1/4 down the leeward side (i.e. they will often fly up from the summit, and then pitch down onto the summit in the morning)
5) a nearby green area (Notice I did not say field. Green strut zones are sometimes only 10 yd square).
6) a nearby briar patch or blowdown (i.e. a "thick" area that can accomodate nesting hens...)

Although it often depends on the turkey population and the hunter density in your area, good roost trees are used by several generations of turkeys. Actually, good roost trees are seldom abandoned (if ever) unless something (typically man-made) encroaches on the turkey's perceived sense of safety. Roost areas will often change due to season (i.e. summer vs. winter ranges), but stay quite consistent in most areas of the US...

Hope this helps...

S&R

spudrow

One of the best ways to scout is when you're hunting other game. For example, when you hunt for deer always be on the look out for signs of other game and vice versa. Strut&rut gave you some good advise. Just always be on the look out though.


Spudrow from Mo

OntElk

Hearing birds is great but sometimes they don't talk much and you are limited to thier shcedule. I like to actually get out like Strut&RUT says. The evidence of roost trees most valuable is usally obvious when you find it. Wing feathers! The knock those out getting to roost. If you have an annual roost location like R&S described you should find lots of eveidence with droppings and wing feathers. Once you find trees they roost in get to know what it is they like. Sometimes I'll hear birds on the limb in an area. After walking into that area you come across a tree or group of trees that jumps out at you. They are on the side of a ridge, over water or a creek, and just have the limbs and structure that looks right. That helps in confirming what's going on and where to set up in future I find.