cammogunner

alright spring has sprung here in mo and the turkeys should be about ready to get goin..but i have a problem i need some help with in the way of scouting so here goes..i have been out scouting a few times recently and have found nothing but feathers under trees so i came back too the tree i found the feathers under twice and they are not comeing back to that tree to roost or anything and i have yet to see any on the place any advice on scouting is great..thanks in advance

turkey harvester

They don't always roost in the same trees. Look for scratching in the leaves as well. I'm in southern Mo and they are gobbling their fool heads off. Get out there before daylight and listen. If you hear some then you might have a few. If all you see is hens then you can bet a gobbler wont be far behind. They are going to roost in different spots but you still should be able to listen and locate.

cammogunner

Ok I was a lil bit fuzzy on whether or not they roosted in the same tree every night I have been out in the at dusk and used a crow call to try to locate them with no sucsess will they respond differently in the early morning to that call

Mr. Longbeard

You don't need to shock gobble them... If you have birds on your place you'll hear em...

Erno86

Hens like to lay there eggs in protective brushy areas, where their less visible from predators. Try to find open strut zones near the hen's egg laying area. Keep an eye out for turkey dust bath's --- most likely found on old logging/fire roads or open areas where the ground has been exposed --- with that being a 1 foot or larger diameter depression in the loose soil; so the turkey's can shed parasites. Also...keep an eye out for the J-hook dropping of a tom, and a round splat dropping of a hen. Look for turkey tracks on old logging roads and stream crossings. Turkey's like to take the path of least resistance, and eat dung beetles under the cow pies.

Erno86

The gobbler's should respond {shock gobble} more aggressively to a crow call in the morning or in the afternoon, but not just before roosting time. But that's just speculation on my part, since I never tried to shock gobble a tom just before roosting time. Listen for wing flaps, clucks, yelps and cackles during roosting time. A tom might be all "gobbled-out" when roosting time comes along.

RPD63

I have had some pretty good success getting a tom to gobble at dusk by cackling on my mouth call. I guess it sounds like a hen flying up to her roost. To my understanding, when a tom gobbles on the roost at dusk, it's his way of telling the ladies where he is roosting for the night. If I can get him to gobble, it's usually only once.
Good hunting.

buckman11

now this might just be me but I have always been told not to use a turkey call before the season starts. crow and owl calls are fine for shock gobblin but never use a hen call before the season opens or you will run the risk of them figurein out youre not a real hen before you even start huntin

RPD63

True buckman11. Our season is in full swing though. The risk of calling to birds with a turkey call, before the season has started, is that the gobbler may be coming to your call without you knowing it. The cackle I use to get the tom to gobble is after he is on the roost. It is very unlikely that he would come to my call after he has roosted. Good point though.