New turkey hunter, troubles.
 

I'm hunting a pretty wooded area in upstate NY, only have seen one bird make his way in on a lucky chance. I've set up decoys/trail cam all over, near possible roosting sites, and haven't been able to produce anything. Ive seen MANY birds toward a farmers field about a half mile from where I hunt. Any tips or ideas? I'm at a loss here and not sure if I have anything to hunt in terms of Turkey. Plenty of deer/deer droppings, but nothing in regard to turkey. Hunted the area for fall turkey and saw/heard nothing. I appreciate any input!

Can't kill them where they arn't. Get out in the morning and listen to see if there are any in your area

A half mile is nothing for a turkey to cover in search of food, love, or roost. With the limited information, it sounds as though you are close enough. Provide an aerial photo with arrows and captions. That will help towards giving you advice.

If you are seeing them near a farm field if I were you I would try to get permission to hunt that area, then set up along the edge of the field. The decoys set up in the woods with trail cameras are a waste of time and could hurt you by introducing the birds to a fake and wising them up. As was said, go out before sunup and or just before sundown and listen. Stay away from roosting sites, it is one thing to find out where they are and quite another to go poking around too close to them. Gobblers like to display in open areas in the woods or in fields, not in the thick stuff.

upload center free

The red is the area I can hunt, and the blue is where I have seen heavy bird activity.

The blue area is also owned by a Buddhist center, that prohibits hunting of any kind. Therefore hunting permission is out of the question.

See that name you have next to the blue area called "Brook" ?

Dollars to donuts that's where they roost !

All you can do is get in that corner of the woods closes to the brook; and call with a decoy exposed in the field at the edge of "your" woods.

I agree with what Sheridan has stated.. Do not be surprised if they come in silent as a lot of birds here tend to because of coyote activity in the area. I am not sure how they coyotes are there. But with no hunting in around those fields most likely it is pretty much like here. Just a hen decoy can do the trick on a love sick tom. Also the turkey flocks tend to break up during breading which should put some right into your area.. Good Luck and keep it safe.

Thanks for the input guys

If it were me - I'd look a for a new spot and use this as a backup. You have 3 things working against you:

1) That's a fair distance to pull birds.
2) You're trying to pull birds across multiple fields and over a road.
3) The drinking, dusting, feeding - and most likely nesting areas - are located by those two creeks in areas you can't hunt.

Collectively, what you're trying to do isn't impossible - but highly improbable. You need to have two mindsets to hunt here - (1) you will likely need to hunt almost every day, or (2) have low expectations. The only way you're bagging a bird here is by truly having the right call, on the right day, at the right time. In essence, you need to catch a horny gobbler at the exact time he has no hens and feels safe moving from his strut zone to your area.

I've hunted areas like that before and have killed birds late in the season in both NY and CT. IMO, your best chance is going to be after the hens nest, which tends to be later in the season - and the gobblers do typically come in silent at the end of May (they're tired - they've been breeding & strutting for 2+ months at that point). I now call these 'high-risk opportunities', because you will typically practice your calling more than anything else, and by hunting this area you are risking the chance to hunt other birds you can actually kill...

I say scout hard now, find more properties before May 1 and hunt other birds early in the season...