I only had a couple hours last weekend to do some scouting, so drove through my hunting areas (public land), and did some calling from the car to see if I could locate any birds. No responses.
I know this is not the ideal way to find birds, but has anyone had any success using this technique? I am using a diaphragm call.
I have not done a whole lot of turkey hunting, and have never even seen one during turkey season. I see them sometimes during deer season, but they are not in those locations when I come back in turkey season.

Birds on public land are generally call shy, and for the most part its not a good idea to call pre-season anyway, but I dont see any harm in gettin up early and goin around and locating the birds using a locater call (crow call/owl hooter etc) or even going early and listening for gobbles.

Sky guy that is one of the reasons "public land will make a turkey hunter out of ya"

I'm no pro by a long shot, but I wouldn't be calling to birds unless I'm hunting. Why educate them and make them call shy? I don't see any problem with driving along, stopping, shutting the engine, and using a locator call though, like a crow call. When I do this, I'm sure to turn off the engine and get out of the truck. If you don't, you may never hear them respond to your locator.

Here is something I found that was written by Ray Eye.


"I continue to believe the best way to learn how to call effectively is to actually get in the woods with them and call turkeys.
Locating turkeys with turkey calling prior to the season will teach you a lot about calling and give you a accurate count of turkeys in your hunting area. Calling does not spook birds, but too much activity will.
Do not walk thru your hunting area, in fact, it's probably best to simply call and listen from a distance the last week before the season. Calling after the season is also good practice.
Make sure you don't go to the same place every day to call the turkeys, especially on public ground. Your presence walking into and around the area may spook the birds. Go often enough to get your confidence up, but again, use common sense.
If you have a problem with calling prior to the season and you still believe the myth that calling spooks birds, maybe you should practice calling to turkeys where all your buddies are hunting."

Ding ding ding! I'll give a yessir to that pre-season technique.

In season hunts on those quiet mornings that require a location change, I'll do the same but with a mouth call. Stop and call, run and gun... get a gobbler to holler and you can be back in the game. Remember that depending on how close his reply, you could need to set up very quickly. I always prefer to step into the woods before calling so cover can be reached without delay. Had that happen before, wasn't ready, and got ran over. He was a good bird too, but I never got to shoulder the gun.

I sure do appreciate the tips. I had the whole day yesterday, and bought a crow call. I covered a lot of ground.. mostly on foot. I never got a response, but feel like I have a chance now. I DID attract a flock of crows late in the day which was pretty cool. At least I had them fooled. Around sundown I heard a series of owls calling, but did not hear turkeys respond to them either.

Hey, I found some turkey tracks in one location and I am sure they were only a few days old. Should I try hunting that spot for a whole day, or should I continue with the locator call to find a live bird? Also, will turkeys respond to the locator any time of day, or only certain times?

I do want to say that i might sound rude or a bit cocky but if you sky_guy have a few hours to kill why don't you get out of your car and walk into the woods instead of driving around public land abuseing it by getting turkeys call smart and ruin it for other hunters who use this land as well..

You should know better then to start useing a call before you hunt when the season opens and by calling before the season it gets the birds smart to calls and harder for others to hunt or bring in the birds..

I have heard so many seasoned hunters tell me if your going to hunt on public land don't be a car hunter and get out and walk deep in the woods and find these birds and watch and follow where then hens go and thats where you will find the toms going back to the hens and with you calling and driving around areas that will scare off turkeys and make them call smart makes me have less respect for you and can ruin a great hunt for other hunters who don't do any calling and use their legs instead of being lazy when you have a ( few hours ) to kill.. [:@] walking never hurt anyone and it saves on fuel

Dude.. I really didnt know. That's why I'm asking. I am not trying to be lazy.. I just dont live close to a hunting area, and dont always get as much time in the woods as you do.. so when I do get a chance I want to use the best method to try to locate a turkey.
Now that I know better, I will definitely spend more time walking. In fact, if you read my last post you would know that is what I already did last weekend.