Turkey scouting

Back at it tomorrow! Supposed to be rain starting around 3 am. I find a way arm rain doesn’t bother the turkeys at and sometimes can be very good. I don’t know if they are picking bugs or worms but they like to feed during rainstorms!
 
Are these the same bird?
Caught on trail cams that are about 250yds apart.
One pic at 4:04p, the other at 5:44p.20200428_195604.jpg20200428_195546.jpg
 
I made lots of mistakes this morning. Mistake 1. it was windy. I didn’t have a good stake for my decoy and it blew over.
mistake 2. I have been watching two toms come out to a field every morning. for a few days. Last night I saw them enter the woods right at dark several hundred yards from where they had been coming out at in the morning. I set up where they had been coming out, they came out of the woods where they went in the night before.
mistake 3. I didn’t want to risk going out in the open to fix the decoy so I left it on its side thinking it was close enough to the ground it wouldn’t matter. The two toms after entering the field bolted towards where I was calling from, until they saw the pile of decoy on its side.
Mistake 4. I was planning on being late for work but In a disgust I quit at 6:15 and walked to the car thinking I’ll just be on time to work.
mistake 5. I looked back across the field and 5 hens were now feeding where I had just left with the two toms in tow.
I’ll be back at it tomorrow. The good news they were not spooked. They were in the field again tonight.
 
Gellar said:
I made lots of mistakes this morning. Mistake 1. it was windy. I didn’t have a good stake for my decoy and it blew over.
mistake 2. I have been watching two toms come out to a field every morning. for a few days. Last night I saw them enter the woods right at dark several hundred yards from where they had been coming out at in the morning. I set up where they had been coming out, they came out of the woods where they went in the night before.
mistake 3. I didn’t want to risk going out in the open to fix the decoy so I left it on its side thinking it was close enough to the ground it wouldn’t matter. The two toms after entering the field bolted towards where I was calling from, until they saw the pile of decoy on its side.
Mistake 4. I was planning on being late for work but In a disgust I quit at 6:15 and walked to the car thinking I’ll just be on time to work.
mistake 5. I looked back across the field and 5 hens were now feeding where I had just left with the two toms in tow.
I’ll be back at it tomorrow. The good news they were not spooked. They were in the field again tonight.
Click to expand...
 
Leave that decoy home, Sounds like You have em some what patterned and they allready saw your dead decoy. They are now Educated to it , Good luck!.............BOB!
 
Outsmarted by the pea-brains. No one else at the access, so I shouldered my pack with the plan to follow the gobbles. One close at 4-something, but I couldn’t pinpoint it. After that, heard very distant gobbles E and W. Headed E to a roosting area and heard 2 hens clucking, but nothing else. Continued walking a long way and nothing. On the way back bumped one of the hens, still on the roost at 6:45. Almost back to the truck I hear gobbles W. Start off that way and bump two turkeys off the road. Hear another tom gobbling his head off further W, and head his way. When I’m close, I think he is just on the other side of a windrow - great ambush. Except, turns out he is on my side of the windrow and I’m busted again. Hike further and get a tom on private to gobble to my yelps, but he won’t budge. Off for some honey-dos and back at it tonight, different spot.image.jpgimage.jpg
 
Gobbling good at first light this morning I was set up in a little bit different spot than yesterday and the five hens that I have been seeing in the field came right to my decoy but the Tom’s were not with them. They were gobbling very close by in the woods but I could not get them to come out any further. Next time I hunt this area I think I will set up in a Nother spot closer to where they seem to be roosting. I don’t know if I will hunt again until Monday I have a meeting tomorrow for work and I typically don’t hunt on weekends because I don’t like dealing with the crowds. With the warmer weather I am hoping to be able to set up a blindOn some private ground in the hopes of my kids tagging along in the afternoons. I absolutely hate to sit in a blind but I guess I can make an exception to bring my four-year-old and 18-month-old. I do not have much hopes for killing one while we are out but it will be worth it just to get them outside hunting with me.
 
Long walk in to the evening spot. Bumped a hen on the way there. About a 100 yards from my ambush, I hear a gobbler, then a second one. Slowly ease myself forward, looking for a watchful head. Once the cover is about gone, I set up to call. Both birds aggressively thunder back from about 40 yards, but I can’t see them. This goes on for about 10 minutes, and they are pacing back and forth. Distant gobbles join in. I crawl forward and I see them both walk over to private at 20 yards. I keep hearing the “fump” of their tails fan out over and over as they strut. I feel like it’s about 110 degrees inside my facemask, and my heart is pounding. One of them gobbles, and 2 gobbles from public thunder back, just 15 yards away! One of the original gobblers flies off in terror, and the second one reluctantly follows on foot, glancing back repeatedly at his lost hot hen (me). Once he is far enough away not to spook, I pivot to face the new crew. I let out a soft yelp and two gobbles thunder back - close! It’s thick brush but I find a tiny opening and get my gun up in case they decide to come in. The first one comes into view at 8 yards, and I’m 99% sure it’s a tom, but I want to see the beard first to confirm. Then the second one drops in, then a third! Now I know why the first two fled - outnumbered. 3 ropes, but they are all just standing there together in a bunch, and no way to shoot just one of them. They are searching for the hen that’s not there, eyes everywhere. At this point my heart is pounding so hard I can’t sit still. What seemed like 5 minutes was probably 1, but finally one fantail gives a couple feet of separation from the other two. No chance to move while eyes aren’t prying, so just slowly put the dots over his neck and boom. The other two pop up in the air, then walk off. I go to make sure he’s lights out, but when I get there I’m seeing stars and about to pass out. He looks like a goner, so I just sit for a moment. Easily the most exhilarating hunt for me ever.
5011526C-1E6B-4551-8417-CB1088F09DC2.jpeg
 
ElkFever2 said:
Long walk in to the evening spot. Bumped a hen on the way there. About a 100 yards from my ambush, I hear a gobbler, then a second one. Slowly ease myself forward, looking for a watchful head. Once the cover is about gone, I set up to call. Both birds aggressively thunder back from about 40 yards, but I can’t see them. This goes on for about 10 minutes, and they are pacing back and forth. Distant gobbles join in. I crawl forward and I see them both walk over to private at 20 yards. I keep hearing the “fump” of their tails fan out over and over as they strut. I feel like it’s about 110 degrees inside my facemask, and my heart is pounding. One of them gobbles, and 2 gobbles from public thunder back, just 15 yards away! One of the original gobblers flies off in terror, and the second one reluctantly follows on foot, glancing back repeatedly at his lost hot hen (me). Once he is far enough away not to spook, I pivot to face the new crew. I let out a soft yelp and two gobbles thunder back - close! It’s thick brush but I find a tiny opening and get my gun up in case they decide to come in. The first one comes into view at 8 yards, and I’m 99% sure it’s a tom, but I want to see the beard first to confirm. Then the second one drops in, then a third! Now I know why the first two fled - outnumbered. 3 ropes, but they are all just standing there together in a bunch, and no way to shoot just one of them. They are searching for the hen that’s not there, eyes everywhere. At this point my heart is pounding so hard I can’t sit still. What seemed like 5 minutes was probably 1, but finally one fantail gives a couple feet of separation from the other two. No chance to move while eyes aren’t prying, so just slowly put the dots over his neck and boom. The other two pop up in the air, then walk off. I go to make sure he’s lights out, but when I get there I’m seeing stars and about to pass out. He looks like a goner, so I just sit for a moment. Easily the most exhilarating hunt for me ever.
View attachment 138645
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My heart is racing just reading the report! Awesome job!
 
Well, I usually don’t go out on weekends because I don’t like to fight crowds but this morning I was awaken at 4 am with kid duty. By the time he was back asleep it was 4:45, just enough time to get dressed and go down the road a few miles. I sat next to a tree and waited for gobbles but they never came. Finally a crow called and a turkey shock gobbles a ways off. I moved closer about 200 yards and sat down again. Yelped a series and the gobbles thundered from down the hill. I waited for a few minutes and yelped again, same result. Except now he had cut the distance in half! Wait a few more minutes and yelp! Now he is really close, within 100 yards. I put the box call down, got my gun up and turned in his direction slightly. The Tom gobbles, looking for me so I softly yelp and put back at him and wait. It seems like 2 or 3 minutes and I’m thinking I lost him when I see him through the multi flower rose all puffed up and on display. He’s coming at my decoy I just painted on Wednesday and needs to take about 3 more steps, he’s only about 15 yards but he’s still behind the brush. He turns and starts to bolt. It’s now or never so I shoot as he’s going away. I can’t see him so I quickly jump up and he’s flailing in a pile! On the way out I I went past a few apple trees and took a quick glance then under the last tree there were 6 grey morels!
 
Gellar said:
Maybe I enjoy scouting for turkeys more then I do hunting them...maybe. It seems every year there’s a few threads on how to turkey hunt. I believe scouting is the #1 factor in successful turkey hunting. Here is how I do it: I mainly hunt a large piece of public land for Iowa (2500 acres give or take)that is mostly timber with a few clear cuts and oak regeneration areas. It has a gravel road running through the middle of it that divides it 1/3 on the southwest and 2/3 on the northeast. It is very rough Mississippi river bluff country. Every morning between dawn and sunrise I stop at 2-3 locations and listen for 5 minutes each spot along the road. I shut the vehicle off, stand in the middle of the road and drink my coffee. If I hear a turkey I mark the time, temp, wind direction and approximate wind speed and of course where I think it is roosted at. I start doing this about a month before the season. In the afternoon I drive the road and look for turkeys along the road or in the power line right of way. And mark those down too. I have found looking back at my notes that the turkeys do about the same pattern year in and year out, regardless of conditions. They change their roost every 3-4 days, but stay within a general area of where they are going to feed. After all of this scouting I hunt 1st season and 4th season. Iowa has 4 turkey seasons and you can hunt 2 of them if you are using a gun. Each season gets progressively longer with the 1st season starting on April 13 and ending on April 16 this year. I have never used a pop up blind but prefer to be mobile and go to where the birds are. I usually sit with my back to a tree and hopefully a deadfall in front of me. The last several years using these scouting techniques, minimal calling, and a lone hen decoy I have killed a Tom on opening morning of the 1st season.

I’d love to hear how you scout and hunt for turkeys! Do you scout similar or do you just show up and hope for the best?
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Hello there. I just passed my hunter safety course and would like to learn how to hunt both turkey and deer. How would ypu reccomend i go about this? None of my family or friends hunt otherwise I would ask for them to show me the ropes. I can use turkey calls pretty well and love to hike.

My ideas range from asking a game warden for advice to even hiring a guide for my first few hunts. Any thoughts? Thank you, have a great day!
 
reynolds2063 said:
Hello there. I just passed my hunter safety course and would like to learn how to hunt both turkey and deer. How would ypu reccomend i go about this? None of my family or friends hunt otherwise I would ask for them to show me the ropes. I can use turkey calls pretty well and love to hike.

My ideas range from asking a game warden for advice to even hiring a guide for my first few hunts. Any thoughts? Thank you, have a great day!
Click to expand...

Where ya from?
 
Congratulations on passing hunters education. I’m a hunters Ed instructor and enjoy getting new hunters like yourself afield. The best advice I can give you to be successful is to scout and know the behaviors of your quarry. I spend more time scouting, especially for turkeys, than I do hunting. Try to learn something new everyday you are in the woods.
 
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