Turkey Scouting

shorthairs4life

shorthairs4life

New member
Wondering if anyone is out there patterning or scouting turkey yet. On one of my places things are looking great. Have the daily pattern dialed in. Hopefully they stay on this routine.

I'm doing some scouting on one of my other spots this weekend.

It's going to be a long 2 months. I'm already itching to get out.
 
Around here, we've got several inches of snow, with an icy crust on the ground. The only patterns I've seen is the grouping of birds on cropland that has had manure spread over the snow and ice, and the turkeys feeding on those areas. Some of the harvested corn fields have stalks protruding, after they have been harvested for stacks to use as bedding, and I've seen four or five birds searching for bits of food in those areas, but no patterns seems to exist.

I'm in dairy farm land, might be different elsewhere. I haven't been in woods for months.
 
I wait until they're gobbling. One morning of locating birds during or just prior to the season tells me everything I need to know for the way I hunt them.
 
wisturkeyhunter said:
I wait until they're gobbling. One morning of locating birds during or just prior to the season tells me everything I need to know for the way I hunt them.
Click to expand...

If I could get a bird to gobble like you then it would be productive for me as well. Hopefully I learned something from you and I will have better luck this year locating birds like you.
 
Scouting Update

The birds moved to the south end of the property today (or the lower land). The food plots on that end are now exposed. Still no gobbling yet.
 
Lot's of Wildlife on the move

I was out scouting and working the dogs yesterday and we ran into:

24 turkey (there were twice as many females than males).
1 rooster
1 woodcock
7 deer (1 was an albino. First time I ever saw one in the wild face to face).

I also ran into the Greater Milwaukee Brittany club and I'm getting registered to hunt test my shorthair on April 18th and 19th.

Was a very productive morning.
 
Spring looked to be about here, then the latest snow. Our company's facility is in Prairie du Chien and they got clobbered. We missed the storm on Sunday, but received 3" last night.

I haven't seen a robin yet, so the woodcock aren't migrating this far north. I expect we'll see them in a couple weeks.

Last weekend I was in Sturgeon Bay for a couple days of late ice fishing. While jigging for walleyes at sunrise a turkey yelped from shore 1/4 mile away. Didn't hear a gobble, though.

I'll get out in the woods early this weekend to listen and look for turkey sign up where I'm going to hunt in Vilas County. But I don't expect to hear any gobbling yet.
 
I'm not convinced weather has much to do with it. I've had gobblers come into yelping,gobbling the whole way with a fresh 6 inches on the ground.
 
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About 15 years ago going into the first turkey period, we have a 6" blizzard. Next day I was in the woods sitting in that snow. Called in a big tom and took him home. He came in gobbling and strutting most of the way. That day was warm and melted a lot of snow. Next morning back out again calling for a buddy. Had a tom hang up at 80 yards out for 1-1/2 hours. Hens would join him, then leave, he gobbled and strutted the entire time. Finally changed my calling and he came walking right in for an easy shot.

I wish I had time to scout right now, but don't. This past weekend hiking near my place in Vilas Co. saw sets of hen tracks in the snow. No gobbling that far north yet. They won't heat up for another month! I've got a May period for my tag and am going to try hunting up there, instead of the regular hunting grounds in Waupaca.
 
Saw probably a 100 turkeys on one of my places this weekend. Then same about 30 on the other.

No tag this year........:rolleyes:
 
I was up in Madison today (unfortunately for a funeral/not hunting). I saw 2 dozen turkeys or so on the way up:thumbsup:. Toms were strutting their stuff.:)

NIck
 
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