Looking for SD Pheasants~Hunt Swap?

[gimruis]

Get out to where you want to hunt, in the dark.Very important.

Honestly I think the most important factor when turkey hunting is to scout ahead of time. Find where they roost at night and then set up nearby. A lot of novice turkey hunters don't realize that turkeys aren't big roamers. They are very patternable on a daily basis. Find where they are spending the night and then go from there. Just setting up randomly without knowing if there is a flock of turkeys in the area, and then laying on your turkey call all morning is a recipe for failure.

 

[BRITTMAN]

Scouting turkey's can pay off.

Deeper woods gobblers often are pretty random in MN and often do not roost in the same tree or even the same area day to day. Very frustrating if you cannot quickly adapt.

Several times I have watched gobblers travel about a 4-5 mile circuit (not really a circle) on a day starting and ending in the same general location. Flocks of jakes can really travel ...

I have patterned turkeys that one could not see from the road, but they learned to move about mostly unseen using topography to remain hidden from normal human vantage points.

The ability to convince a hen to visit you often is the difference in successfully harvesting a tom. Boss hens can be territorial.

 

[Goosemaster]

Both of the above can be true. I like to be out early because I like to see the world as I like it wake up. And sometimes work a bird off the roost. But if I'm hunting public ground I won't even show until daylight. Because I want to know how many guys are in there. To many times I've had guys walk in on me while working a tom. I tried beating them there hoping they would leave when they saw me there like I would have. That didn't work! So I drive until I find a place where no one's there. I have shot some birds by going back to those crowded places around 11:00 when they are empty. Here a popular tactic is to hit as many places as possible to find a hot tom, so some guys won't be there long if nothing is gobbling. I always thought it was ridicules to leave a place you know there's birds in but whatever, I'm glad they do it!

I don't think I've ever gotten a gobbler on public land, but I like that tactic.

 

[Goosemaster]

Honestly I think the most important factor when turkey hunting is to scout ahead of time. Find where they roost at night and then set up nearby. A lot of novice turkey hunters don't realize that turkeys aren't big roamers. They are very patternable on a daily basis. Find where they are spending the night and then go from there. Just setting up randomly without knowing if there is a flock of turkeys in the area, and then laying on your turkey call all morning is a recipe for failure.

Yep, scouting is a key factor.

 

[BrdHntr]

Here's an article a good friend sent me this morning, and worth the short read. If you can't open the attachment, google - How wild turkeys find love - NY Times dated today -
I probably put as many hours in scouting as hunting, likely more. Locating birds to hunt is at least half the battle.....................