Hunting Forum

I was hunting a large flock in an area this fall to no avail. After noticing some fresh scratching in an area I made some clucks and yelps. about forty yards away I saw three young gobblers starting to cross the tram in front of me. I was able to make a shot on the third gobbler and harvested a 17lb gobbler. The food was spotty and I was able to find a ridge that had acorns and the turkey were working it hard. Sometimes its not the amount of calling you do but when you do it. The clucks and yelps got them interested enough to come and see where the other turkeys were.

Tram!? You ain't from around these here parts are ya Ritchie 

Grizz, sounds lack hiz "gobbler" wuz a Jake to uz tu.....

Depending on the area turkey have different areas, not always, in the spring than in the fall especially if they are near farming grounds. The hens tend to nest near fields and clearings where possible in the spring and toms won't be too far away. After saying that I will say this that I have harvested more gobblers in the mountains that had no farms near it. So like B. Warner said it depends on feed and security of an area. There are no real absolute answers to where you'll find turkeys except to say that there needs to be feed in an area where you would expect to find turkeys. This year was a prime example here in central Pa. Feed was exteremely scattered and I hunted hard for over a week to find feed and sure enough when I fould acorns I found the turkeys and was able to harvest a nice gobbler which I called in. The answer is scouting areas prior to turkey season to see if they are there. Spring makes it easier to find gobblers because they are very vocal and you will usually hear them if they are in a given area. If you have no other resources such as buddies who hunt turkey then I would say to purchase some turkey hunting dvds that involve areas similiar to where you hunt, ie: eastern turkey hunting videos if you hunt in the mid atlantic and north east united states, etc. They make it look easy sometimes, but remember they edit the tapes and sometimes you don't know how much time they have spent getting the turkey. Hunting on public ground where the turkey are pressured will make a big difference in their response to calls also. If an area is pressured alot sometimes they will come in silent, not answering your calls. I have had big gobblers only gobble once or twice after calling and then they appear within shooting range. Turkey hunting is a sport where you'll continue to learn something new every year and that has been my experience over the past 42 years hunting them. Turkeys are like people no two are exactlly alike and they will surprise you. This year makes the 35th turkey that I have have harvested and I can honestly say that I learned another lesson from those three gobblers that I called in so that makes turkey hunting an evovling sport for me. One thing that I will say is that turkey hunting is never boring! If you don'thave any calls get one from B. Warner here at this forum and practice yelps and kee kee runs for fall hunting and yelps and clucks for spring turkey. Contact him and am sure that he will be able to help you out with other things as well. Turkey hunting is an addiction and once you score you will be forever hooked!

Yep Ritchey....here in this area , it is rare that burds use same area in fall and spring....and double yep on recommending Brian's calls!
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