ROADHUNTER: TIME TO DO YOUR TURKEY HOMEWORK

ROAD HUNTER

In many regions throughout the West, hen turkeys move to higher elevations to nest, and rest assured, where hens go, toms won’t be far.

TIME TO DO YOUR TURKEY HOMEWORK

March offers Western hunters a great opportunity to scout out gobblers ahead of the spring season.

STORY AND PHOTOS BY SCOTT HAUGEN

As it had done most days over the past two months, the lone tom strutted and gobbled its way along the ridge. This time was different, though, as it was opening day of spring turkey season.

A logged unit separated me from the tom by 200 yards, and at the bottom of the cut, I had a pair of decoys in place: a strutting tom and an upright hen. Tucked into a briar patch 20 yards from the decoys, I let out a soft yelp on a diaphragm call, then watched as the tom quickly stacked its wings, sprung into the air and coasted downhill, sticking a landing right next to my decoys.

In less than five minutes of hunting, my tag was filled. “That didn’t take long” was a comment that caught my attention on a social media post I’d made about the hunt. I smiled and thought, “If you only knew.”

I first learned of that big tom four months prior, when I set up trail cameras on the ridge. I always run my trail cameras on video mode so I can see and hear what’s happening. By opening day, I had logged dozens of hours scouting this bird, so to say my spring hunt “didn’t take long” couldn’t have been further from the truth.

TURKEY FLOCK TRANSITIONS As a former biology teacher, I approach my hunting from a scientific angle. With turkeys, this means locating birds in large winter flocks and tracking their movements and behavioral shifts with each passing day.

In March, turkey behavior is rapidly changing. Toms go from tolerating one another in bachelor flocks all winter, to establishing dominance through posturing, to fighting in an effort to

gain breeding rights. Throughout the West, big country impacted by snow, rain, even high winds and sunshine, can influence turkey behavior.

A tom’s mind is consumed with breeding this time of year. Hens are also intent to breed, and once they start laying eggs, they turn reclusive. While the urge to reproduce is what makes spring turkey hunting so special, don’t forget that turkeys must eat, drink, take dust baths and roost. When I started turkey hunting over 30 years ago, one of the biggest mistakes I made was focusing too much on the breeding cycle of turkeys, neglecting a turkey’s daily survival needs.

In many Western states, turkeys move to higher elevations as spring progresses; hens often move to high ground to nest in seclusion. I’ve witnessed hen movement from the Coast Range into the Rocky Mountains, and toms always appear to follow them. At the same time, many turkeys are year-round residents in low elevations, where food is easy to get and predation is light. Preseason scouting reveals if you’re hunting homebody birds versus turkeys on the move, and thus provides an efficient starting point. Hens should be a primary target when scouting this time of year.

The height of turkey breeding is about one month prior to the start of hunting seasons. However, peak breeding can see delays, most commonly due to weather. Keeping track of daily tom and hen movement this time of year is important, as is monitoring behavior shifts among toms, from passive to aggressive.

Exactly how a turkey behaves and when behavioral changes occur can vary from year to year, even drainage to drainage. I used to think turkey behavior shifts were dictated by photoperiodism, as with big game, but after years of experience afield, I believe much of a spring turkey’s behavior is dependent upon weather conditions more so than light levels. Many years I’ve seen the height of the breeding season delayed when conditions were cold and wet; other years I’ve seen it well underway in late February.

Turkeys don’t always behave in a specific way, day in and day out, year after year, and I think the big rugged land and diversity of habitats throughout the West impact this. Exposure to severely cold late winters and delayed springs also affects turkey movement and behavior, which is why scouting is important.

Author Scott Haugen has been hunting turkeys throughout the West for over 30 years, and credits much of his success to preseason scouting efforts. He took this tom last spring, after many weeks of scouting the area. UNDERSTANDING SIGNS When scouting, you don’t have to see turkeys in order to succeed. A good place to start is with tracks. A mature tom’s track will measure up to 5 inches from the back toe to the tip of the long middle toe. A hen’s track will be about 4 inches; a jake’s falls in between. The size of a turkey’s track changes with age and the older a tom, the bigger and

By monitoring tom behavior and watching hen flocks in late winter and early spring, you’ll learn a lot about where to focus hunting efforts. thicker its feet become, often revealing swollen knuckles.

Loose feathers on the ground also tell a story. The breast feathers of toms are edged in black, while a hen’s breast feathers are tan or off-white on the fringe. Tom and hen droppings also differ. The droppings of toms are usually in a J-shape, while a hen’s droppings are typically coiled and commonly contain more white coloration. Find signs of toms and you’ll know where to focus hunting efforts.

If you come across a hen and tom track together, look closely. If there are no drag marks made by the tom’s primary wing feathers while strutting, follow them. If they’re traveling in a fairly straight line with little sign of pausing, you’ve likely found a hen temporarily away from her nest in search of food. Once that hen goes back to her nest, there will be a lone tom eager for

If you want to increase the odds of filling a turkey tag, preseason scouting is important, and using trail cameras, critical. Here, the author sets his favorite trail camera, a Stealth Cam model DS4K.

companionship, so mark that spot.

By nature, toms visit the same strutting area day after day, gobbling and calling to attract hens. Strutting grounds are great places to focus hunting efforts. When you take a mature tom from a strutting area, return later in the season, as another tom will have likely taken over the location. Locating strutting grounds during preseason scouting is a solid approach with high success when it comes time for the hunt.

Strutting grounds, roost trees and pathways connecting the two should be pinpointed while scouting. Locating multiple toms is wise in case you need a backup plan or have multiple tags to fill.

One of the biggest clues to help fill tags is inspecting the crop of the first tom you take. Once you tag a tom, open its crop to see what it’s been eating and hunt amid those food sources. Early in the spring, you’ll often find grass and clover, while later in the spring, the diet shifts to grass seeds and insects. Preseason scouting will reveal where these food sources will be.

Preseason scouting missions don’t require seeing birds in order to be a success. Finding sign, like these tracks, can also reveal a lot about what’s happening in the turkey woods.

SCOUTING TOOLS Trail cameras are your eyes in the woods when you’re not there. I use trail cameras year-round for turkeys, always setting them on video mode. Still pictures allow you to count birds and size up toms, but photos miss a lot of what’s happening.

Capture a photo of a lone hen and that’s all you see. But get a 10-second video of a hen and you might hear multiple toms gobbling behind the camera, or notice birds moving in the background, or capture an aggressive hen strutting like a tom.

The best trail cameras I’ve used are Stealth Cam DS4Ks, and I like hanging them 2 to 6 feet high, pointing them down a trail, not perpendicular to it. You want to study birds moving toward or away from the camera, not capture a fleeting side glimpse of one. Watching video clips will reveal a lot more than a simple photo can, and the more trail you can capture in the shot, the better.

My second best scouting tool is a spotting scope. Using a spotter, or high-powered binoculars, will allow you to locate, size up and study turkeys from afar. When scouting, the goal is to find turkeys without being seen. Come opening day, you don’t want birds knowing you’ve been watching them, for an educated tom is hard to fool.

By the start of the turkey season, you should have multiple toms located, have strutting grounds marked, know the whereabouts of jakes for future seasons, be aware of where hens are, and understand what’s happening in the courting, breeding, feeding and roosting behaviors of birds. Scouting reveals a lot about turkeys and once the season starts, the last thing you want to do is waste time looking for a place to hunt; that should be done well before opening day.

Also, be sure to have all your calls conditioned and ready to go. Get all gear in working order and pattern that shotgun so you know your effective shooting range. If bowhunting, practice shooting from angles you’ll encounter from inside a ground blind.

By the time opening day arrives, there should be no doubts if you’ve done your homework and scouted. You know where the toms are and how they’re behaving, and you have confidence in your gear and ability to call. The rest comes down to connecting on the shot, then sinking your teeth into one of the best-tasting upland birds in the country.  Editor’s note: For signed copies of Scott Haugen’s bestselling book, Western Turkey Hunting: Strategies For All Levels, visit scotthaugen.com.