"TURKEY SCOUTING NEVER ENDS"

On a normal turkey hunt, I generally use my calling skills and hunting tactics evenly to out smart a wise old gobbler. Due to several factors in 1997, a late spring (which meant gobblers were with the hens longer), bad weather, and hunting pressure, I found myself using about 80% hunting tactics and only 20% calling to effectively bring birds in to my guided hunters. The gobblers just weren't talking much after they left the roost, at least on much of the public land. Oh we ran into some easy hunts here and there, especially on some of our private pieces, but for the most part, the birds just didn't want to talk. Regardless if the birds talk or not, being a full time guide I'm rightfully expected to get my clients into the birds. 1997 ended up being the hardest I ever had to work to get my clients their birds, but it was also a year that saw 19 of 21 parties take home early thanksgiving dinners.

What turned a tough year into a very successful year? Non-stop scouting and locating. My very skilled assistant guide, Chet Loar of Beaverton and I were in the field scouting 2 months before the season. We were also in the field 40 of 40 days during the season either hunting, guiding, and/or scouting. The average turkey hunter in Michigan spends 4 days on his/her hunt and chalks it up as one year's experience. I realize that I am privileged with more time than the average person, but by scouting after work and on weekends long before the season and staying on top of it during the season, you can accumulate many years of experience each year.

Getting to know the lay of the land in several areas, staying up to date on turkey sign, and locating turkeys are more important than relying on just turkey calling itself. If you rely solely on calling, or on just any one tactic, your results will eventually show it (Unless you hunt your neighbor's over eager "bird feeder gobbler" in the woods behind the house). By combining scouting, tactics, calling, and more scouting, you will become a woods wise force to be reckoned with.

The first thing I do to locate potential hunting sites is to look for public land on county maps. Once located, I pull out a plat map of the county to locate rivers and boundaries. Where rivers are found, you will likely find the larger trees along the banks which makes a good roosting site for the birds. Next I pull out a topo map to locate ridges near the rivers. After all the map research is complete, it's time for Chet and I to put in countless hours and days checking out the potential hunting hot spots on foot. We walk the oak ridges, and back roads looking for acorns (a staple food of the turkey), scratchings, droppings, feathers and especially tracks. Scratchings are V-shaped marks made by the turkey as it scratches leaves off to the side in search of food. By following the scratchings backwards (opposite from the point of the 'IV"), I can usually track the turkey's feeding movements all the way back to the roosting area. When a roosting area is found, it will have a good concentration of feathers and droppings. If I find sporadic feathers, droppings, and tracks but not the roost, I'll come back
to the area the next morning before daylight and listen for the gobblers to reveal their roost to me when they gobble at first light. Secondly, I'll track their travel pattern by listening to the direction in which I hear their gobbling activity after they leave the roost. If undisturbed, the group will usually follow the same travel pattern day after day. This is important to keep in mind for the days that the turkeys don't talk. You can simply set up along their travel route and wait for them, kind of like deer hunting.

Tracks probably tell me the most. They not only tell me that turkeys have passed through, but can also tell me if I am dealing with hens, gobblers, bow many of each, and what time they generally pass through. The tracks of the gobbler are approximately 5 inches long while the tracks of the hen are little over half that size. To determine what time the group passes through, I'll go to the area in the evening and mess up their tracks. I'll come back the next morning at about 9 AM and check for new tracks. If the birds have already come through, I'll mess up the tracks again and come back the next morning at 8AM. If there are no tracks, this means that the birds are traveling the area some time between 8 and 9 AM. Sand pits are another point of interest to me. These are excellent places to find turkeys in the late morning and afternoon when they come to dust themselves. Usually by this time in the day I'm tired, so this is a good spot to kick back against a tree, relax, and wait for birds.

After finding turkey sign and determining travel patterns, Chet and I learn the lay of the land. This is important because as I mentioned, there are days when the birds don't talk, such as windy, rainy days, or times when the gobblers are already with hens and don't need to gobble. On the non-gobble days, knowing the lay of the land allows us to employ some of our advanced tactics, such as determining where the birds are beaded, and maneuvering out in front of them for a possible ambush. Another bad weather tactic we use is also an effective deer 'hunting tactic, we use rivers and cuts as barriers to drive the turkeys to the hunter. Sometimes we sneak through a creek bed or cut in the land to stalk within gun range of the birds. These advanced tactics would be almost impossible to execute without knowing the lay of the land.

Turkey hunting is a sport that only enjoys an average success rate of around 25% in Michigan. This means that only 1 out of 4 hunters will bag a gobbler. Turkey hunting is a challenge, that's what makes it so special. To be successful year after year a hunter must use a combination of skills effectively such as, calling, marksmanship, and especially woodsmanship and tactics. There will be days when your calling skill is most used. There will be days when your woodsmanship
is the ticket. Scouting however, is the first and most important step that allows you to use your other skills to turn a 25% success rate into a much -higher success rate.

Good Hunt'n!