- Panasonic DMC-TZ3 Lumix Camera
Ahh…the sights and sounds of spring! To me that is driving down the road and seeing a flock of turkeys in a field pecking at corn morsels or whatever they can scavenge this time of year. Hearing the thundering gobbles at daybreak! Seeing big gobblers, jakes, hens. The sight alone can get the blood boiling and make any spring gobbler hunter anxious for the upcoming season.
The turkeys are busy and very visible usually this time of year. Hens will be meandering around looking for their nesting spots and the gobblers are usually in tow. I’ve even had some friends telling stories of observing the gobblers violently fighting in the fields to establish their dominance. To me this is a good time to get out and do some scouting.
Scouting is observing, looking for signs, tracks, dusting spots, scratching in fields, droppings, listening for gobbles, observing the times birds appear in fields, etc. Studying from afar. Trying not to alert or “educate” these wary creatures of my presence. Unfortunately to many hunter’s, they are their own worst enemy when preparing for the upcoming season. Something a dear friend and avid, very experienced, turkey hunter, Shirley Grenoble covers many times in her turkey seminars, is that hunters should show “prudence”. Prudence basically means “to show carefulness and/or foresight”.
I know there hasn’t been a season go by that I haven’t encountered a hunter watching birds from the road or listening for gobblers at dawn who doesn’t give out some calls. They can’t resist hearing that bird respond or see the gobbler come into their calling or the desire to see them strut to their calls. Usually because this time of year it’s so easy. Ever wonder why during season you will hear the birds gobbling so vigorously on the roost then never make a sound when they hit the ground? They’ve been educated. How? Once a gobbler responds a few times to calls from a distance and finds no hen there, he learns that his efforts are pointless! Even though the calls sound good, there is no hen. So come season, why should he leave his hens in sight, to come look for those ones calling off in the distance that have never proven to be there in the past. Even worse, those gobblers that will respond to all those calls in pre-season, learn that running to the distance calls of hens are not only uncertain but can be dangerous. If the gobbler ends up busting the hunter or associates the calling with a vehicle, they learn danger. They associate the calling with a threat or predator. Remember to turkeys, we are the enemy! So why educate the wary birds? Why let them know we can speak their language? I find it fruitless to spook or make it harder to hunt something I am spending so much time scouting.
So I choose to quietly scout. I have several trail cameras out and have gotten some birds on camera. Which is a great way to scout when you are working. Trail cams can tell you when the birds are visiting that area. I usually retrieve my camera later in the evening when birds aren’t in the vicinity.
If I notice birds there, I back out. I don’t want to disturb any patterns they may be starting. I look for sign and watch from a distance. No calling, no alerting them to where I am. I quietly will pull off the side of a road and take pictures from a distance. Or will be set up hiding in brush taking pictures usually from hundreds of yards away in order not to disturb the birds.
This year I have been seeing quite a few birds and I have to say I am excited for the upcoming season. I hope that my many hours of scouting and preparation will pay off again this year. Most of the birds I am seeing in various areas I am hunting are big gobblers. So these boys have been around for awhile and have been somewhat educated. Even my bird last year came in with another gobbler totally silent. Showing they were experienced to the dangers of distance calls.
The spring gobbler season can be an exciting time of year. Providing the many sights of gobblers strutting in fields, gobbling at dawn, fighting for dominance and looking for hens well before season. To me it just adds to the excitement of the first day. Anticipating if you will duplicate those sights and sounds, but this time all the hard work and scouting paying off with a big gobbler down!
Good luck to all those going out this upcoming season! Be safe and be sure to post on the site how you do. It’s not to late to enter our Turkey Photo contest!
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