Trackin’ Toms & The Youth Hunt (Includes Video)

For me, the last few weeks have been devoted to one thing, locating turkeys and keeping track of them for the opener of spring gobbler season. There seem to be plenty of birds in my area and they’ve been very vocal lately, which has made them much easier to find. The longbeards have been putting on quite a show and I can’t wait for the season to begin!

A hen sits on the roost as daylight fades; Two nice toms strut their stuff.

Most of my pre-season scouting has focused on figuring out where the turkeys are roosting and where they spend most of their time during the day. Depending on the weather, the gobbling in my area usually starts between 5:45 and 6:00 in the morning. If it’s warm and sunny, I can expect the birds to be on the ground around 6:15. However, heavy clouds and rain will usually keep them in the roost longer.

A large gobbler track in soft sand; Drag marks left by the wings of a strutting tom

I can’t always be in the woods at first light to listen for gobbles, so I also spend time looking for sign. Tracks in the mud along field edges or sand along creek banks are usually easy to see. If you get lucky, you might also discover drag marks left by the wing tips of a strutting tom. I always pay close attention to this kind of sign because it may indicate a gobbler’s strut zone. Strut zones are a very good place to set up on a longbeard because it’s likely that he’ll visit them after leaving his roost.

The j-shaped dropping of a gobbler; This feather was snagged on a briar between a roost area and strut zone.

Other sign that I pay attention to is droppings. One interesting fact about turkeys is that the droppings of males and females are different. Hen droppings are spiral-shaped, like a small cork-screw, while gobbler droppings are usually longer and j-shaped. Turkeys also routinely lose feathers and finding them along travel routes can help you pattern a flock of birds.

‘The Mailman’ spends a lot of his time near the local Post Office; ‘Gapper” is missing a feather from his fan.

After watching these birds in the pre-season, many of them have taken on their own personality. I’ve even named a few of them, and there’s one bird in particular that has caught my attention. I call him ‘The Gimp’ because he walks with a bad limp and always lags behind the other birds. Due to his injury, he is no longer the dominant bird in the flock, although I’m sure he once was. He sports a very thick beard and some of the longest spurs I’ve ever seen. I really hope our paths cross at some point during the season.

‘The Gimp’ is a huge old bird that has an injured left leg; These two gobblers routinely compete for the same strut zone.

Last Saturday’s youth hunt was a welcomed change to my scouting routine. My good friend AJ was taking his daughter Morgan out for the start of her second gobbler season. My job was to come along to help carry gear and run the video camera.

The Darkhorse blind was a real asset during our hunt

AJ and Morgan sit inside the blind.

AJ had located several gobblers the week before that were roosting on an oak ridge in the local Gamelands. We got there early to set up our ground blind and put out some decoys on an abandoned logging road. As we eased into position a little before 6:00, we could hear gobbling on the ridge about 150 yards away. AJ responded with a few soft tree yelps on his glass call and we waited for the birds to leave their roost.

Morgan shows off her second spring gobbler.

About fifteen minutes later, we could tell the birds were on the ground. AJ tried a series of yelps and then mixed in some excited cutting with his mouth call. Several gobblers answered and we could tell they were on their way. As a loud gobble echoed directly below us, I caught sight of a tail fan behind a brush pile. The strutting jake was climbing the hill straight toward us. At the sight of our decoys, he broke strut and ran straight to them. He stopped on the logging road and began strutting around the decoys. As he closed the distance to about ten yards from our blind, Morgan’s 20 gauge boomed. The bird dropped in his tracks and the celebration ensued.

Our crew was ‘all smiles’ after Morgan bagged her bird

Morgan and AJ head for home.

There are few things in the outdoors that compare to the excitement of a successful young hunter, and I was very glad I could share the hunt with Morgan and AJ. It was a beautiful morning to be in the woods and the harvest was just icing on the cake. Good luck to everyone during the upcoming season. Please be safe and remember to positively identify your target!