Locating PM turkeys in BIG woods?

[Amos Keeto]

Macintosh - I’ve been hunting turkeys for over 20 years, but consider myself a relative novice.

Sorry, but I just gotta laugh at that! LMBO!

I finally got "into" turkey hunting in the spring of 2003!

The fallacy!
THE VERY "FIRST" time I went turkey hunting on my own, I called (?) in 2 toms...AND KILLED THEM BOTH!
I thought, to myself, "turkey hunting is a breeze"!
The FACT!
My first turkey hunt was blind, dumb luck! I have spent the last 23 years learning just how little I DO know about turkey hunting!
If there is ANYTHING I enjoy, it's learning something new about turkey hunting! Which is everytime I go hunting them!
1) There is nothing more rewarding than calling a big, mature tom into range!
2) There is nothing more frustrating, AND fun at the same time, as trying everything you know, and he STILL won't come into range!

My best "advice" would be to spend some late afternoons, scouting for roosts, if that's possible.
Knowing where they like to bed down gives you a double advantage.
You can set up an ambush to catch them on the way to roost.
You can also catch them coming off the roost. As a general rule, turkeys have a goal in mind when they fly down.
Food, water or mating. Just gotta figure out which way they go for what.

P.S. - Best of luck! Good hunting!

 

[eidsvolling]

Turkeys in Northern New England like to roost in white pines that are tall enough and have enough cover near the trunk for weather protection. Spend some time this winter looking for favored roosting trees and you’ll learn what to look for when the season opens.

Signed,
Former NH resident whose favorite turkey story involves being stalked by a bobcat on opening day at sunrise. Stone walls are not the protection you might imagine them to be. ;-)