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Old January 25, 2013, 08:16 PM   #1
horatioo
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Turkey hunting question

I have some land ~45 minutes away. I have seen turkeys their. What should I do now to the land in order to help me get a turkey? I think season starts in march.

The turkey I saw was in a brush pile in grass. Do turkeys pretty much stay in places like that or are they in the woods too?
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Old January 25, 2013, 08:46 PM   #2
alex0535
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I have never been turkey hunting but I know enough to know that you won't sneak up on a turkey, they will know you are there before you know they are there.

You have to make them come to you. Check your state for the use of decoys, get yourself some calls and practice. I would suggest a hunting blind on the edge of some woods looking out into a field with a couple decoys out on the edge of some thick brush. Try to call some out into the field close enough to get a shot. That is how I would try to go about it, but I am sure someone that has actually shot turkey can be more helpful.
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Old January 26, 2013, 07:33 AM   #3
jason_iowa
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They walk through my back yard we have them thicker then deer but the hunting cost and regulations for them suck so I don't hunt em. That and the neighbors might not like the noise of me blasting turkeys from my back deck.
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Old January 26, 2013, 12:03 PM   #4
buck460XVR
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What you need to do is to observe the land from a distance and see where the turkeys are at different times of the day. You should try and figure out how they get from one area to another. You also need to figure out where they roost(areas close to where you see them early in the morning and right before dark). This way, once season comes, if their patterns have not changed, you can be one step ahead of them, and set up, before they get there. What you don't want to do is to put any unnecessary pressure on the birds. Turkeys if spooked off a area numerous times find someplace else where they don't get spooked. It may be only a few hundred yards, but that may be the property next door you can't hunt. While turkeys tolerate humans to an extent, they also identify whats normal human behavior on the property and what isn't. Scout from a distance and then go in a few weeks before season and check out some spots to set up. Clear the brush and other debris and make ground blinds from them. If the area is farmed, consider doing this when the farmer is in the fields. His activity will not alarm the turkeys at all as they are generally used to his presence. Go in right before your season and make sure you set-ups have not changed. Try to do this when the birds are not present and get in and get out. There is nuttin' much one can do at this time to attract the birds to an area for the season starting in two-three months. One needs to rely on what attracted them there in the first place. What one needs to do is to make sure they don't get driven off.
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Old January 26, 2013, 02:41 PM   #5
Double Naught Spy
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Turkeys at my place are in and out of the trees. They roost in the trees at night and actually roost sometimes over one of my stands, which is a bit disconcerting when they suddenly take flight in the dark (and you are sitting for hogs). In my observations at my place, they prefer a mosaic environment where they want access to cover and don't want to be far from it if they don't have to be.

http://s1274.photobucket.com/albums/...1359225076.jpg

Here they are today, chowing down for lunch at my feeder in the food plot I planted for spring. They spend a good pit of time scouring it for various bits and bugs across the food plot when not at the feeder.
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Old February 3, 2013, 09:19 PM   #6
bcarver
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seeding

you can clip your open areas.
You can plant some clover.
you can sling some corn...if legal.
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Old February 4, 2013, 02:44 AM   #7
Scorch
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Turkeys roost in trees, so any large trees like oaks or maples will attract them to an area, but you cannot hold them in an area unless they have roosting cover, ground cover, food, and water within about 1/2 mile or so.

If I were to pick a foodplot crop for attracting turkeys, it would be groundnuts.
http://groundnutgardens.com/
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Old February 4, 2013, 12:57 PM   #8
horatioo
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the ground nuts on the link you listed are $10 each. Do you know somewhere cheaper to get them? I have wanted some for awhile.
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Old February 4, 2013, 05:16 PM   #9
hooligan1
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There's a book written by Gene Nunnery titled "Old Pro Turkey Hunter", Find it and read it.
This will help you learn to kill turkeys......... and it's a real cool read.
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