Turkey Hunting Unfamiliar Ground (by ddejong Jan 2010)

   Turkey Hunting Unfamiliar Grounds

   By Doug "ddejong" Dejong

  The Kansas turkey season opener was met with great anticipation on my part. I had been lucky enough to draw one of the limited tags to hunt the 5,000 acre Marais Des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Kansas. I had drawn tags two times before and had great success hunting this tremendous area, and knew just where I wanted to set up - the exact tree where I had already harvested three toms including doubling up on the opener a few years ago. My son Daniel also harvested a gobbler from that tree in a previous year so we knew that the field consistently attracted the turkeys. There were some other areas nearby to set up as well; in the unlikely event another hunter beat me to the parking area with the intent of hunting the field I was planning to hunt. I had scouted it the week before to make sure I could find the roads and parking area in the dark, and everything was set. That is, until I pulled into the parking area on opening morning.

The sign on the locked gate stated that this area was set for a planned burn and no admittance was allowed! Plan B involved a hasty drive to another part of the wildlife area, but as I pulled into that parking area a pair of hunters was just getting set to leave their vehicles and they were planning to set up in the exact area I had. So now I had a dilemma. There was a lot of good huntable ground available to me, but the areas I knew well were not available that day. I was an hour away from my own property and the sky would be lightening up soon. I was going to have to hunt on unfamiliar ground.

I would never want to pull up to a property in the dark with the intention of hunting whitetail; unless I had a guide or experienced friend to put me in a good location! On the other hand, it is kind of fun to hunt upland game on new land as you never know where that rooster or covey of quail may be ready to burst out of.

Turkey is somewhat in between. On the one hand, they are creatures of habit and patterning them through advanced scouting is very important to your success. Knowing where they like to roost, where their strut zones are, and their travel routes to feeding areas gives you a huge advantage. On the other hand, the fact that they like to gobble their heads off in the spring (at least on some days!) allows even the most novice hunter an opportunity to know where they are on any given morning.

Here are some things to consider when you do not have the opportunity to scout a piece of land before turkey hunting on it.

1. Learn as much as you can about the property before hand. Ask as many questions of the land-owner or friend as possible. Study the topo map from a web-site service. I once had a brief chance to scout a property during the deer season, and then got a chance to turkey hunt it that spring. I didn’t have another chance to scout it but I did talk to a buddy that had hunted it. He drew up a quick diagram on a napkin over lunch, and that was all I needed to get in and set up for an exciting and successful hunt. At the very least, know the property boundaries! The last thing you want to do is inadvertently trespass.

  In my case, I had a map of the wildlife area with many of the ground’s features on it: boundaries, creeks, etc. This gave me enough information to form the basis of a game plan.

2. Be extra vigilant for and considerate of other hunters. Even if you are on private land, the potential for other hunters on the property or neighbors hunting the property lines are possibilities that you need to be cautious of. Safety is always the first priority for every hunter, and this is particularly true for turkey hunters. Plus, we all need to be courteous of others.

3. Give yourself extra time to set up. First, you want to move slower in unfamiliar land. If you bump a bird off the roost, sit down and stay put. You don’t want to disperse the entire flock. Almost always, if you bump one bird there are others around. So get down, get quiet, and get ready! Secondly, you also want to give yourself some extra time because when you don’t know where you are going to set up, it is going to take you longer to find the right spot! You want to move slower to avoid making noise and you need time to make up your mind as to where you’re going to set up. On my own land in Kansas, I know the exact tree I want to set up against and I can find it in the dark with no moon. When I hunt my Missouri property, which I haven’t had long and am still learning on, I tend to wait to hear that first gobble and then move in accordingly. It always takes extra time to find the right tree.

4. Set up a little less aggressively than you might otherwise do. Typically, I like to cut the distance between the gobbling and my set up as much as possible. However, on unfamiliar ground you may find that strategy backfires. You may find that you cut the distance but cannot find a good place to set up. You also run the risk of bumping birds that are closer than you would have expected.

5. Practice a little more patience. Since you don’t know the birds’ patterns on land you have never hunted, you don’t know their tendencies and where they like to go. Sit tight and keep your eyes and ears open. Too much movement and relocating can be a bad thing, and especially frustrating when it results in bumping birds that may have been heading your way. Gobblers reserve the right to go silent the moment they hit the ground. Assume a silent gobbler is working his way to your calling.

6. Be prepared to improvise. While patience is a virtue, you also need to be flexible. Once the sun comes up you may find your set up is all wrong, or you may hear the flock of birds all heading in a direction that changes the game. Judicious relocation can salvage an entire hunt.

The day I found myself hunting a new part of the Marais Des Cygnes, I had a bird gobbling about 150 yards behind me. Well after sun-up he responded to my calls but never got closer. I decided to move back a bit and see what was up. It turned out that between the two of us there was a good size body of water at least fifty yards across and several hundred yards long. He was not going to be coming to me, so it was time for me to focus on a different tom!

7. Scout while you are hunting! Once the sun is up, start observing your surroundings and interpret them from the turkey’s perspective. Keep your eyes open for tracks, droppings, and other signs of how the turkey uses the land. Even if you are hunting land you are familiar with things change. Fields used for strutting one year may be too overgrown the next. Food sources change. Again, keep your eyes open while walking and glassing.

While turkey hunting land that you haven’t stepped foot on is not ideal, it can be done. Taking your time to set up quietly, and practicing some common sense, you can increase your odds of a successful hunt.

So how did I do on the opener 2009? I didn’t get my bird that day, but I figured out where the birds were roosting in that area and determined a good approach for the next hunt. So, I would call that a success!

by Doug "ddejong" Dejong