Scouting Techniques for Spring Turkeys

I started hunting for spring turkey when I was stationed at Holloman A.F.B. NM. I didn’t know too many people there and wanted to try and hunt turkey. This made things a little difficult on where to find and hunt for them. I got out, put a lot of miles on my truck and read every book and magazine I could get my hands on. Well all that hard work and effort paid off. New Mexico allows you to harvest 2 toms per year. I was lucky enough to take a big Merriam’s and Rio Grande turkey on my first spring season. Ever since then I have been hooked. I would rather hunt turkeys in the spring than eat when I am hungry or sleep when I am tired.

I finished up my tour, got out of the Air Force and returned home. I had gotten back just in time for the spring hunts, so I put in for javelina and turkey. I was fortunate enough to get drawn for both and couldn’t wait for the hunts to begin. I wasn’t too worried about scouting the unit I had gotten drawn for turkey in, because I knew a few people here who were really good turkey hunters. Once the season got closer I began trying to pry any information out of them that I could. But, the only thing I kept getting out of them was, "Louie get out and look for your self. Turkeys are where you find them." Turkey hunting here couldn’t be that much different between here and New Mexico. So I got off my lazy butt, broke out my topo maps and started putting a lot of miles on my truck and my feet.

The first thing I do when I am going to hunt new unit is look around the water sources. Be sure to make note of how many sets of tracks you find. Before I leave I try to wipe out as many tracks as possible. This way you will be able to come back and check out the tank, getting some kind of an idea of how often they are drinking. Now you can tell the difference between a tom’s track and hens by the size. A tom’s track will be about 4 ½ to 5 ½ in length. Now that measurement is from the longest toe in the front to the short one in the back. The hen track is considerably shorter; About 3 to 3 ½ inches long.

The next thing I start looking for is tracks along side the roads. There is usually a good chance you will find this sign on the north and north east side of the mountains or ridges. Make sure you mark these locations on your map or a G.P.S. Also be on the look out for some of the types of forage turkeys like to eat and hang out in. You will be looking for wild rose, old growth pines and oak groves. When I find these areas I will get out, walk up into them and see what kind of sign is on the ground. I look for scratches, droppings and feathers. Just as a reminder, a tom will leave droppings that are shaped like a "J" and a hen will leave droppings that are straight. If you can stay with the direction of how they are feeding you might be able to find a roost or two. You will definitely want to mark those on your map or G.P.S. You need to concentrate on finding as many of these type of areas as possible.

Another important thing to remember, do not try locating turkeys using yelps, cuts and clucks. You can use your locator calls to get them to gobble. The calls I use of course are made by Modern Call Products. They have a very effective line of locator calls; the crow call, owl hooter and the slight bite. The slight bite is aka "The Panicked Pooch". It reproduces an amazing coyote howl and bark. The high-pitched howls and barks can really get those Gobblers to sound off. In case you don’t know where to find these calls go to WWW.MODERNCALLPRODUCTS.COM. The main reason you don’t want to use yelping, cutting, or clucking calling techniques is because the hens might not be ready to start looking for a companion. You might also wind up calling in that big tom you will want to tag during the spring, spooking him in the process.

Well for those of you who got drawn for turkey this year, good luck and I hope you find this information helpful. I look forward to answering questions on the hunting chat. I also hope some of you successful hunters find the time to send a story along with photos to AZOD. You can e-mail them to Hunting@azod.com and / or send your photos in a S.A.S.E. to: ARIZONA OUTDOORSMAN

159 W. WICKENBURG WAY #9

WICKENBURG AZ, 85390

Office phone: 520-684-1708

Fax: 520-684-1712

Good Luck and Best Wishes,

Louis Urquides,

Hunting Editor for AZOD