# New to Turkey hunting...



## Squall_409 (Mar 25, 2012)

Hi everyone,

So I am just getting into turkey hunting this year. I have an area picked at that I want to be hunting in up in Alpine. I have a major problem though, I know very little about hunting in general. 

I am a member of another forum and have been gaining a ton of knowledge there but no one on that forum hunts in Utah. So I was extremely excited when I found this forum!

I have so many questions and was hoping I could find someone on here who would be willing to mentor me and my friend this first year. We have very basic knowledge and want to gain as much as possible.

Thank you all very much for reading my post,
Rory


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

Welcome to this forum. If you have questions, ask away, someone will answer, right or wrong. But to start with I give up this advise about turkey hunting. Find a flock of birds, watch them until you have learned as much about them as you can. Where are they roosting, where are they feeding, what routes are they traveling, how many toms are in the bunch, etc. A flock of turkeys will change as the spring progresses, right now the birds are still in their winter bunches, large groups of hens and last years offspring with a few toms mixed in or smaller groups of just toms. These bunches will start to break up and spread out as spring goes. Your scouting right now will only give you a general idea as to where the birds are but will give you the knowledge that there are truly birds in the area. Advise: get out and actually watch birds as often as you can, there is nothing like the real thing. You could even try a few mock hunts, see if you can actually get within range of the flock, close contact will teach you a lot about turkeys.


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## shaun larsen (Aug 5, 2011)

it doesnt matter how much info you learn on the internet, it doesnt even begin to compare with the info you will learn when you are actually outside figuring it out yourself...


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## Squall_409 (Mar 25, 2012)

The area that I will be hunting I know has them. The land owner has told me that he has seen close to 100 of them in the are. I almost ran 7 jakes over when I first went up to check out the area. But every time after that when I have gone up there, I have not seen a single one. I have found droppings all over the place but still have not seen any scratch marks or feathers anywhere. I go up there at all different times of the day to see if I can find any of them, but nothing. I have heard a few gobble a couple of different times, but when I go up with my locator call I can't get a single one to talk to me. Is it possible that they could have left out of this little valley that I am looking in? The layout of the land is 800 acres, but the land owner has said throughout the past year or so he has only seen them in the first 500 or so feet of the land. It has 2 streams that run right through the property. Aspens follow the streams all the way down the property. On the left side of the property there is an open field with an old dirt road. It is private property but I do have permission to be hunting on his land.


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

Hum, sounds as if you have been watching a big winter flock and they have moved to a different area. This is normal procedure for turkeys in the spring. There is a large dairy farm in the area that I hunt and during many winters there will be 300-600, yes, 300-600 birds living/feedng there, but when spring hits they will all disappear within a week or two never to be seen there again until next winter. Keep scouting until you find them again. The bunch is probably starting to break up so what you will see for a while is smaller bunches. Just keep and eye on them and then a couple days before you are going hunting start your final scouting and set up your plan of attack. The best time/way to locate birds is from about an hour before sunrise until 9-10 in the morning. Find an area that you think has birds, find some high ground and just sit quietly and listen for them to wake up and start talking. Lots of fun.  
PS, Locator calls work great on TV, not alway so in real life.


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## 2full (Apr 8, 2010)

Follow the snowline up as it melts, that has always been area I have found them as they move. Then they like to hang where the pines meet the aspens. Roost in the pines, feed in the aspens. Has always worked.


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## MWScott72 (May 23, 2011)

[PS, Locator calls work great on TV, not alway so in real life.[/quote]

The above quote nails it. I have only had limited success with commercial made locators. Last year, my best locator was my own imitation of a gobbler. Nothing else got them to talk.

Take into account what kind of call you use. If there are no crows or great horned owls in the area, it's likely that a turkey may not respond to it.


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

A hot bird will respond...if he will respond at all...to most loud noises. I have heard them sound off to truck doors closing, thunder, cars starting in the distance, dogs barking, geese calling, gun shots, and other noises, including a loud fart! My favorite, especially after sundown, a real good loud whistle.  
Now, the other side is that I have heard MORE birds respond to a not so loud cluck or normal yelp (not no big old power yelp) than any so called locator call.


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## ram2h2o (Sep 11, 2007)

Ditto to what BP said. I use my own mouth owl call at dusk and they will generally gobble back. I have used piliated woodpeaker call an it has worked. Goose calls Loud honks work pretty good too!


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