# Le central turkey tag help/hunting partner



## Peav1986 (Feb 26, 2013)

After my first time ever hunting turkey on last years OTC hunt And not seeing a single bird I decided to put in for the le figuring it would take a few years to draw well my dumb luck I drew out this year for a central tag and have no idea what I'm doing I've seen maybe 5 turkeys in my entire life I've heard of a lot of turkeys in provo canyon so I started out there last year with a OTC tag and saw nothing any tip on a possible good areas to spot out for this April I would greatly appreciate it, the only place I have ever seen a turkey will likely be impassible in April and definitely impassible to spot in march so I'm in a bit of a bind also if anyone out there also has a le central tag I would love a hunting partner for the hunt my brother is who I normally hunt with can not hunt this year do to health reasons. 
Thanks to anyone that can help


----------



## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

Now is a good time to get back up Provo canyon and see if you can spot the birds again. They will be much lower down the mountain than they are in the summer and fall. Turkeys bunch up and migrate to lower elevations in the winter. If you can find flocks this time of year you can bet that they will be somewhere in the same area only maybe a little father up the mountain come hunting season. Birds generally follow canyons/waterways up and will scatter all along the way clear to the highest elevation. They do not just all go to the higher elevations so don't just go to the top of the mountain and expect to find a huge flock waiting to get shot. The winter bunches break up in the spring and scatter over most suitable habit on the entire mountain. Remember, turkeys hunting is much more audible than visual, to locate birds, use your ears, especially in the morning and evening. Good luck.


----------



## MWScott72 (May 23, 2011)

You can go up any of those canyons that dump into Utah Valley and there will be birds...somewhere. You just have to find them. Like BP said, early and late they're much more vocal and you can use that to key on them. I've had limited success here in UT with locator calls which work very well in OK. Sometimes, if you're close enough to a worked up tom, you can get him to gobble just by slamming a door or making some other type of abrupt noise.

If there's snow on the ground, look for tracks. My wife had a SE LE tag a couple years back. Birds weren't where I was expecting them to be, so we started looking for tracks. Turkeys are a creature of habit, and they make their rounds on a fairly predictable schedule (if you can figure out what that is!). We found LOTS of tracks crossing a hairpin turn in the road and heading up the mountain, and this location, by far, had more tracks than anywhere else. My wife killed a tom right there that evening - it can work!!


----------



## Peav1986 (Feb 26, 2013)

Ok that's great info another question I had is in a lot of other posts people have mentioned a lot about rookie turkey hunter calling to often so my question is realistically how often should one be calling? I use a basic box call and a push pull style call is there any other call I that would be a better alternative I've been trying to master a diaphram call for the last month but don't feel confident enough to use it in the field yet. Is there any main areas in provo canyon I should look I'm not really familiar with the canyon but have really noticed that there is very little accessibility to public lands other than just parking on the side of the road and hiking which I'm totally ok with I do not mind working hard to hunt its what I've become accustom to being an elk hunter but yesterday I got a parking ticket in the canyon apparently this time of year you can't just park on the side of the road any input is greatly appreciated


----------



## MWScott72 (May 23, 2011)

If it's Provo Canyon, I'd try the drainages on the north side of Deer Creek. I've also seen turkeys on private land below the trailer park on the Lower Provo. When they disperse, they have to go somewhere. I haven't hunted up there though, so couldn't tell you anything specific.

As to calling, you need to play off what the bird is telling you. If he gobbles back every time you call but isn't getting any closer, it might be time to back off on the calling and let him start to wonder why this amorus hen has suddenly gone silent. If he's out of sight, you could even get up and move back simulating the hen moving off as you call. On the other hand, if the tom gobbles every time you hit him and he's getting closer, I'll keep calling. He's obviously interested and I won't start to back off until he's in visual range. Be careful if you're calling and you can see him and he's looking in your direction. He'll pinpoint you every time and the game will most likely be up...and in the bird's favor.


----------

