Teach me how to hunt steep creeks and drains

[RiverRoost]

Hunted some new ground this weekend that is mostly 6-700 ft ridges and every one falls off to creeks or drainages. Tips on how you hunt the ones that are roosted down in these drainage and creeks, roughly 150-200ft elevation change from the field edges. Get down in there with them and choose a"knoll" or ridge slope down to the drainage and hope they walk up that way? Most of this stuff was steep all around and couldn't tell any flat openings down in the creek/drainage flows where they would pitch down and hang around in. I hunt 100% flat ground where I'm from so this was a learning curve for me.

[davisd9]

They will pitch across. Got to find the easier ground to walk. We hunted a similar place and they roosted across the river and pitched across to logging roads going around the ridges. You could also find areas that were not as steep that they would use to move. Going to have to take time to figure out their routes and make moves. Chess matches are fun.


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[KYTurkey07]

I would spend some time there before season figuring out how they move through the area. I've come to learn this is part of the fun of chasing turkeys, putting the puzzle together. It's amazing how well adapted they can get to different areas and sometimes they break the rules in their behavior or travel.

[shaman]

My farm is a series of steep ravines with finger ridges between.  The very top of the ridges are cleared, and the rest is woodland.  When I first started hunting it, I though the turkeys would head towards the bottom, and that is where I hunted.  Yes, they were roosting near the bottom, but they pitched down to the uphill side of the trees and did most of their morning feeding in the fields at the top.

What I learned to do was go out early and sit well away from the roosts.  I'd call a bit at flydown, but the big show was 2 hours later when they came out in the fields to feed. 

[silvestris]

Just remember that when you go down there, you have to climb back out.  Much better when you can call them out to the top.

[GobbleNut]

Just remember that when you go down there, you have to climb back out.  Much better when you can call them out to the top.

  Ah, yes. And such considerations tend to be more important the older we get! 

On a more serious note, the fact is that turkeys are gonna do what turkeys are gonna do. In other words, presuming a gobbler won't go somewhere is not a good presumption to make to begin with.  Sure, we all want to choose the best set-up to call from, but if that is not apparent, just call to them to see how they respond and go from there. 

Unless you sound like a braying donkey when calling (and sometimes even that does not make a difference), a gobbler that hears your call is (probably) going to interpret what he hears as being another turkey (although there are gobblers that have been through the ringer enough times that they interpret ever turkey call they hear and cannot see the source of to be a hunter). 

Depending on his mood and current circumstances, a gobbler may come to you regardless of where you call from...and conversely, he may not come to you even if you have set up in the best position possible. My theory has always been to "take his temperature" (i.e...call to him and see how he responds) and adjust from there as needed. 

[WildTigerTrout]

I hunt steep ridges and hollows here NC Pennsylvania.  If I am on top of a ridge it's right where I want to be even if they are down in the hollow. Give them the right call and they will come, trust me and sometimes from a good distance. As someone already mentioned if you go down you must climb back out. At near 65 years old that is much harder than it used to be. I much prefer them coming up hill to me.

[Tclipse01]

I have had better luck using the high ground than the low, personally. I would start calling from a higher-up position and adjust my setup when the toms respond, trying to put myself a few hundred yards in front of where they are heading... assuming you have enough cover to do so.

[Marc]

You have some very good replies, apparently from some hunters who have had some experience hunting steep country.

As already stated, I would keep the high ground, until it becomes apparent I have to go down to him...  Besides being strenuous (especially if you get to carry a bird out), such terrain is noisy to travel through.

Figure out what they are doing by observation, before you go in and muck things up.  They will generally have a preferred side they go up...  I would be on that side (almost certainly opposite of the side you can park your vehicle on).

[CALLM2U]

I generally follow the advice you've been given above. The only difference is in the wind. Those nasty, windy days they will tend to stay out of it and in the hollars/bottoms.  Kinda have to go to them on those days if you want to play. 

[Timmer]

In my experience of hunting bluff country for over 25 years, turkeys are far more likely to come up to you than down to you.  If there was a bench or ledge of some sort that had turkey sign, I'd very likely give that a shot because it could be strutting ground.  Otherwise I'd most likely stay on top.  That being said, turkeys will be turkeys and not follow the same behavior all of the time.  On several occasions I've had turkeys come to the bottom of a bluff right below me and gobble their fool heads off for hours trying to get me to come down to them.

[Paulmyr]

Hunting pressure will be a big determining factor on whether the turkeys you'll be hunting will force you to go down in after them.

If your hunting private with little pressure for sure the top will be the best bet.

Hunting on public, it depends on how much and where the hunting pressure is coming from. If the pressure comes from the top odds are your gonna have to go down in after them. They'll come up best during early season but as the season progresses and they get exposed to more hunting pressure they'll be less likely to come up to calling.

If most of the pressure comes from the bottom than your most likely gonna have better luck calling them up.

[mountainhunter1]

Hunting pressure will be a big determining factor on whether the turkeys you'll be hunting will force you to go down in after them.

If your hunting private with little pressure for sure the top will be the best bet.

Hunting on public, it depends on how much and where the hunting pressure is coming from. If the pressure comes from the top odds are your gonna have to go down in after them. They'll come up best during early season but as the season progresses and they get exposed to more hunting pressure they'll be less likely to come up to calling.

If most of the pressure comes from the bottom than your most likely gonna have better luck calling them up.

Well said - could not agree more.

[Mossyguy]

I've never had success trying to call a turkey down a hill. Not saying it can't be done but I haven't yet.

When I lived on Fort Knox the birds were both in the ravines and the tops of the ridges. If the birds were on top I'd sneak up and set up just under the rise. That's an exciting setup because by the time you see the bird he's already right on top of you! Nothing gets your heart pounding like having a bird gobble within 20 yards..and you can't see him just yet!

If they were in the bottoms I'd look at the terrain and try to get in front of them.

But as previously stated...turkeys are gonna turkey. When you think you have them figured out they flip the script and you realize you're not as smart as you think you are!

[Marc]

I've never had success trying to call a turkey down a hill. Not saying it can't be done but I haven't yet.

I have had birds come downhill to me (had it happen last year).  Maybe they prefer to go uphill to a hen???

In rolling hill they will often go down one hill, and up another to get to the hunter...  It is not so much that I think they are opposed to going downhill, as it is that they can spot you so much easier from that higher vantage point.  They should also be able to spot that hen, and I feel if they do not spot the hen that should be whereabouts the calling is coming from, they will hang up.

Plenty of times I have had educated birds work from below and go around and above me, where...  They hang up.

To your point, I would much rather call a bird uphill...