When to start scouting for birds in northern states.

[Old Timer]

 Late march, but here in cny many a back roads are in tough shape. I`ve had better luck in April.

[MK M GOBL]

I pretty much scout to some degree year round, after spring season I am always watching for poults/production, summer through fall hay fields are the hit and grain late fall to winter. Here in WI and last 2 weeks of March are when I really get after it, winter flocked to this time and longer. Until them birds really start to break out I'm just really paying attention to the flock. I am in bluff country, farms all around and looking at the dairy/beef farms will keep turkeys in the area through winter. When it's season I am scouting daily to keep up with what stage birds are in the breeding cycle, can't scout too much at this time


MK M GOBL

[Mossberg90MN]

I pretty much scout to some degree year round, after spring season I am always watching for poults/production, summer through fall hay fields are the hit and grain late fall to winter. Here in WI and last 2 weeks of March are when I really get after it, winter flocked to this time and longer. Until them birds really start to break out I'm just really paying attention to the flock. I am in bluff country, farms all around and looking at the dairy/beef farms will keep turkeys in the area through winter. When it's season I am scouting daily to keep up with what stage birds are in the breeding cycle, can't scout too much at this time


MK M GOBL

Yea that's what I kinda plan on doing is finding some flocks near where I plan on hunting and keeping an eye on them.

Last 2 weeks of March sounds about right because that's 1 month from opener, last season I found a flock about a month from opener and they stayed relatively close, seems like the birds first broke away about a mile from that area. But that spot still held birds for I bet 2-3 weeks.

I try to watch the poult numbers as well.

When you say scout daily, do you mean scout as you hunt?

[Mossberg90MN]

Late march, but here in cny many a back roads are in tough shape. I`ve had better luck in April.

That's an issue I ran into last year... some of those roads just still have a lot of snow. Or are mud galore.
Hoping that doesn't hinder me this coming season.

[Harty]

I'm in SE Wisconsin. I'm always looking for sign when I'm deer/rabbit hunting in the Fall/winter. I kick it in gear more late March and early April to nail the birds down.

[MK M GOBL]

I pretty much scout to some degree year round, after spring season I am always watching for poults/production, summer through fall hay fields are the hit and grain late fall to winter. Here in WI and last 2 weeks of March are when I really get after it, winter flocked to this time and longer. Until them birds really start to break out I'm just really paying attention to the flock. I am in bluff country, farms all around and looking at the dairy/beef farms will keep turkeys in the area through winter. When it's season I am scouting daily to keep up with what stage birds are in the breeding cycle, can't scout too much at this time


MK M GOBL

Yea that's what I kinda plan on doing is finding some flocks near where I plan on hunting and keeping an eye on them.

Last 2 weeks of March sounds about right because that's 1 month from opener, last season I found a flock about a month from opener and they stayed relatively close, seems like the birds first broke away about a mile from that area. But that spot still held birds for I bet 2-3 weeks.

I try to watch the poult numbers as well.

When you say scout daily, do you mean scout as you hunt?

So I hunt both private and public so as I hunt, drive from farm to farm, heading in to work and back home, outside doing chores/yard work, what ever the case maybe. I take a few different routes to/from work to stop and listen for gobbles/look for birds and such daily. Always keeping an eye and ear open. Even at work I get people telling me what/when they are seeing birds, taking mental notes of all this too.

I have 8 weeks to hunt and I'll look to have around 25 gobblers a season to scout/know what's going on with them, I call/hunt with a lot of friends, do Learn to Hunts, Youth Hunts and a Charity/Fundraiser Hunt.


MK M GOBL

[Mossberg90MN]

I'm in SE Wisconsin. I'm always looking for sign when I'm deer/rabbit hunting in the Fall/winter. I kick it in gear more late March and early April to nail the birds down.

Try to do the same but my preferred deer area holds no turkeys as it's mainly a huge marsh.

[Mossberg90MN]

I pretty much scout to some degree year round, after spring season I am always watching for poults/production, summer through fall hay fields are the hit and grain late fall to winter. Here in WI and last 2 weeks of March are when I really get after it, winter flocked to this time and longer. Until them birds really start to break out I'm just really paying attention to the flock. I am in bluff country, farms all around and looking at the dairy/beef farms will keep turkeys in the area through winter. When it's season I am scouting daily to keep up with what stage birds are in the breeding cycle, can't scout too much at this time


MK M GOBL

Yea that's what I kinda plan on doing is finding some flocks near where I plan on hunting and keeping an eye on them.

Last 2 weeks of March sounds about right because that's 1 month from opener, last season I found a flock about a month from opener and they stayed relatively close, seems like the birds first broke away about a mile from that area. But that spot still held birds for I bet 2-3 weeks.

I try to watch the poult numbers as well.

When you say scout daily, do you mean scout as you hunt?

So I hunt both private and public so as I hunt, drive from farm to farm, heading in to work and back home, outside doing chores/yard work, what ever the case maybe. I take a few different routes to/from work to stop and listen for gobbles/look for birds and such daily. Always keeping an eye and ear open. Even at work I get people telling me what/when they are seeing birds, taking mental notes of all this too.

I have 8 weeks to hunt and I'll look to have around 25 gobblers a season to scout/know what's going on with them, I call/hunt with a lot of friends, do Learn to Hunts, Youth Hunts and a Charity/Fundraiser Hunt.


MK M GOBL

Oh okay, right on man. Cool that your helping folks out!

[GobbleNut]

A key element in how you scout in any part of the country is understanding breeding behavior of turkeys and when to focus your efforts on just searching for birds as opposed to searching for gobblers that have started gobbling. Once they have gone into breeding mode and are reliably gobbling on the roost, finding birds to hunt is just a matter of covering country and listening/locating at the right time of day. 

Year-round scouting (or scouting done outside the breeding season) is generally best accomplished by visually looking for turkeys and/or turkey sign.  Scouting once the breeding season starts and gobblers start gobbling is best done by hearing rather than seeing.  Once gobblers "set up shop" for the breeding season, you are likely to hear them in the same areas day after day,...and your most reliable time to hear them is right at first light in the morning from roughly an hour before sunrise until sunrise.  In some areas of the country, the second most reliable time is from sunset until it is fully dark.  (Important point: learn how to use a locator call to get gobblers to gobble during those time periods!)

Another major point to be made about scouting, in general, is to use your computer and satellite imagery to "scout from above".  Google Earth/Maps is a good start, but there are other "paid subscriber" sources like OnX and BaseMaps that are even better because they have layering systems that let you see such things as private lands/ownership info and more importantly if you are a public land hunter, they will show you public lands and how to access them. 

I suspect I am "preaching to the choir" here, because I think most of us are already familiar with all of the above,...but hopefully it will help some of the newer guys out there.

[simpzenith]

In Minnesota or Wisconsin, it's basically useless to scout until March at the earliest unless you just want to get a feel for the area you'll likely be hunting once the season comes in. Areas that hold turkeys in the warmer months are typically void of turkeys during the winter unless there is a reliable food force nearby. From what I've learned over the years, the turkeys up here will migrate to areas with those reliable food sources and I've seen some areas with flocks in the hundreds during really tough winters. Once it begins to warm and the snow begins to disappear, the turkeys will start dispersing, in some cases, traveling miles to get to their spring/summer hang-outs.

[Mossberg90MN]

A key element in how you scout in any part of the country is understanding breeding behavior of turkeys and when to focus your efforts on just searching for birds as opposed to searching for gobblers that have started gobbling. Once they have gone into breeding mode and are reliably gobbling on the roost, finding birds to hunt is just a matter of covering country and listening/locating at the right time of day. 

Year-round scouting (or scouting done outside the breeding season) is generally best accomplished by visually looking for turkeys and/or turkey sign.  Scouting once the breeding season starts and gobblers start gobbling is best done by hearing rather than seeing.  Once gobblers "set up shop" for the breeding season, you are likely to hear them in the same areas day after day,...and your most reliable time to hear them is right at first light in the morning from roughly an hour before sunrise until sunrise.  In some areas of the country, the second most reliable time is from sunset until it is fully dark.  (Important point: learn how to use a locator call to get gobblers to gobble during those time periods!)

Another major point to be made about scouting, in general, is to use your computer and satellite imagery to "scout from above".  Google Earth/Maps is a good start, but there are other "paid subscriber" sources like OnX and BaseMaps that are even better because they have layering systems that let you see such things as private lands/ownership info and more importantly if you are a public land hunter, they will show you public lands and how to access them. 

I suspect I am "preaching to the choir" here, because I think most of us are already familiar with all of the above,...but hopefully it will help some of the newer guys out there.

Good info, thanks for the insight. I do have onX which is great, I also have HuntStand but I use onX basically 100% of the time.

[Mossberg90MN]

In Minnesota or Wisconsin, it's basically useless to scout until March at the earliest unless you just want to get a feel for the area you'll likely be hunting once the season comes in. Areas that hold turkeys in the warmer months are typically void of turkeys during the winter unless there is a reliable food force nearby. From what I've learned over the years, the turkeys up here will migrate to areas with those reliable food sources and I've seen some areas with flocks in the hundreds during really tough winters. Once it begins to warm and the snow begins to disappear, the turkeys will start dispersing, in some cases, traveling miles to get to their spring/summer hang-outs.

Yea that's what seems to be the scouting time here... guess I'll be waiting until March! Thanks for the advice, keep up the awesome vids!!