When do you start scouting?

[arintime]

I have an area I would like to scout for turkey for the spring hunting season in western WA. I am going to try to make it there today (12/16) but I don't know if it is too early for the 2010 season. I am going anyway, but I am wondering when I should expect to see signs of turkey? It was June(09) when I last saw what I believe were turkey prints/poop in the area.

[PA BEN]

Mid February, I've seen toms breeding hens March 9th before.

[turkey slayer]

I am not sure about the wet side, but the east side I start scouting for birds in mid march (  depending on snow). I watch them come off the winter area and work to the spring areas.

[yelp]

Two kinds of scouting.  One is to find birds and get permission on private land and the other is just locating birds.  I have already started getting permission. 

When scouting wild turkeys..the other thing to think about is winter length.  Longer the winter will delay breeding and therefore birds will be in traditional wintering areas.  Winter length is also different in different parts of the state.  Break up of flocks after breeding takes place in March/April may occur earlier or later depending on where you are and how long winter persists.  I talk to lots of hunters who are successful killing birds during the transition.  Birds are on winter patterns, pecking order is established, breeding is in full swing and it is easy to kill birds. 
The down side to hunting winter sites prior to break up.  Hunting pressure will limit the hunt to where birds will be forced to move out.  Habitually they will stick around and guys will kill birds, but it will end soon and the birds will leave.  The other downside is there are a lot of birds. lots of eyes, etc.. Most two year old birds are killed during this period due to the fact that the dominant toms have a pile of hens and it is hard to call him away from them. 

Once these toms leave traditional wintering areas they will follow hens to nesting areas, some maybe within a 1/4 mile while others maybe 10 miles aways or up a drainage or a mountian, etc.  So scouting too early may lead to where you think birds are and when April 15th rolls around you don't see that many. 

The NE part of the state has Merriams and these birds are all over.  You can find them down by the Lake or up in the mountains come April 15th.  Rio grande birds in parts of the state same thing.  The Republic area is notorious late starter.  It seems to lose winter last.  You can kill birds opening day, but I have better hunting later.

My favorite method is to drive and shock call locate birds.  I can find birds away from lots of hunters by being the first one above birds in a particular drainage.  It takes time to learn habits of certain flocks to.  Some flocks have consistent travel patterns from year to year and that is nice to have knowledge of come opening week.

Also check out last years threads on here we discuss turkey stuff a lot.

[turkey slayer]

Well said yelp, you always go in depth

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

If you are hunting western washington for these birds...Get out there as soon and as often as you can !
Turkey densities are extremely low on the "wet-side" and your largest challenge will be just locating them.
My best spot last year came about because a coyote/bobcat hunter saw them several times and told me....I found them in a different spot, in the same drainage, but still close to where he told me to go.
I am no expert, but If we dont have that rough a winter on this side "winter range" should not be an issue..
Shoot some coyotes and scout for turkeys! sounds like fun to me !

[turkeydancer]

 

It doesn't hurt to scout any time of the year as you can ... just remember that they can move with weather, pressure, etc. as Yelp said.  I have been out there on a mountain bike in Dec/Jan snows.  As the season gets closer, I'll scout a little more to pinpoint their location even to the point of putting them to "bed" the night before season opens.

 

[arintime]

I did go to the area I want to scout, although my main intention is to walk my dog looking for grouse with a side trip of looking for turkey sign, but we did not get out of the car. It was dumping heavy rain and I didn't have that kind of rain gear. The area I want to scout is Natl forest so permission is not an issue. My goal is to just locate birds and the area is behind elk closure gates so I am hoping there will be less chance of them being disturbed. I do not know if there are turkeys around, but I have been told there are turkey 4-5 miles away. I think it is worth looking into. Thanks for the great info.

[yelp]

I did go to the area I want to scout, although my main intention is to walk my dog looking for grouse with a side trip of looking for turkey sign, but we did not get out of the car. It was dumping heavy rain and I didn't have that kind of rain gear. The area I want to scout is Natl forest so permission is not an issue. My goal is to just locate birds and the area is behind elk closure gates so I am hoping there will be less chance of them being disturbed. I do not know if there are turkeys around, but I have been told there are turkey 4-5 miles away. I think it is worth looking into. Thanks for the great info.

Eastside or westside?

[arintime]

Westside, Olympic National Forest area. This is my second year hunting turkey, and my first year trying it on my own. Right now I am hoping to see some reasonably fresh prints/poop, not necessarily a turkey but I wouldn't mind if I did. Come Jan, Feb, Mar, I will scout with more stealth and leave the dog at home.

[yelp]

Scouting on the Coast is totally different than the eastside.  There are some similarities. One problem is nothing really dries out over there.  So turkey turds look fresh all the time.  Do you know if there are birds in the areas you are looking or are you just hoping to find some? 

[arintime]

I don't know if there are turkey there, but it is within reason they could be. I did see what I thought were prints/poop last june. I guess I am hoping to find some. Any suggestions how to scout other than keeping my eyes open and being quiet?

[Bofire]

 :)already, saw two big flocks in my area, with loads of younguns!
Carl

[arintime]

I went out near the area I wanted to scout and I didn't see any sign at all. It was more like a dog walk and it was late in the day. The ground was covered in frost and everything was pretty crunchy, so? I will keep trying.

[Dustin07]

Westside, Olympic National Forest area. This is my second year hunting turkey, and my first year trying it on my own. Right now I am hoping to see some reasonably fresh prints/poop, not necessarily a turkey but I wouldn't mind if I did. Come Jan, Feb, Mar, I will scout with more stealth and leave the dog at home.

:)already, saw two big flocks in my area, with loads of younguns!
Carl

I don't know if there are turkey there, but it is within reason they could be. I did see what I thought were prints/poop last june. I guess I am hoping to find some. Any suggestions how to scout other than keeping my eyes open and being quiet?

Scouting on the Coast is totally different than the eastside.  There are some similarities. One problem is nothing really dries out over there.  So turkey turds look fresh all the time.  Do you know if there are birds in the areas you are looking or are you just hoping to find some? 

There are some in that there forest. There's a road that is even dedicated to them. I have spoke with locals who know the exact place the turkey's were originally unloaded. I have yet to see or hear a live one, but on 6 scouting missions last year the only place I found sign (scat) was that forest. I know of a couple other places where people have reported to me seeing them alive, or hearing them.

shoot me a PM if you're real serious about west side turkey's and we can share scouting reports. I've love to get a wet one next year and would be happy to swap info.

[HoofsandWings]

On the Eastside, the wintering areas are a little off the beaten track. I was in Pasco recently when just outside the city limits, I saw some toms. They must have followed the Snake River.

In 2009, the limiting factor was snow. I was surprised at the amount of unmelted snow in the foothills.
In 2008, in the Palouse, my usual places had 3 feet of snow.

[Intruder]

Scouting too early (east) can give you false sense of hope.  As already pointed out, snow levels and weather can greatly affect where you'll find birds in the spring.  Years ago, I would go out and locate large flocks of birds to find that they where greatly dispersed by hunting season... sometimes miles away.  I've literally killed toms in May in areas that had 2+ feet of snow on the opener. 

I'm a huge advocate of scouting and getting to know your hunting area but IMO you can spend a lot of time for little reward scouting turkeys too early in the year. 

[Dustin07]

what are you guys seeing in the far eastern part of the state this year in terms of weather compared to last year? it is incredibly mild on the west side.

[Intruder]

what are you guys seeing in the far eastern part of the state this year in terms of weather compared to last year? it is incredibly mild on the west side.

Same

[Dustin07]

should be good for the turkey population then i'd think.

[turkey slayer]

Well said Intruder,

Scouting is the key and learning the areas that you are going to hunt

[Intruder]

I never really scouted for turkeys, I just waited for the opener, found them, and shot em.  It's really that easy.

Other than what Yelp described as far as scouting out getting permission.... I tend to agree w/ ya Miles.  One of the things I see a lot of new hunters do early before the season is go out and call to make the birds gobble.  Not a good thing to do....    

[Turkeyman]

 

[Wacenturion]

As far as westside birds...........never too early to scout, even though they do move from winter areas to spring.....at least the excess.  Also.....as was said above, leave the damn turkey calls at home while scouting.  You'll just be screwing yourself.

[bow4elk]

You'll just be screwing yourself.

And everyone else!!  There are more owls and crows per square mile in late March and April than any other time of year!  Use your eyes and ears only, please!

[Wacenturion]

You'll just be screwing yourself.

And everyone else!!  There are more owls and crows per square mile in late March and April than any other time of year!  Use your eyes and ears only, please!

I tried to appeal to their inner self...lol.

[arintime]

Other than keeping quiet, should I wear camo when scouting? I am planning on wearing neutrals like green and brown because I don't think I am actually trying to get close to them, but I don't want to "screw myself or others!" I have never scouted anything other than fish so, any info would be great! When work lets up a little, things are going to be better!

[Wacenturion]

Other than keeping quiet, should I wear camo when scouting? I am planning on wearing neutrals like green and brown because I don't think I am actually trying to get close to them, but I don't want to "screw myself or others!" I have never scouted anything other than fish so, any info would be great! When work lets up a little, things are going to be better!

Camo is fine, as is regular clothing.  If you run into birds you're just something in the woods......no big deal.  When people use turkey calls in particular to get birds to respond they are just educating them as to what isn't a turkey.  In some areas where people hammer them with calls from the road, gobblers probably wake up opening morning and say to themselves....oh...there's the guy in the red Toyota, and there's the guy in the blue Ford....you get my drift. 

If you walking and scouting using turkey calls to get responses, then expect opening morning for the birds that may or may not have seen you but heard you and never saw the bird that was doing the calling, to be somewhat hesitant to play the game as intended.  I personally don't think locator calls (crow/daytime...owl/before light as examples) used sparingly do much harm.

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

As a bowhunter for these f'ng birds I suggest putting on your full hunting outfit and covering groud looking for them, that way you can see what items on you make noise, shine, get in the way etc., there is nothing worse than finally knowing where to go then having your hunt ruined by some strang item on your gear giving you away, or interfering with your shot.

I had a miserable day a few years ago because I didn't do this and my dekes rubbed against my pack and made strange noises, and I had to stop every 20 steps to pull up my damn pants.

[HoofsandWings]

Well I know where some turkeys used to be. I was elk hunting the Winston unit when a game warden came by.
In the back of his truck were several dead turkeys. Apparently he was driving a back road when he came across some yahoos carrying these turkeys they shot with rifles.

[Turkeyman]

Did they get a ticket?Do you know the game wardens name? Wish i would have seen this.

[Wacenturion]

Did they get a ticket?Do you know the game wardens name? Wish i would have seen this.

 

[HoofsandWings]

Well, the warden did say the turkeys were evidence. I am pretty sure they got tickets for poaching turkeys in November. Turkeyman, you know the gated road that runs from hwy 12 over to the rv park off of the st helens hwy. The warden had come from that direction.