Rooky Turkey question.

[kevinp16]

This will be my first year turkey hunting. Because of all the snow, will or do the turkey try and move to lower grounds to roost or feed? Just thinking it might be a great opener if all the turkey are squeezed into lower valley for food.
 Any help would be great. Thanks in advance.

[NWBREW]

I've seen turkey tracks in the snow many times....sometimes pretty high up. Locate them and put them to bed the night before, you will find them the next morning.

Welcome to the site.

[kevinp16]

Thanks for the tips. I'm going to be up in the mountains and from the looks of things lots of snow for opening day.

[vandeman17]

Agreed. I have seen tracks in snow that was up to my ankles before so I don't think it bothers them a whole lot but it depends on how old the snow is and if there are places to feed. As was mentioned, put them to bed, come back in the morning and game on.

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

Depending on location....
I have seen Turkeys scratching under trees that have little to no snow on ground when you had to walk on a 6' deep hill of Ice (frozen snow) just to get there, just because you cannot drive up the road, does not mean that there is snow everywhere at whatever elevation........
South facing slopes and whatever areas that do not have snow can/will hold birds, surprising how the top of a hill has less snow than the sides.
I would suggest looking for areas that have new growth from snow melt and clearings, do not worry about snow-line (unless you are hunting Sherman Pass) as no matter how deep the snow is, there will be melted spots by April.
But the again, where I was is at Sherman Pass............
I had good luck following creek/river drainage's, as the colder temps make water important, they cannot get the needed water from frost.
this time of year food is predominately new growth and seeds, you will find the freshest sprouts near the edges of recently melted snow.
As nice as "all the turkeys being squeezed into lower valleys for food" sounds, the ones in that circumstance will most likely be on private or leased lands.
Any birds easily accessible will already be scouted, and most likely you will have more competition from other hunters....
I do not know where you plan on hunting, but the more time you spend locating Turkeys pays off when the time to hunt them comes around, according to my friends in Chewelah and Kettle Falls, it is worse than deer season, as far as number of hunters in town, but this is good news for someone who actually hunts, you would be surprised at how many birds get passed over by hunters because they don't respond in early morning.
If you can locate 3-4 flocks before season, and hunt all day, you might ambush or call one in while everyone else is in town eating pizza and shooting pool......
The harder it is to get to them, the more likely someone hasn't "educated" them, if they are a 2 hour walk up hill because the snow keep the lazy hunters away, the more your chances of success  

[MuleySniper]

Stickslinger and I make it work

[WildfireArcher]

We made it work too 

Wildfire

[PA BEN]

They will follow the snow line up. And you will fine them on southern side where the snow is gone.

[bearpaw]

Birds tend to stay closer to barnyards until the snow leaves. A warmup in weather will benefit hunters as the birds will spread out and move off private places.

[lewy]

Took my nephew over for the youth hunt a couple years ago, we found em in the snow and below it!

[Phantom Gobbler]

Good looking snow gobblers.  Come Youth Season and/or General Opener it is game on at multiple elevations!  Snow or not!  Some days the birds will be highly vocal and other days .... nada.  But it keeps us coming back for the annual ritual.   

[KimberRich]

This will be my first year turkey hunting. Because of all the snow, will or do the turkey try and move to lower grounds to roost or feed? Just thinking it might be a great opener if all the turkey are squeezed into lower valley for food.
 Any help would be great. Thanks in advance.

It could be a great opener if the birds are squeezed into the lower valley's for food if you have access to private ground/farms.  Most that land is going to be private for sure.  I've definitely sat on a snowy hillside looking into the valley at flocks of birds next to barns and on farms..  Cool to see but frustrating also.  Let's hope for some warm weather to help melt some off and get them into the hills!

[kevinp16]

Thanks for all the input from everyone. I was able to spend better part of Wednesday scouting/ calling turkey just outside Ellensburg in the hills. Still alot of snow and most access roads are closed to snowmobile parks. We were able to make it up a few south facing hills, but never saw any turkey. Did see lots of black tail and elk.

My guess is that the turkey are still lower in the valleys, or even higher up on the south facing hill tops that have no snow.