Turkeys generally don’t like being in the woods in wet or windy weather, probably because it’s much harder for them to see or hear predators. They like to be in open places like fields and pastures, and where they might spend an hour or two there on a pleasant day, they may well be there all day in a storm.
What is the best habitat for turkeys?
It is now recognized that turkeys do best in areas with a wide variety of habitat types and plant species. One recent researcher has described the ideal turkey habitat as one-half wooded, one quarter abandoned fields and one-quarter active agriculture.
What is the best terrain for turkey hunting?
Flats: Turkeys love flat areas adjacent to hilly terrain. These are prime locations for feeding, strutting, loafing, and more. Hills: Turkeys gravitate to hills. If the habitat is good and pressure is minimal, they spend a great portion of their time along these.
Do turkeys take the same path everyday?
Turkeys tend to travel the same routes or circuits to the same areas every day, as long as those areas provide what turkeys need and want. Hunters can use this information to place themselves right in the path of the birds, or at least pretty close to where those birds typically travel on any given day.
Where do turkeys like to strut?
You simply have to know what to look for. Most importantly, you have to let the turkeys tell you where the strut zones are. In general, strut zones are going to be located in clearings. It could be a bald ridge-top in the timber, the corner of a big agricultural field, in a small meadow, or on an old logging road.
How do I attract more turkeys?
Food. Turkeys are omnivorous and will sample a wide variety of foods. To attract turkeys to your yard, you can provide them with a large ground feeding station containing cracked corn or mixed birdseed. Turkeys will also happily clean up any spills under hanging feeders you may have up for other birds.
How do you attract turkeys for hunting?
Turkeys prefer an open forest floor covered in leaf litter for easy forage. Creating openings: Turkeys like open, brushy space and grasslands rich in forage. Grass-rich areas also provide safer nesting sites. These can be created by clear-cutting one- to five-acre patches through the forest.
Do turkeys like open fields?
Cover – Although turkeys use forests for cover and roosting in the tall hardwood trees at night, they also like open and brushy areas for feeding, mating, nesting and rearing their young. Turkeys actually depend on a mix of open fields, pasture and forested for their survival.
Do turkeys like freshly plowed fields?
Turkeys Like Dirt
We leave some of our ground freshly plowed, because turkeys seem to like fresh earth. I’ll see them bugging in the crops we’ve planted for them and the mature birds dusting in that freshly turned earth where we don’t plant anything.
Do turkeys like thick woods?
This gobbler is avoiding thick dense young tree growth to stay in a more open woods with older trees. Turkeys have keen vision, both long-range and peripheral. They use it daily to detect danger from predators. If tree growth is too thick, they feel insecure and won’t use the area.
Will spooked turkeys come back?
The gobbler wanted to be where you were when you spooked him. So, after he thinks you’re gone, and he hears a hen softly calling, there’s a very good chance he may come back in that direction. Remember — the gobbler has a limited number of days to breed.
How far can you hear a turkey gobble in the woods?
As a general rule a gobble made in a tree can be heard twice as far as one made on the ground. That same “twice-as-far” rule applies to all other turkey sounds.
Why won’t turkeys come to my decoys?
If a subordinate gobbler comes in, and he’s already been beat up by a dominant gobbler, there’s a very good chance that he’s won’t come in and get his head bloodied again. Many times, a turkey won’t come to a decoy, because the hunter has made a mistake in where he’s placed the decoy.
Do turkeys like fields?
Turkeys are likely to be seen in farm fields or other open areas for a number of reasons. First, on warm days there are plenty of bugs and tender grasses are emerging – farm crops like corn or sprouting wheat on which they can easily feed. Secondly, toms can strut and be easily seen by hens.
Do turkeys like steep terrain?
In areas of thicker timber and pronounced terrain, turkeys typically roost two-thirds to three-quarters up — or down, depending on your vantage point — the sides of draws, ravines, ridges or bluffs. They love to roost off points or knobs that drop off quickly into steep terrain.
Do turkeys like creek bottoms?
Turkeys use creek bottoms as corridors to get to and from preferred feeding and roosting areas. The bigger the scratchings, the bigger the turkeys. Gobblers also love to scratch near the base of bigger trees as well. Gobblers will also leave sign along sandy roads leading to and from fields and food plots.
What trees attract turkeys?
Turkeys will be naturally attracted to trees and shrubs like dogwoods, chokeberries, viburnums, hickories, beech, hawthorns, and more. Oak trees should also be on the top of your list with white oak and red oak trees, in particular, proving to be effective at attracting turkeys.
What is best to plant for wild turkeys?
Turkeys prefer thinner vegetation when foraging and strutting. Some of the most popular and well known plants for turkeys include agricultural crops like rye, millet, oats, wheat, soybeans and sorghum. Chufa, a plant which forms small underground tubers, is also a favorite of wild turkeys.
Will corn attract turkeys?
Food: Turkeys will eat on many different foods, especially grain, seeds, nuts, insects, snails, slugs, berries and fruit. Mature oak trees can provide nuts, and a ground feeding area with cracked corn or mixed birdseed is great for turkeys.
What time of day is best to hunt turkey?
first thing in the morning
Time of Day: Since Turkeys make their nest in trees and on the ground in wooded areas, one of the best times of day to hunt is first thing in the morning. Get out to your blind early and listen for the yelps, cackles, and gobbles of turkeys as they start in search for breakfast.
What time should you start calling turkeys?
When To Call A Gobbler. OK, so let’s narrow it down to the time of day. In my view, the best times of the day are right off the roost, then again from about 8:30 to 9:30 when more hens start to leave the gobbler to go lay an egg, and again from about 11 until noon.