Spring Turkey Scouting in Wisconsin

At least they were there

Spring is coming, and you’re anxious to get turkey hunting, but it is weeks away.  The fever is setting in both for spring and turkeys.  Scouting makes sense, where do you start even if you see turkeys now there is no guarantee they will be in the same place come the season.

Here is what I look for and do while scouting-

• Turkeys; yeah duh, but it is very nice to see them.  If you plan on filling a tag the first rule is you must hunt where the game is.  Because if you hunt where there is no game no matter how hard you hunt you will not fill your tag.  Do not let tradition dictate where you hunt allow the game in this case turkeys determine where your hunting area will be.  Turkeys are wide ranging here in Wisconsin so be adaptable and keep scouting for birds right up to your season.
• Think nesting areas.  Where will the hens most likely choose to nest?  Of course, this is where the hens are going to be hanging out during the spring season with the gobblers satelliting them.
• Roost areas that are adjacent to the nesting areas.
• Now that you’ve keyed on some good nesting areas think about the food sources that will be in this area when you start hunting.  Such as new green grasses or clover, insects including flying, crawling and burrowing, wildflowers, and new buds.  If you hunt multiple seasons, this will be changing weekly.
• In spite of all the advice about not calling in the area where you plan to hunt, you should ignore this unsound advice and take your calls out to use for locating birds.  In my opinion, this does no harm; turkeys have no memory, and they will not imprint your calling as a danger because you are not shooting at them yet.  Interactive calling with real turkeys is the best learning experience to begin gaining the understanding of different turkey vocalizations and their inflections.

Time to go out and find those Wisconsin turkeys.  Enjoy.