Scouting Spring Toms

Scouting Spring Toms

By Noel Gandy

The doldrums of winter will soon be behind us. Spring will begin to spring forth, and a whole world of outdoor opportunities will be available to the Iowa outdoorsman. Shed hunting for deer antlers will be high on folks’ priority list. Finding delicious morel mushrooms will take high priority. Crappie fishing, and otherwise being in nature, will lend itself to the masses. For many, however, spring means one thing, turkey season.

Unfortunately, it seems that the wild turkey population has been on the decline but significant effort is being made to rectify the downturn. The research organization, Turkeys for Tomorrow, along with the Iowa DNR have been collecting data from hens and nests in order to be able to prescribe the right remedy to preserve the wild turkey in Iowa and across the country. That being said, Iowa still offers great opportunities for folks to take to the turkey woods and harvest two toms. According to www.realtree.com from a 2022 article, the turkey population in Iowa sits around 120,000. There are far more tags sold (averaging around 200,000 per year) than population but the harvest data shows that only around 15,000 birds are taken a year. This means that there are plenty of turkeys still hanging around for you to hunt.

Private land and public land can both be great places to harvest a mature tom. Iowa boasts roughly 356,000 acres of direct-access possibilities. Finding a bird, however, is another story. Let’s explore some ideas to help locate and hopefully harvest your next King of the Spring! I’m going to assume (dumb I know) riding around different fields and easy access properties is being done. Let’s dig into a little more to scouting early season turkeys.

The Early Bird Gets the Worm
Pre-season scouting for turkeys is an oft overlooked part of the difference between a successful season and a tumultuous time afield. No, I’m not talking about remembering where you saw that flock of six longbeards during deer season and calling it good. Those guys are likely split up and are no longer friends. Sure, there very well could be a bird or two still hanging in the area. However, they could have split to the point of none of the birds remaining on property. Their new location could be a section over. Taking time to go out one to three weeks before you plan to hunt and check your hunting ground for turkey activity is not only a great strategy but can potentially save you a lot of precious time.

Listen for Gobbles: Early
Any turkey hunter will tell you that most of the gobbling action for toms happens early in the morning before they fly down. Take advantage of these vocalizations and drop a mental mark on where you heard them. That requires something though: waking up and going afield with the understanding that you will be an observer and not a participant. I believe one of the last things that you need to do pre-season is call to a tom. This can do more harm than good. If you must make noise, an owl hoot will usually do the trick to cause a shock gobble of some sort.

A word of warning: don’t try to get too close to the turkey action. I advise staying well away from roosting areas because they can tend to vary from day-to-day to some degree. If you’re going in to a property to listen, then I recommend veering near the fringes. If you hear a distant gobble then consider advancing a touch to get a little more precise location but don’t get greedy. Online mapping tools can be game changers when you hear a distant gobble. Use the map to see what structure that turkey might be near and make your opening day plans accordingly.

Listen for the Gobbles: Late
Say the mornings are out for you. Have no fear. Toms will elect to sound off in the evenings as well. Generally speaking, turkeys will gobble in some capacity all throughout the day. It is wise to stick near roosting sights for early success. Approach evening listening sessions similarly to how you would approach morning situations. Using caution as to not alert birds to your presence is key in these situations. While you’re out, check your surroundings and pretend that the bird is near. Practice visualizing where and how you would set up if the bird was near. I recommend staying out of the middle of fields while scouting evenings. Sure, you can most likely hear better from those vantage points but you are also lending yourself to being well seen. Stick near the timber if at all possible.

Listen for the Gobbles: Local
The people who live on or near the land that you intend to hunt can be a valuable asset. I’ve gotten more than one tip from non-turkey hunters on the location of a tom. I value their insight because they’ve either laid eyes or ears on the bird I’m after. General door knocking conversations or friendly coffee shop talk can sometimes lend useful information on the whereabouts of a lovesick bird. Permission for hunting turkeys is sometimes granted when permission for hunting deer is denied. I’ve had success several times checking in with landowners who are friendly to turkey hunters but sometimes shy away from deer hunters. Don’t hesitate to check in with those folks. Always be courteous and always respect their decision. It’s their land!

Reflect on Prior Seasons
I mentioned previously that you should not put a whole lot of stock into turkey sightings from deer season. I stand by that. However, I hope you’ll have a long memory when it comes to turkey sightings and encounters from turkey seasons past. Generally, turkeys will tend to frequent some of their same spring haunts from year to year. I would advise checking in on some of these locations.

What should you look for if gobbling action is limited? Tracks, feathers, poop, and scratch marks are all indicators that turkeys are using a property. Vocalization is not the only way to know that a turkey calls a particular ridge home. Ease through the timber or field edges and be a good woodsman. Notice your surroundings and you’ll be amazed at what you see.