Finding Spring Toms

By Nolan Rolston

There have been many times throughout my turkey hunting years that I have heard the phrase “There aren’t any turkeys on my ground”, or “I only see turkeys when I’m deer hunting, but never in the spring”.  In my early years I never thought much about it when people said those things, because it never made sense to me…  If there’s timber, there has to be turkeys, right? In the years to come I learned that may not always be the case.  

 

Understand Your Local Birds and Area

If you want to find Spring toms, you have to understand the way the flock in the area you are hunting operates.  I want to be clear that I am not saying that turkeys don’t winter where they bread, for a lot of folks their turkeys may not move year-round.  What I am saying is there are some places where the brood grounds are in fact different from where they winter, and that is something you will have to figure out about the flock you are pursuing.

There is not much to do in the fall and winter months as far as spring turkey scouting goes, in my opinion.  I spend my time knocking on doors, and shed hunting public areas that I  have never been on before.  It gives you a chance to get familiar with a new area and you might find a bonus shed in the process.  The land is fairly flat around here, so I will mark any openings, potential roost trees, and benches on my OnX so I can study them when it gets closer to turkey season and make a few game plans.  In my opinion you can never have too many places to chase a spring gobbler, so lock down as many places as you can while you have the time.  

 

Get Prepared

As March rolls around I am usually getting the turkey itch pretty bad.  Here in central Iowa, mother nature starts teasing us with those warmer days mixed in between the lingering cold, and at times it makes me want to start strutting myself just knowing what is around the corner.  Usually at this time I will start getting all of my turkey stuff rounded up.  I make sure I have some fresh new mouth calls, get my turkey vest organized and my clothes all washed.  I also come up with a coffee route to start driving in the mornings before work, where I will pass by my permission properties.  I try to pick spots to stop that should be within ear shot of those potential roost trees I pinned during the winter months, and I’ll shut the truck off and listen.  If you put in the time to listen and figure what limb they are sleeping on, you are already heading in the direction of success.  You might say well the turkeys I hunt don’t roost in the same tree every night, and you’re probably correct, but listening for roost gobbles will help you nail down that pattern. I would have to say this is the most important step to finding spring toms.

 

Spend Some Time Scouting

Every somewhat experienced turkey hunter knows that you don’t kill them when their feet hit the ground in the morning every single time.  So, when I’m able I will cruise around and glass those permission spots and public spots if I can. Closer to season you should start to develop a good idea as to what direction those long beards head after breading their hens in the morning, they may still be a little grouped up but they should be starting to hang around those strut zones that they will eventually use mid-day to get bugs, and to try to strut a hen in.  These particular zones are a great spot to sit during that 10AM to 2PM daytime lull.

As the weather starts getting nicer, and you start to notice those toms that were grouped up a week ago starting to spread out, developing their pecking order.  Hens are starting to wander, Toms fighting over hens off the roost has begun, and they start to develop their early morning breading zones with their group of ladies.  Spring turkey season has finally arrived, and its time to use all of that bookmarked intel you’ve been taking the last month or so.  

 

Continue to Learn

My last piece of advice is never stop being a student.  Listen to how those birds talk, Watch how the birds interact with each other, and use the failed hunts to make the next one better.  Enjoy the process of patterning turkeys, much like deer hunters enjoy patterning bucks in the early fall.  The more educated you are about the birds in your area, the more prepared you will be come opening morning.  I hope everyone has a safe and fun turkey season with a lot of memories made.  Soak up as much as you possibly can because it seems to go faster with every season that passes.