By Brad Harris

With turkey season just around the corner, it's definitely time to comb the areas you plan to hunt. The most successful turkey hunters I know are the guys who put in that extra effort. Regardless if it's practicing their calls, building their shooting confidence, reading and studying turkey habits or scouting turkey country, they go the extra mile. This is the time of year you need to get in the field and locate gobbling toms.

Roll yourself out of bed and get out to listen for that early-morning gobbling on the roost. Just as dawn is breaking a tom turkey will gobble to let everything know he is the king of the woods. If you are in a good area, many times several different toms will gobble on their own letting you know where they like to roost. Take note of where you can hear the gobbling at daylight and locate as many gobblers as you can. If you hunt public land you need to have four or five alternate spots to hunt.

It never fails that on opening morning, three other hunters are after the only birds you have scouted. If you have done your homework you will have several other places to go. A good way to locate Gobbling toms is to drive the back roads, parking on high points before daylight and listen. In large timbered areas, walk in and listen on high ridge tops making sure you take notes of any gobbling activity. Once you have located daylight gobblers don't stop there. Stay in the woods all morning long and listen for toms who gobble late in the morning, especially between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. the official closing hour. These late-morning birds are usually the easiest to call in and kill for many times their hens have moved off from them to nest, leaving Mr. Tom looking for companionship. I take nearly 70 percent of my gobblers after 10 a.m. When gobblers won't gobble on their own, make them gobble with short bursts on locator calls such as hawk, crow, owl or coyote. These loud natural sounds will trigger what is termed a "shock gobble" from a gobbler, showing his dominance to all the world with a ground-shaking gobble.

Finally, spend lots of time scouting for turkey signs. Look for feather droppings, scratchings and tracks. Check out water holes for usage and look for gobbler hangouts. Many times a gobbler will establish a strut area where he and other gobblers will go and strut or display for the hens. These areas are usually located in an open field or glade, along a logging road or just about anywhere that is fairly open with lots of early-morning sunlight. To find these areas use binoculars for long-range scouting to actually see gobblers in their strut zones. Scout for drag marks on the ground with broken wing tips and droppings in a likely spot described above. Once located, a strut zone makes a great ambush site where gobblers will frequent year after year. Locate as many gobblers as you can and move throughout the day to pre-scout gobbler hot spots. Your chances of success will be much greater.

Good Hunting!

Note: Brad Harris is Director of Public Relations for Lohman Game Calls.