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Where I'll be turkey hunting

Mike

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Up Nort
This is an aerial of my parent's Michigan farm, hopefully mine one day. They bought this back when I was in second grade. We used to make the two hour drive from Chicago almost every weekend growing up. Not once during those years did I think about hunting (no one hunts in my family), but I was all about fishing. There is a guy who lives at the front of the property on the West side who has been deer hunting this land for about forty years. I've chosen not to deer hunt there. Maybe I'm crazy or maybe I'm just banking that I'll own this land someday and my time will come. He has taken some real monsters there. I will get pictures of his mounts when I go out there. Since I got the private land turkey lottery for Michigan, I am going to hunt it for turkey. According to my dad, there are hundreds out there.

You can see the orchards, which are much smaller than they used to be. Most of the trees have been removed due to disease. The field with the brush piles (an old orchard) is where he see turkeys the most. I assume they would be roosting around the edge of that field?

!cid_1518511D-F1B8-4FBB-8EE8-E031D8CC4082.jpg
 

Mike

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Up Nort
It's from Bing.com, their bird's eye view is absolutely incredible. You should see the full res version; you would crap!
hi res here
 
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Huckleberry Finn

Senior Member
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Mike,

A couple of thoughts.

Mike's turkey grounds.jpg

Can you scout the property at all? If you can, I'd make it a point to listen from blue #1 and #2.

Do you have permission to hunt that hay field to the north? That inside back corner looks like a great place to me, you could put decoys out in that field (really both fields). I LOVE hunting corners for turkey.

As for where they roost, it might be on the edge of the field, but most importantly - where are the biggest, oldest trees? That's where they will be. Big ole roost trees. I
 

Mike

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Up Nort
I don't have permission to hunt the hay field, but I could always ask. I won't be able to get out there until I can hunt, but I could scout the first day. I'm planning two, three day trips in April. Thanks for the insight!
 

Huckleberry Finn

Senior Member
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Mike,

It might not be a bad idea to find someone who can guide you because this is your first year out! Turkeys can be challenging, but given your success and hardwork during deer season, I'm sure you'll be fine. They are a ton of fun! Anyways, I found a lot of value in shooting my first bird as a youth hunter and having two flocks called into me one morning (missed a big ole tom and then at 10am shot a jake) and even since then enjoy turkey hunting with my best friend. I had a good hunting mentor that I would call after every hunt and we even did a good bit of scouting together. Very beneficial to learn how to call from someone who's been doing it for twice my age!

If I'm talking down, or talking dumb to you, just tell me. Something that you can do rather than scout the first day, is if you can get there the day before, say you leave after work and haul ass up there an hour or so before dark...camo up and get in there and find a place to sit. Turkeys normally give a gobble or two before they fly up into their roost trees and you can hear them fly up - sounds like a freaking helicopter. This is called "putting a turkey to bed". If you know where they roost, it makes it a hell of a lot easier to pick your spot for the morning!

My experiences in turkey hunting have also been that you do a lot of learning as you go. You might see birds walking out after not seeing anything all day. I've picked up my setup and walked a quarter of a mile and set up again and heard birds. Obviously scouting ahead of time in the mornings is the best. But, sometimes that can't happen. For example, I'll get home on Friday night. I will be at my listening points on Saturday and Sunday morning (gotta pick which woods to hunt) and go from there on Monday. It's not ideal, but I'm just happy to have the time in the woods. I have a good historical knowledge of where they normally are and I hope that I can pinpoint them on those two mornings, and then I'll be learning as I go during the week. I am pretty confident in my skills and have some great places to learn, but there are still a ton of things that I have to learn and I'm still not the best caller...it's a rush though man, it's a complete rush when you're sitting on the ground and are hearing gobbles and then see that head bobbing across the field or through the woods...awesome!
 

Mike

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15,840
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Up Nort
Thanks for tips, I definitely need them. I'm going to call the guy who lives up front as he should have a good understanding of where the birds are. He sits in the woods all year long from what my dad says.
 

Hoytmania

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Gods Country
Can't help out to much with turkey hunting, but that sure looks like a great piece of property. Best of Luck!!! :smiley_coolpeace: