First Time For Turkey....

[BZimm]

And it's my first post here on The High Road.

I have a property in the low-central part of Michigan's UP. It's actually quite small but is surrounded by unused private land. The owners in this area have been on the tax rolls since the 40's so I mind the property lines but I'm not afraid to wander around a bit either.

I've learned that we have wild turkeys in the area so I've been scouting for them every chance I can. Our season just opened and I've scheduled four two-day stints when I can sit early and late in the day and see what might happen. I'm prepared to move around, but I have three stationary blinds set up where the trailcams have shown patterns. I'm using an old 20ga. Savage pump which is appropriate for an old man like me......

Anyway, glad to be here; it's an impressive site. I expect to visit often.

BZimm

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Welcome and good luck hunting those UP turkeys.

 

[redneck2]

Have you turkey hunted in the past? If not, their winter range is typically different from their summer range

 

[birdshot8's]

He is in Michigan. That is summer range. also notice date on the photo.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

He is in Michigan. That is summer range. also notice date on the photo.

Yep, lived in northern Michigan for 10 years.
9 months of Winter and 3 months of bad sledding weather...

 

[buck460XVR]

Spend a lot of time up in the Watersmeet area musky fishing every year and have been amazed at the amount of turkeys I have seen in that area over the last few years. The good Lord only knows what they live on, since mast trees are scarce and agriculture is non-existent. Hunted them here in west central Wisconsin last week and my first few days of my season looked similar to the pic in the OP. Snow was hard and crunchy, impossible to get close to them on roost without spooking then or even alerting them to your presence. Warmed up quick and the snow disappeared.

Good luck on those Yooper turkeys, eh?

 

[birdshot8's]

I can't seem to call a good gobbler in when he has hens around. I resort to figuring out their patterns between roost and feed, feed to water. In the evenings I will try to catch them on their way back to roost. I don't get to close to the roost if I plan on hunting that area anytime soon. I shot one a couple of nights ago within 50 yards of his roost because I only had a one time permission to hunt the ground, evening hunt, and the farmer told me where the birds were roosting.