Micro turkey plot

[Charles Clear]

I recently read a decent article where a guy was planting winter wheat 3 weeks before turkey season and seemed to attract tons of hen turkey which indeed brought the Tom turkey in too. Not a bad idea, I might give it a try here in Pennsylvania. Any thoughts or opinions? I was thinking of doing a 50 yard radius around my hay bale blind.

 

[yoderjac]

It is not the best strategy. That is not to say turkey won't use it, but the key is arrangement, not planting food. The amount of use it gets all depends on the surroundings. When trying to attract gobblers, I focus on poults. Seems backwards, but it works. In the spring, gobblers will be where the hens are. Hens will be where they can most successfully raise poults. This means I start with good nesting cover and I make it proximate to good brooding ground. The further poults have to travel to brooding the more at risk they are. Good nesting cover is like good thick bedding cover for deer. 90% of a poults diet is insects for those first few critical weeks. The need bugging ground with good escape cover near by. Don't use fescue as it flops over and poults can't move easily through it. Clover greens up early and attracts bugs. Good overhead cover with bare ground underneath next to clover is ideal. Canopied soybeans or thick buckwheat are good choices.

When hens have good habitat, they will roost in safe areas nearby. Gobblers will roost in safe areas where hens can hear them best. One way to kill a gobbler is to be where the hens want to go and the gobbler will follow along. Other strategies include being the first hen for the gobbler or waiting until he is done with hens and being the last. It is also possible to call in hens with feeding calls and this is easier if you are where hens want to feed.

But you don't have to do anything special. Typical spring planting during the season will attract hens to feed. For example, our season starts in early April. I often drill soybeans in late April or early May. Our season ends in mid-may. It is not uncommon to find a gobbler full of beans he scratch up when feeding with hens.

Good deer management is highly overlapped with good turkey management.

I think a better strategy rather than trying to attract turkey to a specific spot is to use game cameras. Put them over all your fields and you can figure out where hens want to be. Then put your blinds on fields they are using naturally. It can't hurt to try to create a specific attraction. It may be used or completely ignored.

Thanks,

jack

 

[Charles Clear]

Understood. Some really good thoughts there. Thanks! The hay bale blind is in a 2 acre field already and is planted in ladino clover. The turkey use it a good bit already, but I wanted something to draw them in closer for a shot. For whatever reason, in this spot, decoys scare the heck out of them. It gets a lot of pressure from neighboring properties. I have killed enough turkeys in my lifetime, but planning on taking some youth hunters out.

 

[Charles Clear]

So far so good. They really seem to be enjoying the freshly sprouted wheat I planted 4-1

 

[Charles Clear]

A few more pictures

 

[ruskbucks]

I plant winter rye in the fall for the deer. In the spring when we go turkey hunting it is usually the only thing that has greened up. The turkeys seem to love it. My son was able to get his first tom on his first hunt ever sitting on the edge of the winter rye field. We had a lot of action from hens and jakes but the gobbler he harvested was the only one we saw. I think you made a good call with the ww.

 

[Charles Clear]

I plant winter rye in the fall for the deer. In the spring when we go turkey hunting it is usually the only thing that has greened up. The turkeys seem to love it. My son was able to get his first tom on his first hunt ever sitting on the edge of the winter rye field. We had a lot of action from hens and jakes but the gobbler he harvested was the only one we saw. I think you made a good call with the ww.

Awesome to hear! My 10 year old niece is fired up. She gets the first shot on the 20th for youth season.

 

[Bszweda]

Its not a bad idea, but I think it could be consider baiting (check your state game laws)... Turkeys love eating seeds in general.

 

[Wild Thing]

Its not a bad idea, but I think it could be consider baiting (check your state game laws)... Turkeys love eating seeds in general.

Ha Ha - That's for sure! Try planting corn and just watch them go down the rows digging up the seed.

 

[Charles Clear]

Season was 20 days away when I planted. Far from baiting

 

[jsasker007]

Glad it’s working for you. Turkeys like peas also here in Minnesota.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I tried planting a soybean plot in the woods last year and the turkey ate ALL the seeds. (not sure I covered them enough) This year I think I'm going to try a oat "cover crop" with the soybeans to hopefully hide the soybeans better.