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Preseason turkey scouting as important as the actual hunt

With spring turkey season only a couple of weeks away, now is the time to get out and locate a tom or toms so that you have a game plan to put into action on opening day.

If we were going to discuss NASCAR today I would have contacted the Earnhardt team for advice. If computers were today's topic, I would be telling you what the staff at Microsoft has to say.

So, when it comes to turkey hunting I decided to go to the very best experts in the land for their preseason scouting tips.

John LaGrand and Gary Williams are members of the Mountain Screamer Game Calls pro hunting staff. Both are extremely experienced turkey hunters, who gave me so much valuable information on turkey scouting I had to pass it along.

I met John LaGrand a few years ago at a deer show in Missouri. It was quickly evident that this guy is a real outdoorsman. He is the owner/operator of Mountain Screamer Game Calls.

LaGrand likes to look for early spring scratching as a quick turkey locator. Once he finds a used hillside, he investigates to determine whether hens or toms did the work. He looks for either the "popcorn" shaped droppings of the hen or the "J" shape droppings of the gobbler.

He also looks closely for feathers, knowing that black feathers with a distinctive black tip are those of a tom.

Listening to toms gobble from the roost and then fly down and move to their strut-zones is another method LaGrand uses to pattern his birds.

"If you already know where a gobbler will end up by midmorning, be there first. Waiting for him where he wants to be is much better than chasing him all over the woods," LaGrand says. He also advises wearing full camouflage when scouting before the season.

Tracks are also a good sign of turkey activity. LaGrand studies the size of the tracks to tell hens from toms. He says that a gobbler track will often measure four or more inches from the heel to the tip of the middle toe.

The direction of the tracks can also give you good data on where the birds might be headed and what they are going there to find, like roosting sights or food sources.

The most important thing John LaGrand left me with is to be careful not to spook your birds. Observe from a distance and be very quiet.

"They should never know you have been there and never know you are there until you squeeze the trigger," he said.

If you have ever watched a turkey hunt on TV or ever read much about the sport, then the name Gary Williams must be familiar to you. Williams, three-time Missouri State Turkey Calling Champion and former Missouri Grand Champion, is one of the most recognizable experts in the business.

"I like to use locator calls before the season to find toms," Williams told me. "When foliage is sparse and you can see for several hundred yards, so can the birds. I let the loud sounds of the calls cover lots of ground and watch from a distance with binoculars."

Williams says he enjoys combining preseason turkey scouting with shed hunting.

Williams also appreciates finding a good turkey track.

"I get just as excited crossing a fresh gobbler track as I do hearing a gobble," he said. "They both say 'opportunity' to me, just in a different tone.

"Hearing a turkey gobble boosts you mentally, builds excitement and makes you sharp," he adds. "However, to be successful throughout the season, knowing gobblers are in the area without hearing them and hunting them accordingly is equally important."

Using the methods of these two expert turkey hunters will help you have a better opening day than your hunting buddy who thinks he already knows all there is to know about this most cautious of hunting trophies, the mature spring gobbler.

* Talk with Mike at www.mikeroux.com.