Where To Hunt For Wild Turkeys

Many hunters get frustrated with a lack of success in bagging a wild turkey, fueled by spending many fruitless days in the elements and going home empty-handed. Wild turkeys can be especially elusive and difficult to find, let alone getting a good shot at one. Because they are exceptionally cautious and very agile in their flight, wild turkeys have the advantage over the human hunter most every time, except in instances of hunters with good experience of just plain old dumb luck. The key to any type of victory in hunting wild turkeys lies in a hunter's ability to know where to hunt and the habits that make an area prime turkey hunting grounds. Choosing the right location is the most important aspect of hunting wild turkeys - a good analogy would be a fisherman that sits in the same spot for twelve hours without a bite, goes back the next day, and wonders why he has no fish to show for his efforts.

Understanding a few basics of the behaviors of wild turkeys will enable a hunter to scout for a proper location in which to hunt, and thereby increase the chances of success. The best turkey hunting location has four components - an adequate water supply, a source of food, a nice stand of trees or woods in which to roost and signs that turkeys are present or have been there recently. While all four of these may not be present, the odds of success are increased by each, and if less than two of these components are present a hunter is probably wasting their time turkey hunting.

Wild turkeys use open fields as their feeding and strutting sites, and retreat to the woods for roosting. Wild turkeys are most active in the early morning and just before dark, and if a hunters can position themselves between the feeding area and the roosting area at these times they stand a good chance of getting a bird. As wild turkeys eat grasses, grains, insects, nuts and grains, an open area that has these items present is an excellent location for hunting.Since wild turkeys roost in trees facing east to avoid the impact of the wind, the best location to hunt is on the east side of a stand of timber, hidden between the feeding zone and the roosting zone.

As with any hunting endeavor, stealth is especially imperative to a positive outcome in hunting wild turkeys.