It's time to fine tune the scouting for opening day, particularly if you're going to be hunting on public land. In Washington the toms have been out chasing hens for the last 2-3 weeks and their habits may have change some since you were out scouting last time. Some of the hens may be nesting already and so that means the toms are probably going to be active during the mid-day hours and out looking for hens that are still receptive. More than likely they'll be henned up first thing in the morning and may be difficult to call them in to your location. Getting as close as possible to a tom that gobbles but won't move from his hens may help as well as trying to get ahead of them, if you're familiar with their routes. Most turkeys will feed uphill during the day so try and keep that in mind when trying to cut them off.
If you're hunting on remote or private land, a full strut decoy with a hen decoy can also make the difference in drawing a mature tom into your gun range but use extreme caution when doing so. The new Primos gobbler shaker call is very realistic in reproducing both jake and mature tom gobbles and could be used successfully in conjunction with your full strut decoy and hen set up.
Also don't forget to pattern your shotgun before going afield, particularly if you have switched chokes and are using one of the newer tighter turkey chokes. They will certainly change the way your gun patterns, and not necessarily the way you may have expected. You will want to check it at various distances from 10 yards to 50 yards, you might be amazed at what you discover!
Well good luck and let us know how you did on your scouting and feel free to email any turkey hunting questions you may have. I'll answer them as quickly as I can and to the best of my ability. I look forward to your pics and stories from this turkey season!
Good hunting!
Rich
rich@northwestoutback.com
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