April 27th marks the opening of our Southern Ontario spring turkey hunt and by the size of some of the flocks that were reported over the winter it seems that the long winter had little affect on turkey populations and hunters can look forward to a productive hunt this spring.
Now is the time to head off to your favorite bush to do a bit of pre season scouting. The ground is soft right now and it should be easy to pick up signs of foraging turkeys. You can often save yourself a lot of time by asking the landowners if they have seen any birds, or sign of birds.
Don’t assume that birds will follow the same trails or roost in the same locations as they did last year. Snow cover, floods, downed trees, etc. may have encouraged birds to seek out a new location. Conversely, don’t assume that because a certain area didn’t hold birds last year that it won’t this year.
A good pre season turkey tactic is to follow the edges of the bush until you find tracks or other sign of turkey, then sit and quietly watch and listen. Look at the base of hardwoods for telltale signs of roosting birds and plan your ideal ambush location. Don’t use a turkey call to check out an area. Stick to predator calls like crow or owl. You don’t want to make birds wary before opening day.
Once this is done mark your location so you can easily find it on opening day and then leave the birds alone and don’t keep checking back.
Make 2009 your best Southern Ontario turkey hunt ever and remember that time in the field in March will mean birds in the bag in May.
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could anyone give me advice on turkey hunting in southern ontario this spring will be my first hunt and i want to do everything to make it a good one
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