Strutting zones and roosting patterns

[ks_wayward_son]

Hey guys, just thought I'd ask everyone's experience on a few things. Primarily, where do you find the turkeys in your area are strutting for the hens? I found on a few occassions that they will be in a ridge/i.e. lower ground. But, just the other day I also found a lone tom strutting for a few hens high up on a hillside. Does it just depend on the mood of the birds on a particular day as to the location they choose? I'd think that they would go in their strutting/mating areas mostly high up on a hill to have a better vantage point for predators and/or rival birds. I've been hunting turkeys for quite a while, but I seem to have difficulty locating these mating grounds; mostly because the toms aren't likely to respond to my calls when "henned up".

Also, if you've located a roosting area or path to a roosting area that toms follow, have you found that they will travel the same direction to the roost in the evening as they will after flydown? In other words, if a tom is heading west after flydown, will the bird travel west to east on the same path in the evening to his roost? Thanks for any input fellas.

 

[masterhunter]

Look on ridges and near field edges or small cuts of woods near pastures.
Use a locater call the night before to locate them, then in the morning get to within 50-70 yds of their roost.....wait till legal shooting light and tell em how much you love em.