Where would you setup? (more info added)

[mgompf]

Here's the background...
40 acres
No crop fields
There are a few oak, buckeye & hickory trees scattered about the property.

Where would you set up for turkey?
I know they are there and have killed 3 here in the past, just wanted to see what the experts thought after a first look.

 
 

As you can tell from the topo the area is really a large ridge that runs the length of the property with very steep valleys on both sides.

i dont know about just setting up for turkeys without knowing there patterns on a particular piece of ground, but i think i would stay on top of the ridge till i got one to answer me, then move and setup accordingly.  

[lpcjon2]

Go out before dusk with binos and see where they roost. Then set up the next morning close by.

[sweeney3]

Somewhere in the edge of the woods near that pond in the middle of the property, probably where the woods kind of bottle neck into the east end of the pond, though I'd want to look around on foot some.  That would likely be a good spot to start though.

[JamesKerr]

With Turkeys in my experience they are hard to guess where they will be at (atleast in my part of the country. That said I would probably set up in the small field that is to the right of the lake with my blind either right behind the tree line or right in front of it if I could get it brushed in.

[Dimondback]

Originally posted by JamesKerr:
With Turkeys in my experience they are hard to guess where they will be at (atleast in my part of the country. That said I would probably set up in the small field that is to the right of the lake with my blind either right behind the tree line or right in front of it if I could get it brushed in.

X2....this would also put you at the top of that ridgeline...I have never had a problem calling turkeys into my decoy(s) up a hill or ridge but getting them to come down off a ridge or hilltop into a wooded bottom has been impossible.

[pdk25]

I don't know crap about turkey hunting, but I would like to see more threads like this.

[momo]

i would try to find where they are roosting and try to get a nice blind cloose to that area just remeber good cover  hard to guess without being there

[momo]

are there any pine i love hunting turkey close to pines and roosting areas

[mgompf]

Ok so here is some more details...
The light green areas are mostly cedar trees, the pink areas are past kill sights.

The 2 kills at the front of the property happened in back to back years on opening days. I basically waited on a gobble then setup (was done in 30min). I haven't seen nor heard gobbles from that location since.
The harvest at the back of the property happened about 2pm after a the tom had apparently left his hen mid afternoon and he was strutting the ridge top.

 

I have found that when bowhunting turkeys that it seems to work best to find a mid morning/afternoon ambush sight and play the waiting game. You just can't run and gun with a bow, blind, chairs, etc.

[Michigan Mark]

Seems like you did well hunting the clearings/field edges. As far as setting up somewhere all depends on the weather, what week(s) you are hunting. You will be warming up earlier in Ohio than us in Michigan. But the winter has been very warm. Mother nature is going to dictate when breeding is going to happen. When the Toms will be looking for the hens. Also is there any rock (gravel/small rocks for the birds) on the property?

[mgompf]

Yes. The area is very rocky.
The property is actually in Kentucky.
Their season starts a week earlier in KY than Ohio.
This usually helps since the birds are generally not henned-up the first week. I hadn't even thought about the weather yet. I would expect the breeding to start early if the warm weather continues. It make make the later season better.