"I'm real fortunate that I've had access to the same private lands for a number of years, so I pretty much know where to find turkeys every spring," said Schmidt. "The scouting I do is in midwinter, and then again just before turkey seasons open. The midwinter trips are to find the general areas where the turkeys are actually wintering. The late-winter/early-spring trips are to identify places where those turkeys will be when it comes time to hunt."

Schmidt's midwinter scouting combines face-to-face visits with landowners and farmers to discuss renewing hunting privileges on their property with chats to glean information about the location of turkeys on each farm.

"Farmers usually have a pretty good idea where turkeys are spending the winter on their property," said Schmidt. "I do a little checking to see the general location of the birds, get an idea of how many there are and how they're distributed. From then on, I'm looking less at birds and more at terrain and habitat to identify where those birds will be during hunting season."

Schmidt also uses the visits with landowners to check on their plans for crops to be grown in the coming year. Turkeys view fresh greenery such as alfalfa, clover and especially winter wheat, winter rye or spring-seeded grasses as all-you-can-eat buffets. Advance knowledge of where those crops will be planted helps Schmidt pinpoint prime turkey feeding areas.

Agricultural practices play a big role in Schmidt's hunting plans because he hunts in areas where densely timbered narrow ridges are separated by isolated farm fields. He's learned that farm fields in those situations are very attractive to turkeys. While gobblers generally prefer to strut and display on ridges and high ground to increase their opportunity to see and be seen, those lowland farm fields between narrow wooded ridges often attract more turkeys than the neighboring highlands.

"They're opportunists," he said. "If there are no openings in the timber on the ridges, the borders of the fields down in the bottoms look pretty good to them. They're close to cover if they get spooked, and they can see in all directions, which they like."

Lowland farm fields also attract the attention of Schmidt and turkeys on windy days.

"If the wind is really howling up on the ridgetops, I've noticed that they're more inclined to use the open areas down between the ridges," he said. "It's certainly more comfortable for me, and probably more comfortable for them, but I think the big thing is that they can hear better out of the wind, and that makes them more comfortable.

GOOD EYES AND EARS
Turkey hunters are very aware of turkeys' legendary eyesight, but often overlook how well the big birds hear. John Burk, a regional biologist for the National Wild Turkey Federation, recounts an experience that illustrated turkeys' aural abilities.

"At one time I had some penned turkeys in my yard," he recalled. "I was out working in the yard, and one of the toms started gobbling nonstop like crazy, all excited. Maybe 30 seconds later, I heard an ambulance way off in the distance. It never came real close, so it was never really loud, to my ears. That turkey kept gobbling for as long as I could hear the ambulance, and kept gobbling for another 30 seconds after I couldn't hear it anymore.

"Considering how far an ambulance traveling 70 miles an hour can travel in 30 seconds, that impressed on me about how well turkeys can hear," said Burk. "I've noticed on windy days they're a lot more spooky -- maybe because they don't feel as comfortable because they're working with diminished senses."

Burk is also impressed by the ability of turkeys to quickly locate in three dimensions the exact source of sounds.

"Humans need to hear sounds several times, and sort of swing their heads around to pinpoint where it's coming from," he noted. "Turkeys seem to be able to hear something once and know exactly where it came from. That's one reason I'm not a fan of a lot of calling: They know exactly where you are after your first couple of clucks on the call."

STAY-AT-HOME SILENT TYPES
Because Burk often hunts on large tracts of public land, he works with birds that have potentially large ranges and often experience heavy hunting pressure. He's learned that gobblers are surprisingly loyal to their home territories. And sometimes mute.