"If I'm bowhunting, I use a ground blind, and have spots picked out based on strutting areas, food sources, terrain and nesting habitat," he said. "I want all those factors to be in close proximity to where I set up my blind."

Many hunters have blind confidence in their ground blinds. Schmidt thinks that even the best blind can use help, and scouts for locations to optimize concealment.

"First, I try to look at my blind placement from the point of view of any turkeys that will be approaching," he said. "My preference is to have my blind backed up by a big tree, or a couple of smaller tree trunks, or a plum thicket, to break up the outline. Then I'll lean some fresh-cut branches up against the sides, maybe lay a light branch on the top, to break up the straight lines and make it less obvious."

Whether a bowhunter uses a ground blind, or a camouflaged gun hunter merely sits with his back against a tree, scouting the surrounding terrain is critical. Burk scouts to identify and avoid any "barriers" that might inhibit the approach of a gobbler, "Gobblers will hang up on the strangest things," he said. "I've learned to scout around before I decide where to set up, and I look for fences, big thickets, fallen trees -- even creekbeds.

"I once had a gobbler hang up on a dry creekbed that wasn't more than a couple feet across," Burk recalled. "I really thought I had him. The first time I heard him he was so far away that I didn't actually recognize that it was a turkey calling. But I kept working, and he kept coming, until he came to that darned dry creekbed that was just out of gun range. He stopped and wouldn't cross that no matter what I did. He eventually just kept walking down his side of the creekbed until he lost interest and I couldn't see him anymore.

"So now I scout around any area where I plan to set up, and look for anything that might be a barrier to a turkey. If there's a fence or a creek that for some weird reason might stop him, I set up close enough to that potential barrier so the bird will be in gun range if he hangs up on the far side."

SCOUTING PROVIDES
FLEXIBILITY
All three of our veteran turkey hunters agreed that adaptability and constant awareness of changes in turkey behavior brought on by hunting pressure, weather and/or the progression of breeding season combine to help them keep tabs on the birds until spring hunting ends.

"If you've scouted the terrain and habitat in advance so you know all the good spots, you won't be following the turkeys to those spots, you'll be meeting them at those spots," said Schmidt. "You've just got to be flexible and let the birds tell you which spots they're liking. If I'm hunting down in a field in the morning and notice that they're doing all their calling from up on the ridges, I'll move up to those spots I scouted on the ridges if I hunt in the afternoon.

Remember the case of the husband trying to find his wife on Saturday morning: Once he's identified the places she likes, his chances of figuring out exactly where she is -- or isn't -- are much better.

Which is why I'd start my search at the power tool sale.