No. 1 LOCATING TOMS
During the day, toms can usually be found feeding and chasing hens near field edges and open pockets within forested areas. Get in the field well before sunrise and listen for them to gobble in their roosts at first light. Move quietly to within 200 yards of where you heard them, give a few soft clucks and sit tight. When they fly down from their roosts, they'll be looking for hens, so the chance of having one come to your calls is very good.

Shock calls are effective tools used by many hunters during the early dawn hours to trick a tom into gobbling, thus betraying his position. Since crows and owls are a turkey's natural enemy in the woods, toms will instinctively respond to their calls.

Find a tom's strut zone and try to intercept him on one of his travel routes as he enters or exits from this area. A strut zone is an area in which he feels safe and comfortable, spending most of his time during the day strutting, gobbling and showing off to his hens. Look for any type of sign that shows a great deal of activity such as tracks, wing-tip drag marks from strutting birds and even droppings or feathers.

The tom's dropping will be J-shaped, like a fishhook, while a hen's will be more elongated. A track from a big tom is usually 4 1/2 inches from the base of the heel to the tip of the center toe. A hen's track is smaller, usually about 3 1/2 inches long.

No. 2
FINDING ROOSTING AREAS
At night, turkeys roost high in trees, generally within thick wooded areas, to protect them from predators. The best way to find a turkey's roost is to position yourself on a ridge just before sunrise and listen for a tom's gobbling. Do the same thing in the late afternoon hours when toms are heading back to their roosting trees for the evening.

Once you pinpoint the location of their roosting tree, you'll have the advantage over them and can set up close by or along a travel route in a strategic ambush position.

No. 3
GROUND BLIND SETUPS
Whether you use a natural ground blind or a pop-up blind, location is the most important factor. Try to establish your blind within a relatively short distance of a feeding area or a strut zone so that you can attempt to lure a tom in for a shot.

A natural ground blind can be anything from sitting at the base of a growth of trees, concealing yourself within fallen branches or tucking into a bush. This gives a hunter the mobility to set up blinds in a number of locations. When setting a blind, make sure to have an adequate backdrop for your camouflage to naturally blend in, so that you are not silhouetted and stand out like a sore thumb.

Pop-up blinds give the hunter the flexibility to establish a blind in an open area where there may not be enough natural cover for concealment. Other advantages are that they keep you dry and out of the elements and also conceal any small movements that a turkey would otherwise detect.

There are many good pop-up blinds on the market, but the one I've found to suit my needs is the Double Bull Matrix. Its exterior, consisting of an enlarged Predator camouflage pattern, is easily erected, giving me a 180-degree shooting lane from a wide, adjustable opening. Being an archer, I like its dark interior, which allows me to draw my bow undetected.