I'm too late for the Spring turkey season, but want to start planning ahead for the fall season. I've looked at over 10,000 game cam photos of animals on my property and zero with turkeys in them.

There is a property almost exactly a mile away down the road where I saw more turkeys than I've ever seen in my life in one of the pastures. Wondering how much luck I'd have trying to drawing some of those to my property.

My plan is to plant a food plot with chufa that's several acres near a small wet weather creek with tallish trees. It'd be about 500 yards away from a pond surrounded by tallish trees that holds water year round.

Curious if anyone else has been in my position where they know turkeys are nearby but had trouble getting them onto their property?

We see hardly any turkey at all in the fall on our place but we do have a good number in the spring. I would keep feed out for them and hope for the best.
Chicken scratch and corn.

Its more than planting food, its the habitat. You would have a better chance of attracting some this spring when they are spread out and broke up than in the fall.

Get some corn out right now and keep it out through the year. No promises because it sounds like the other property has everything they want right now.

Chufa is your best friend

it is good but Hogs love it also

That's what I figured. I do have a number of oak trees that I think would be decent habitat, but the area where I saw most of the turkeys certainly has more oaks and is along a river.

I do have corn running all year. Debating on filling a feeder in the area closest with something the turkeys would like and hope to draw some in.

Wilhunt - it is good to hear my chances might increase in the spring. I've had the property less than a year so most of my experience is from August through present.

I've found turkeys seem to like the roasted soybeans in those corn roasted soybean mixes.
Not saying it will attract them from a distance.
They also love straight corn, hence the nickname corn buzzards, when they come through they'll clean up every kernal in a few minutes.

On our places turkey are cyclical, dozens everyday turn to won't see a single one for a month maybe more, then they come back in numbers, back & forth all year long.

Almost anything that matures into a grain or medium to large seed will help.

This is a true statement. Coons love it too. But it does draw and pull birds from afar. Another thing you can try OP is running scratch feed. All it takes is getting the birds to come by one time and there be some good food there. they will use that area occasionally from then on

You can call turkeys from a over a half mile away some say a mile and I really do not doubt that either.

Mix milo with the corn. Deer can't pick it up so its left for the birds. Cousin has the opposite problem, turkeys eat all the corn before the deer show up.

Papalote

Well If you cousin needs help reducing the population of turkeys tell him to give me a shout lol

Turkey are seasonally migratory. We never have them in the winter when they go down to the river bottom and bayou, but we have good numbers in the spring when they come out of the bottoms. They need three things for them to stick around at all: a nearby roost, and of course food and water. We've had good luck planting winter wheat. Its green and they eat it, and it gives them the grasshoppers they crave in late spring/summer when they need the higher protein.

At my place in OK, we've got Turkeys by hundreds in the fall. They roost along the creek and fly down in the mornings to go vacuum up the corn at the nearest feeder. Spring comes and poof! They are gone. You will see a few here or there, but they really break up in the spring for mating season. Corn will attract them, but what really attracts them in the spring is the sound of a horny hen.

build a pedestal or elevated feeder close to a reliable water source. It's basically a barrel type feeder on a 4'x4' platform 4'-5' above the ground The turkeys will fly up and feed in comfort from
predators. Once the hens discover it they tend to bring their poults to feed there and the cycle begins. They'll start coming back over and over and eventually take up residence on your
place

Good idea!

My plan is to plant a field of chufa directly south of a pond. It's about 500 yards further I think I'll acquire an elevated feeder specifically for turkeys as you mentioned and put it nearby. Hoping that'll bring them in and keep them around.

what do you use for feed in the pedestal feeder?

Dry and clean whole corn. I've tried other grains and cracked corn, but they tend to absorb moisture, cake, and stop up the feeder.

Like others have said, they can become cyclical. We see a few in the fall, but more in spring when they split up and start searching for hens. Keep at least one area fed with hen scratch or straight corn. Keep it going year-round. They have a great memory and will come back to it.

Lo and behold... turkeys showed up on Sunday. What perfect timing. Damndist thing... I was up on a hill with some family doing some long range shooting... and a beautiful tom struts right up to the feeder. Didn't seem to be bothered by the shooting.

Shocked I hadn't seen any since I acquired the piece of property last summer. I knew they were in the area, but had zero game cam pics. Looks like they are indeed cyclical in my area!

In the Spring you can see turkeys spead out much more than in the fall when they are in the larger flocks. Gobblers are on the search for a willing hen anywhere they can find them. Now get him next time

This is probably the scenario you'll see year to year. I would limit the amount of human activity while and where you have birds. Turkey are a tad more solitary than deer and hogs.