10 Tips to Find Spring Turkeys Using onX Hunt

Turkey seasons are opening all across the country, and even though we still have a few weeks to wait here in Montana, the onX team couldn’t be more excited. Our Web Maps are quickly filling with new Waypoints to hunt.

To help prepare for—and improve—your spring turkey season, we came up with the 10 best ways onX Hunt can help you find more birds this year.

1. Public and Private Landownership

Utilize the Public Lands Layer to navigate boundaries and find opportunities for less-pressured birds. This layer helps you find access points and sections of public land, giving an instant edge over other hunters and the opportunity to hunt birds that have seen little-to-no hunting pressure. without competition.

The onX Hunt App Private Lands Layer puts the most comprehensive landowner information from all 50 states into the palm of your hand. Activate the layer and simply tap a parcel to query the landowner’s information. You can then reach out to the landowner and ask for hunting access—always be sure to gain permission before hunting on private property.

2. Waypoints

Whether you are boots-on-the-ground taking note of roost trees, strut zones, and blind locations or putting miles on your vehicle finding birds out in agriculture fields in hopes of securing permission, using Waypoints to mark these locations will increase your odds of success when opening day finally arrives.

3. Use Web Map to Scout Before Heading Out

One thing we all need more of during hunting season is time. While onX Hunt can’t create more time for you, we can help you be more efficient when in the field. Whether you are a public land hunter looking for a sliver of access or seeking landowner permission on private property, Web Map can help you find your next hunting location. After you establish where to hunt, scout potential locations of roosts, or calling setups drop Waypoints on areas of interest; they will automatically sync between your cell phone, tablet, and computer to ensure you always have your notes close at hand.

4. Measure Distance with Our Line Tool

Use onX’s Line Tool in a variety of ways to increase your odds this spring. After setting up, use the Hunt App and determine your effective range in seconds. Measure the distance from your blind to the roost or use the tool to determine how far away a gobble is by pinpointing where the bird is via our satellite imagery so you don’t slip in too close and get busted.

5. Aerial Imagery and Timber Cuts Can Help You Find Perfect Habitat

Turkeys are often creatures of habit in the spring, and will look to strut in open and sunny agricultural fields or clear cuts. Aerial imagery will give you an accurate bird’s-eye view of these fields and openings with nearby woodlots for roosting. You can also click on the Timber Cuts Layer to find thinned or clearcut timber lands, which offer perfect fringe habitat for strutting birds.

6. Share Waypoints to Transfer Information Between Friends and Family

Sharing is only for the closest, most-trusted hunting buddies and family.

Send over the meet-up location on opening morning or share Waypoints of roost trees, ground blinds, bird sightings or the general area where you have had success before. This feature allows you to easily stay connected with your hunting partners and ensure you’re on the same page.

7. Private Lands Open to Public Hunting

State-sponsored access programs can be found all over the country and offer opportunities that may be overlooked. Block Management, Access Yes!, and Walk-in Hunting areas are several examples of private land open to the public. Clicking on one of these layers in the App can show you promising tracts of prime habitat open for public access.

8. The NWTF Wild Turkey Records Layer

Our National Wild Turkey Federation Layer takes over 30 years of turkey records and breaks them down by county, helping you pinpoint where the largest birds are being logged in your area. Whether you’re interested in overall bird score, weight, and spurs or beard length, you can refine your search to find which county the biggest birds are coming from. If you’re from a state with multiple species of turkey, there is also a heat map showing the distribution of all North American species—making this the perfect tool for completing that grand slam.

9. Save Maps For Offline

When navigating boundaries, it’s important to have your maps on hand to ensure you are on the right side of the fence. Sometimes, however, our hunts take us beyond the reach of cell service—making it imperative to save your maps before you head to the field. The Hunt App allows you save a 5-mile, 10-mile, or even 150-mile wide area fast and efficiently. Saving the map prior to going to the field will allow you to access all of the necessary layers for your hunt. All your saved Markups will show up without the use of cellular data.

10. Wind & Weather

Explore our Wind & Weather feature in the onX Hunt App. Enjoy live weather reports, weather forecasts, wind direction, sunrise/sunset times, and barometric pressure—all curated within the onX Hunt App to keep everything you need in one convenient place.

We hope these tips help make this spring season a memorable one. We want to hear about your success from all over the country! Use #onXhunt and tag @onXhunt on Facebook and Instagram to show us your spring harvest and let us know how onX helped you find spring turkey success.