I don't recall if I heard someone else call them dust bowls , or if I just started calling them that . But they are significant during warm BUGGY weather , don't you think ?
Turkeys , at least Easterns , have favored spots for roosting. Why wouldn't they have favored spots for dusting too? Granted , that during really dry spells they may dust more often , and just go at it in any place with some bare soil . But , as sure as we are turkey hunting addicts , they have favored spots to dust in that will allow them to keep an eye out for predators . And during the summer when afternoon showers may soak the woods every day or two , there are the favored places that will dry faster , providing the sun shines sometime between showers .
I noticed it first about 28 years ago in Pike State Forest , in some old access/haul roads . Every place there was a dust bowl on that ridgetop road was on a low bank that faced the south/southwest. The bed of the road could be packed and even muddy , but those low banks , absorbing the sun at a more effective angle , would dry sooner and the soil remained loose .
For the past 12 years I have been hunting the same 4250 acre hunting area in southern Ohio . It too has some access roads and clearcuts for powerlines . Both of these areas contain several dusting sites , and all are facing the south/southwest , without a canopy creating shade , and allowing good visibility in several directions . Some of these sites are 20 feet in diameter , and containing dustbowls of various size and depth , and so many they are actually joining each other . Two of the larger sites are very close to known roosting areas . Which makes me wonder , if they might sometimes want to take a dust bath before going up to roost . Don't know for sure .
The big picture being , that early in the season when temps are cool , at least here in Ohio , the dust bowls are not visited often . But by the third week , it generally gets pretty warm , and the parasites and bugs get active . Also the pressured turkeys become more call shy and tend to remain silent . So it could play into our hunting hand to make a point to stroll near one of these dusting sites , in the late morning as temps rise , and offer up some soft purrs or some wing scrathin' , or even a stretch 'n' flap .
TOM MIGHT JUST BE LISTENIN',,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,AND COME LOOKIN'.
