Hello to all, I'm a new member and are in need of experience based help. My boys are finally old enough to take hunting and what better way to introduce them and get hopefully addicted to hunting than by taking them turkey hunting. Well my first sons turkey hunt went so well it will be likely never equaled again for years to come. Unfortunately my second sons hunt was the exact opposite of his older brothers and we did manage to get close but no Tom after 2 hard day's of hunting,
So now I plan on taking Aidan fall turkey hunting. Although I have over 25 years of turkey hunting experience and have killed close to 30 birds, I have zero experience with fall turkey hunting and my son is expecting me to produce for him like I did for his older brother.
All my hunting will be done on public land near my home that has a well deserved reputation for being quite good. I realize most of if not all of the calls used in spring are basically useless to call in a Tom within gun range. So allow me to start with things I reasonably certain I will have to know to be successful.
#1-What type or types of calls do I need to learn to be able to call in a Tom?
#2-I use A synthetic slate call to do 90-95% of my calling and have read I will need to use a wooden striker to best mimic a Tom's yelps and clucks as the synthetic one I prefer won't create calls low enough in tone to accurately mimic a Tom and call him in, is this accurate and true? and if so which wooden stryke is considered best suited for the task?
#3-I know scouting is extremely important but how do I set up on 1 or more roosted Toms first thing in the morning?
#4-As I have killed nearly all of my public land Toms after 9am by walking around and first using" sneek and peek" to find a Tom then put a stalk on him for the kill. Again I need to know what calls to use to get him within gun range if necessary.
#5-I'm likely safe in assuming that Toms don't gobble while on the roost mornings or evenings, so how do I go about hunting a known roost first thing in the morning? How does one setup and what calls do I use, and are decoys useful or useless?
#6-I would appreciate if as many people who are willing to share a brief description of one of their morning hunt setups along with what calls they used when and why, and the same for a hunt where you were able to circle around and get in front of a Tom on the move heading for a open area like a field to feed.
#7-Lastly any other must know or use tactics, strategies, like is using a set of Tom wings to simulate a turkey flying down off the roost a good way to draw a Tom into gun range after fly down, a good fall tactic or no. And if there is anything else anyone feels there are any thing I need to know about fall turkey huntingplease by all mmeans list it.
I realize I have much to learn and do between now October but I'v got enough time and are willing to put forth all the effort required to get my youngest in position to kill his first Tom, and with some help from those herewho know fall turkeys, I'm reasonably confident I'll succeed.
Thanks,
Arthur