I want to start this discussion because I have not seen much out there on Fall Turkey seasons. I have heard the basic differences between fall and spring seasons but I want to know if anyone has any tips or would like to share success stories. I would love to hear what everyone has to say.
I have fall hunted for most of my 50 plus years chasing turkeys. Before Ohio had a season we hunted the mountains of Va. and West Va. in the fall. The most important thing to know in the fall is their food source. A turkey's fall life is driven by food. They have a pattern and they repeat it daily until a new food source comes available. If your hunting gobblers they are less predictable. They travel a lot. They can be busted up just like hen and poult flocks, but it may be hours before they reassemble. I like to hunt the flocks and not bust them, but busting them works fine. The trouble is getting a good bust. If they all go the same direction your generally screwed. It's hard to get a good bust with just a person. The best bust is to bust up a roost and then wait for shooting hours. That's hard too as they want to just change trees. A dog gets you the best bust. I personally like calling them just after fly down as a group. Remember, you can call a lone bird to you anywhere, but in most cases you can only steer a flock to pass by you. Super Jake flocks are more vulnerable as they are sparing and fighting all the time. Long strings of gobbler yelps and gobbles are good fro them. Over all just listen to the birds and repeat them, they will talk a lot in the fall on the roost. Call series are less excited and subtle. Slow it up and run it out. Learn the soft talk, purrs and soft clucks and what I call chirps.
I filled my fall tag in Ohio and one of my two in Ky. I'll return to ky in December to work on that tag. I haven't posted anything about them because fall hunting has received some criticism on here and not real popular. I enjoy it almost as much as spring.