1st time fall turkey hunter needs educating

[art338wm]

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

[fallhnt]

Don't get to caught up in killing just toms in the fall. If you live in a state where all birds are legal then shoot a hen. You will hear gobbles in the fall it's just "words" to turkeys, thats how they communicate. I hunt public land spring and fall,in four states and find that birds use the same roosts almost every fall,out west especially. Pressure and food are big factors. As far as hunting,I stopped busting fall birds years ago. I scout,set up close to the roost and use decoys. If it's raining I set up in fields where the birds feed. I use decoys all the time. I call alot. I use gobble calls to, if hunting gobblers. One thing I have noticed in the fall is if hunting a brood hen and poults is to use more decoys. I use at least three in the fall. Hens will go to my feeding hen 99% of the time. Most of the time they will posture and fight the feeding hen. I bow hunt almost all of the time and this is just the way I hunt. Take the tips you want from me and other members and get into the woods. Have fun and be safe. Good luck

[trkehunr93]

If I know a gang is roosted and I can slip in close to them I'll set up and wait for the tree talk to start and join in, being as aggressive as I can.  Lots of long assembly yelps, sharp clucks, I'll even simulate a flydown using a wing I carry with me or beat my hat against my leg and then kicking leaves with my feet.  Move into some purrs and clucks like a feeding bird and most of the time at least one in the group will be curious and drift your way.  Or you can scatter them off the roost and call them back in old school style if you like.  If you haven't done it I highly recommend it.  Nothing like hearing young birds Kee Keeing for there momma, sometimes they'll run in on a string to you.  Or you can deer hunt them if you find a area they like to feed in and are patient enough to do some blind calling and wait them out.  I've killed them all the above ways, just gauge your strategy with the situation.  Good luck!

[fsu33952]

I have had a lot of years olf hunting turkeys in the fall. In North Alabama we do a lot of slipping and listening for turkeys scratching. Once you locate a drove, slip up as close as you can and run into them hollering and maybe shoot in the air. Hopefully you scare them bad enough to bust them up. Depending on what the make up of the drove is will dictate how you call. If it is 5 or 6 older gobblers then call like a gobbler. Clucks and long slow yelps. Killing old gobblers in the fall is tough because lots of times they do not care if they get back together or not. There is the occasion though where they will run right to you. On heavily hunted public land it has been my experience that they will not gobble a lot. If they do it will be younger gobblers in bad weather. That being said I heard a 3 year old gobble over a hundred times in the fall once. That is in 35 plus years of hunting them. If you scatter a drove of hens and jakes then kee kee run and get ready. Stay right where you scattered them at. Lots of times those jakes will come running within just a few minutes of scattering them. Turkeys will be really vocal if you can get them scattered.

[greentag]

in the fall i have used every known method but the one that seems to always work well for me is to watch the birds,this time of year you can pattern them alot of the times,see were and what time they are going to a certian place,get in there early and wait til they get there,i took 1 every day three days in a row doing this exact thing in the same spot this year with a crossbow,the last was a good gobbler although i was there most of the day passing on others waiting for a gobbler.but i have had success with all the above methods too,it just seems if you are were they are wanting to go and be silent and still,then they will show up like usual and give you a shot.good luck.