Gobblers Gobbling in the fall

[Mossberg90MN]

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Was out bow hunting deer a few days ago, at about first light the sandhill cranes began to pop off and surprisingly I heard a bachelor group of toms (maybe some Jakes) gobbling like it was a spring morning! I was pretty surprised considering I was under the impression that the certain spot I was hunting didn’t have a Turkey population. Which it doesn’t really, I think some of the surrounding private does and they have ventured off into the hardwoods on public to get some acorns this fall.

I’m gonna hunt that area a little more and see if I can really get a bead on em… might do some fall gobbler hunting if they’re consistently using that area.

Nothing helps get me through to the spring then hearing some gobbling in the fall, especially as intense as I heard it a few days ago.


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[catman529]

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I was catfishing in Nashville on the river this summer in June and heard a few gobbling around sunset on the roost. That said I do usually hear em gobble a few times in the fall. Especially those cool October mornings.

Several years back, maybe 2014 or 2015 it was the end of October and fall turkey season (shotgun) had just ended. I was bowhunting a creek bluff where birds can be found year round and plenty of deer too. I heard a few birds early, didn’t see a deer so I climbed down later in the morning. In Tennessee you can kill a bird in the fall with your bow for the whole length of bow season.

So I was walking down the ridge mid day and a bird gobbled a couple times way ahead of me. I didn’t have a turkey call, but I used my mouth to make some not so good sounding yelps while I closed the distance. Got to a point where it was very thick with saplings and the bird was just out of sight in the open woods past the thicket. I finally got close enough to see it was a lone gobbler going in and out of strut, looking for me. It was like spring in the fall. Never did get a shot, couldn’t shoot my bow through that thick mess. Never seen that happen since, it was unusual. Turkeys are funny critters.


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[Sir-diealot]

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Last year was my first year Fall turkey hunting and I was quite surprised how much gobbling was going on. I am hoping to hear the same this year as I will be back in the same area.

[eggshell]

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Fall gobbling is not uncommon. It's usually a gobbler group that spires a lot. Usually some super jakes are involved. Of course it's nothing like spring, but I expect to hear some gobbles every fall

[falltoms]

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I heard one gobble the last day of August this year. Over the years, I can honestly say I've heard them gobble every month of the year, why I don't know, all I know is they can do it when they want to, so they do it

[GobbleGitr]

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Turkeys in the fall are still turkeys, and they are fun to hunt then, especially the gobblers who are still (and always) testing hierarchy.  Nothing like having a group of toms belt out a gobble in the fall...wouldn't miss it!

[HookedonHooks]

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Fall gobbling sure does aid in the holdover until spring. What I enjoy more than fall gobbling in the deer woods is being close to the wintered flock of hens on roost in the morning, particularly in areas of high populations.

As the flock wakes up, the woods come to life like a large goose roost getting up for feed. The clucks of the birds waking grow, and then some of the lead hens will be the first to pitch down, often cackling to draw the attention of the flock to which way they will begin their travels for the day. It is temporarily total chaos when the large flock descends from the trees to start their day. Very often these fall flocks when exiting the roost will quite literally line up one after another on their way to feed, whether you have agriculture near or they are looking for an acorn flat. Cladden in blaze orange, and stuck half way up a tree, extremely visible to the turkeys, they often do not care. I've counted anywhere from 40-75 turkeys on many occasions walk within shotgun range of my tree, one after another, in a single file line. Each one as they pass the gap you can see/count them in as well, they are clearly taking a peek at the orange spot on the tree, but yet they do not care. They feel safe in numbers, and they continue to cluck, keeping track of one another.

Observing fall gobblers quarrels are also much more interesting to me than their, "off season" gobbling. These birds decide to hang out with each other for a good portion of the year excluding breeding season, but that's entirely survival based. They can be as detached from breeding season as much as possible but yet as they run around together, one decides pecking your buddy in the back of the head was a good idea (maybe they have a sense of humor too). What usually ensues after this is the whole bachelor group gets in an arm wrestle with all of their necks interlocking and pecking one another, batting wings, the occasional spur gets thrown, but what is most noticeable is the birds necks seem to be stretching and growing like a giraffe, they are trying to get the upper hand on one another, quite literally climbing one another and usually just end up fluttering away, breaking up, and continuing on with their day. It's like a group of teenage boys fighting over nothing, a mere name calling, or a smack to the back of the head that turned into a short, but full on brawl.

I don't choose to hunt turkeys in the fall, because that just means less turkeys to hunt in the spring, and I enjoy spring hunting as much or more than the next guy. I've came to the conclusion that observing these birds outside of their breeding is special, it allows us to really understand the bird more, and appreciate them more as well. 

[fallhnt]

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I've seen them strut and heard drumming in fall. I expect to hear gobbling almost every time I hunt in fall. Sunday morning I was ramped up for I had birds roosted all around. Thunder storms in the early hours made me think I wouldn't hear much after the birds got an all night soaking but it was business as usual. Even had some young jakes join in way down the ridge to the west.


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[TauntoHawk]

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I hear fall gobbling every year while bow hunting 95% of what I hear is on the roost talk, just the last 2 days I heard a few each morning in NY. last year I did Yelp up a gobbler with my natural voice that was gobbling in a hollow about 8:30am that was by himself.

The most fall gobbling I've ever heard was on Nov 17 several years ago when I ran into a winter flock of about 50+ male birds together on an opening day of rifle deer season. Those birds gobbled several hundred times over the course of the morning which was about 29 degrees, we were on a big oak shelf about a mile up in the Catskills from the valley.

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[THattaway]

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Hear fall gobbling every year, no fall season. Just a tad more exciting than seeing deer during turkey season. Fall toms are usually just an indication of numbers for me, most times they have moved to different areas come springtime around here.

[Paulmyr]

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I've only ever heard fall gobbling twice in my lifetime. Once after a thunder clap while bow hunting and once after an opening barrage of duck hunters at LGS time. This year I've heard it on back to back weekends from the same spot while duck hunting. Right off the roost. You know one of the spots I'll be early next spring trying to put ears on some gobbling.

[Kylongspur88]

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I hear lots of gobbling when deer hunting. Usually on colder clear mornings. Last year I had a gobbler group with 8 birds roosted in a holler while deer hunting and they must have gobbled at each other for a half hour before flying down. I've heard Jake's gobble in the fall to but mostly hear fighting purrs while they beat the crap out of each other. Vicious little suckers

[Yoder409]

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There's a gobbler flock here......... 7 or 8 longbeards........that I watch regularly.  They've been strutting for the last two weeks.  So, I'm assuming they've let a few gobbles rip, too.