FALL TURKEY SEASON - Discussion

[Bibs]

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.

[eggshell]

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. 

[EZ]

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. 

I'm like you, been a fall hunter all my turkey hunting life and love it. Teaches you so much more about the birds and their vocalizations.

Surprised to hear of any criticisms. Fall hunters were the original turkey hunters and they often sneered at spring hunting, lol. Different times.

[Greg Massey]

The best way I can describe fall turkey hunting is by going and learning from your trails and errors. Fall turkey hunting is a whole different experience in how you hunt and call these birds. With both gobbler calls and hen yelps. I feel it also makes a difference in your local or area your hunting if the flocks are still coming together or have already come together for the winter months. You still can call gobblers in the fall and you will get some vocal replies from them, same with the hens. The best way to tell a person how to fall  hunt, is to tell them to go and learn from them. Remember in some ways you're hunting a ghost with very little response from them and definitely have lots of patience.

Note: I do feel sometimes aggressiveness in your calling helps with fall hunting, but again, this has a lot to do with how the flocks are coming together in your area. So calling in my opinion has a lot to do with your location and what tactics you use in hunting them. 

Good Luck with your fall hunting. What i'm sharing with you is just from my own experience in the area I hunt.

[paboxcall]

I was successful on the very first day of my very first fall hunt almost 4 decades ago. I was invited to be a guest at a camp to hunt fall birds, so never hunting them before, off I went to a local sporting goods store to buy a turkey call. Guy at the counter showed me how to yelp and cluck on a Smith's all butternut box. He gave me the advice to just mimic what I heard the birds doing if I got into a flock.

An old timer at the camp told me that the oaks and cherry were plentiful on a ridge and I headed that way. I set up at a tree, and waited, trying that yelp call I just learned now and then.

A shot rang out a couple hundred yards above me late morning, and suddenly turkeys were scattering down into the hollow where I was. About 30 minutes later, I heard a yelp, then another, then a kee-kee, and more kee-kees, and more yelps, a half-gobble, and lots of yelping all around me. I yelped again and here they came. Bang.

This is easy I thought.  It is when someone else does all the hard work of finding a flock, and getting a good break on them.

Eggshell gives terrific advice. Follow the mast crop, look for scratchings on the ground. Those scratching will show you the general direction the flock is headed, and be patient. If there's snow on the ground, well the tracking job just got way easier.

The bust is key - you either get it right and they go in all directions, or you mess up and they all fly or scoot off in the same general direction. Once the break is done, sit down in the middle and wait quietly until they start calling to get back together. Mimic what you hear, but with a little more urgency and intensity. Little practice you'll figure it out.