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Since 10/14/2001
Hello and welcome to "Dave's Fall Turkey Huntin' Page". I will try to give you some tips on huntin' and calling turkeys in the fall. Firstly, some things are the same spring and fall and preparing by checking your shotgun is no exception. Be sure to pattern your shotgun to find your maximum effective range and DON'T try to take a shot farther than that. I recommend wearing complete camoflage as in the spring. Check with your local game laws to find if this is legal... My state of Pa. requires me to wear orange when moving and asks that I display orange near me when I'm calling. In fall hunting you will mostly be dealing with family flocks. these consist of an old hen or hens and young gobblers(jakes) and young hens(jennies). Occasionally, an old gobbler will hang out with a flock, but he is loosely tied to the flock and comes and goes at his own will. The family flock IS gregarious and the young birds get really anxious when separated from their mom and brothers and sisters. This is the fault you can best take advantage of in flock hunting. I like to walk along old logging roads using ridges and stopping to call before topping a ridge.... Be careful when doing this a hunter may be waiting on the other side of the ridge.... I stop often and listen for the familiar scratching in the leaves or clucking and purring. Once you have found a flock (2-50 birds) go running at them shouting trying to separate them from each other and have no two birds leave together. Watch closely as the birds FLY away. Note if the birds are gobblers by their head markings... Gobblers have a reddish head... hens a bluish head.. or if the birds are large or small.. Denoting young turkeys. Note the direction they fly and if you were successful in breaking them well you can sit right down where you last saw them and wait for the first kee-kee or yelp to break the silence. If you should hear a yelp. You should seriously consider chasing the turkey off. It could be that the turkey doing the calling is the mother hen and she is gathering the flock together before you've had the chance to have your fun. A young gobbler gobbling is also bad news for calling. I've heard entire flocks shut up completely after a jake gobbled. If you have only achieved a partial break. That is if most of the turkeys flew in one direction. You want to move in that direction and set up near there. Mimick the turkey you are calling to .... If you know how, you can direct your calls so that you will only attract young gobblers. The young jake makes a slightly different call than the jenny. Remember when you set up to make sure that you HAVE A at your back! It is SO easy for another hunter to sneak up on you that safety is a BIG concern in the fall. Hearing the young turkeys is so exciting many people as in the spring get over zealous and don't make sure of their t! arget and what is beyond to ensure a safe shot. It is IMPERITIVE for our sport that you MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE of your target!!! I carefully choose the hunters I will hunt fall turkeys with... They are the safest huinters I know. Food for the fall birds consists mostly of mast.... acorns (white oak preferred), beech nuts, chestnuts, dogwood berries, grapes, corn, tubers and grasshoppers when available. Their are other foods turkeys eat I have listed the most sought after ones in my opinion.
The most often heard call in fall flock hunting is the KEE-KEE RUN or WHISTLE. This is the sound a young turkey makes when it is lost. You may also hear CLUCKING and PURRING. these are calls that flocks normally make in their daily routine as they feed along the forest floor. These calls help to keep the turkeys spaced properly and keeps them together. You may also hear TREE CALLS in the early morning if you've neared the roosting site of a flock of turkeys... in this case I recommend you sit right where you are and wait for them to fly down... perhaps imitating a tree call once in a while to try to lure one to fly down in your direction. you may also hear HEN YELPS both in a flock (pre-break) and also after the break-up of the flock.
It takes real dedication to take an adult fall gobbler. Adult gobblers are NOT as gregarious as the family ! flocks. When a flock of gobblers is broken up it MAY get back together the same day or they may choose to just find each other again as they travel their daily feeding routine. Should you try to go after an adult gobbler you may only hear a single cluck or a short GOBBLER YELP before the wary bird comes into view. You must stay on constant vigil while waiting for the adult gobbler.
I hope now that you have attained enough knowledge to confidently go out and hunt those wary fall turkeys. Good Luck and . I'd enjoy hearing from you. This page was created by PVAX's Home Page Wizard v 1.22
T's
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Way of the
Wild Turkey
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page 1 archery tips
page 2 archery tips,
Deer Calls
a story about a
memorable gobbler as told to me by- Mike Diggers
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