Fall Turkey Hunting
Fall turkey hunting (archery and firearms) is very different from the spring hunt. During the fall, there is little or no gobbling activity and gobblers are in small flocks (3 to 10 birds), while hens and young of the year are together in large flocks (10 to 20 birds). It is not unusual to find two to three hens together with all their young.
The basic strategy for fall turkey hunting is to find and break up a flock, scattering them in all directions. Then locate yourself as near as possible to the spot where you broke up the flock and wait 15 minutes. Gobblers can be called back by using clucks and coarse yelps. Hens and young birds can be called back using hen yelps and/or kee-kee run calls. Young birds usually will return within an hour while an old gobbler may take 3 to 4 hours. Hens and their young tend to vocalize a lot as they return. Old gobblers tend to return silently.
Identifying Fall Turkeys
Fall turkey hunting can be an extremely enjoyable experience. The sounds and sight of 20 or 30 turkeys returning to you from all directions can be as exciting as calling in a spring gobbler. However, the fall firearms turkey season has the potential to be more dangerous than the spring because either sex may be hunted. Therefore, less emphasis is put on positive identification. Remember to follow the basic rules of safe turkey hunting.
An orange alert band, wrapped around the bird to keep its wings from flopping, helps make your walk our a safer one. If you don't want to make or purchase an alert band, try using an orange hunting vest. A little precaution may keep your bird from being shot a second time – and you with it.
