hunting fall birds

[mark hay]

The KEE KEE is typical of young of the year birds . Sounds more like a whistle , but it has a tone all its own .
Yes you could set up in an area with good sign and cutt , purr , cluck ,yelp cackle , put on a fight with aggressive purrs and wing slapping and of course KEE KEE or KEE KEE RUN .
Gobbling ? Any turkey sound is capable of bringing in or at least getting a responce from another bird . I don't know your states laws or limits . A lot of fall hunters locate a flock , set up in the area of the scatter and call the birds back . This is the traditional method as I understand it . Of course if one can get close enough I suppose one could just shoot a bird instead of scattering .
Either way , the kee kee is a good fall call to get a young of the year bird to call back to you . One of the segregated groups is the older hens that for some reason do not have poults or young with them . These ol' girls will be in small flocks and seemingly are still grumpy from loosing their nest or clutch of eggs . They can be cranked up just like in the spring and things can get very loud and exciting as the vocal hen leads the rest of the girls to your set up .
Jakes ? Well if you don't know it already , jakes are liable to do anything . They are likely to respond in some fashion to about any turkey call . .
Gobblers are stuck up , arrogant and stubborn . sometimes alone , sometimes in gangs . They like to fight . And at times are very vocal with their coarse clucks , yelps and aggressive purring , and occasional gobbles . Being able to discern between an old hen yelping and a tom yelping will be extremely beneficial in the fall , and spring .

[Turkeybuster]

As eggshell pointed out the kee kee call is the killer call in the fall and you need to learn it. If you know where the birds are going you can sit and call occassionally and hope for the best but fall hunting generally requires a lot of footwork. I like to bust them if possible just to hear the calls on the comeback or if you have a hunting partner try to get him with you to the break site as you will both have a chance to harvest birds. Sometimes you will have to break the birds a couple times to get them scattered properly in doing that it will assure you good hunting for another day at least. Try to identify the birds on the break this is very important as you need to know if it is a mixed flock, yearlings or old birds. Mixed flocks and yearlings can be dealt with with kee kees and yelping but if you brake a flock of gobblers you will have to call to them as eggshell explained with coarse clucks and yelps both used very spareingly. Keep in mind a break early in the day will result in birds trying to regroup most times almost immediately as a break late in the day could result in birds regrouping the next morning.
If you have the late break be back in the morning before first light and you will have a experience you will never forget.

[thunderchicken]

This is great advice guys! Thanks for sharing. I am getting more and more excited for fall birds with every post!
 
NHtrkybstr, Go to the NWTF site. They have audio of all turkey sounds including the KEE KEE. It really isnt all that hard to learn on a diaphragm!

[mark hay]

I will take any action with turkeys , any time . I get a charge out of fooling with them , watching them and  listening to them in an undisturbed setting . To have a single bird or a flock of any mix of birds come close by to study their actions and pecking order displays is always a learning experience . Don't get me wrong , I been weaned of ''out of season calling'' to birds , but must admit I haven't always been so accomodating .
 There is one thing that really sets my blood to running fast ,,,,Fall Longbeards . To locate them by cold calling or by sight and then get one or more interested in ''WHO'S THAT'' and come in a looking for the intruder .  To observe their cautious , slow movement as he or they come, in their seemingly always HALF CIRCLE of progress in their attempt to spot this unknown loudmouth . The head held to its highest possible position , with every feather folded tight against their body . I try to put myself in their position as they come in wondering where is this new bird that should be right there by that tree ? Their gravely clucks asking ''where are you ?''Then the shifting of those big wings as they get even more nervous because they can't locate the intruder . They stop in their tight group and begin to turn and walk a tight circle around each other with their eyes searching still for the other bird .
 They are going to leave if I don't do something . Should I give them one faint cluck or just swing the double on one of their departing heads ? At any rate I want it to last as long as possible . OH well , maybe I'll let them walk this time ,,,which means I get to go try and do it again . I could let them get well out of sight and then cut my own half circle and then try to parallel them , change the call and see if they will come in again . Or just start in with that WING and do some leaf scratching and four stroking and see how they react to that . Is it possible to cast doubt in the mind of a wild turkey?  I believe so ,,,maybe not every time , but I do believe it can be done.
 To give out some tom talk and then see a small tribe of gobblers of different age lined out and marching toward the call is exhilerating . Da'Gummit I can't hardly wait for October .

[thunderchicken]

Thanks Mark! Now the wait is going to be tougher til Sept 15th!

[mark hay]

Sorry T'CHICKEN,,,,that was not my intent . Before I joined this forum I had to keep ''IT'' all bottled up inside 'cause there was rarely anyone to talk turkey with . Now I can vent my summertime blues ,,,,at your expense of course . But you can take a measure of satisfaction in the fact that your fall season begins just short of a month ahead of ours .
 Good luck in the fall .

[thunderchicken]

Oh no, Mark, I am not complaining!LOL! Like you, I too had to keep it low key all summer after the spring season! I am a member on a couple othe sites and they shift to fishing talk after the season ends.
 
I dont fish!LOL

It is great to have a site that shares the same OBSESSION as me! So keep up the turkey talk and I will be counting the days till Sept. 15th in NH!

[mark hay]

  All is quiet and calm in the dark of this October morning . Having covered the 3/4 mile hike by using a familiar two-track has put me in a large tract of rolling hills of hardwoods and several slopes covered in mature cedars .Been waiting all summer for this day to arrive and now that it's here it feels great being out in the middle of nowhere , alone , and waiting for the first birds to sing and hoping to hear some vocal turkeys .
  That coyote over by Hawkins Road is letting all listeners know that he is the dominant dog of this territory .'' Don't bother coming here to look for a meal or I'll whip your butt ''. As soon as he finishes his dominant bark howl , another song dog over by Old 32 does the same bark howl sequence .
  The barred owls are really starting to hoot it up across the area now . It's just starting to get light as their echoes fill the ridges . The familiar whine and wingbeats of a Woodcock pass by unseen on its way south . Now it's all quiet except for the annoying bark of dogs over across the ridge to the south .
  I do believe that was a turkey . The ear strains to hear more . Finally I hear it again . The faint yelp of a turkey over on the next low ridge to the east . I passed by them on my way in . So I back track about 300 steps and turn north up a different set of wheel tracks . At the top I stop to catch wind and listen . Soon I hear some low putting and clucks from the trees about 100 yards east .
 Anxiety begins to creep in as I wait and listen for more tree talk in hopes of determining what exactly I am hearing . Is it a brood flock , a gang of jakes , broodless hens or the prized gang of longbeards ?
 That sounds like a young bird with that high pitch . Well there goes the boss hen . Her flydown cackle echoes over her rapid wingbeats . Soon others can be heard pitching off the roost limb . Kee kee kee . The kids want to regroup . The hen eases in to a long string of yelps which is followed by more kee kee's . Then all is quiet again .
 Do I give them a call or just go on looking for the Gobblers ?  I think I'll give them a call or two just to see what they do . Kee kee kee yelp yelp .Cluck comes from the direction of the flock . It sounds like a mature bird so I'll take that to be the big hen . I better not push this too far . The chance to pull in a flock and take a young bird would or could be great fun and rewarding . This is opening day so I'll just take my time . Don't want this to end too quickly , not with 50 days to hunt . I remind myself it's a longbeard only season .
 The sun is slowly casting more glow on the fine display of colors across the ridges as I gaze towards the west . Time to move . Now where is that bunch of obstinate gobblers . Easing on up the two-track to the north I reach the fork in the road and take a pause . After only a few minutes a grey squirrel starts a frantic chatter at something it doesn't like . It ain't me . I'm too far away from the squirrel . It can't be scenting me with no air movement this morning. The barking ceases and a couple minutes pass when I catch movement up the trail. A doe and three yearlings step out into the open trail . As soon as they hit the trail a turkey putts off to the left of the trail. The deer cock their ears and face the sound . Only one putt . It had the gravel in it of at least being a jake .'' Don't screw this up dummy'' I tell myself . To give a call now would be bad . That doe would make me out in a heartbeat and spook the bird. Just stand still and quiet .
 Finally the deer move away at a slow pace while browsing and casting glances toward the unseen turkey  . I'll give the deer ample time to move out before I give a call . As curious as they are they may just return .
 After 15 minutes I give a low gobbler cluck which is answered quickly by the same and down the slope to my left . Evidently the bird had roosted somewhere on up the ridge and was now proceeding down the ridge toward the bottoms . I turn my head and face away from the bird and cluck again . He answers again from a more near position . I don't dare move or even think about sitting down . Just freeze . Movement ! Here he comes . No , there's 2 birds . There are low putts coming from the 2 superjakes as they begin their halfcircle of inspection. At 20 yards they stop and begin their dido of nervousness and putting . The brush is too thick for a clean shot , and they are sticking too close together to only get one of them . Thud! Thud!Snort ! That da'gum doe . The jakes retreat at a walk . I watch them as long as I can . The doe had returned out of curiosity I suppose .
 Well that was fun for a while . And then I remind myself ,,50 days to hunt . Don't get in a rush to end the season .
 Now to locate another bunch .

[turkeydoghunter]

I love to hunting with my two dogs....we walk the ridges and bottoms searching for the turkeys ,,,looking for sign,,,,,sometimes turkeys are spoted when driving around ....what evever the case ...once a flock is broken ....the hunt is on....with the dogs you usally get a good break .....[:D]