listening for birds

[gooseberry]

In the spring I went out before work and I listened for turkeys. Can I do the same thing now for the fall season?

[mark hay]

NO!NO!NO!,,,JUST STAY AWAY FROM THE WOODS [:D]
 
JUS' KIDDIN' ,GOOSE.
Sure enough , get out and hear 'em.  There will , or possibly could be days between their vocalizations , but , they will get into a squabble from time to time . The older those young jakes get the more likely they are to be vocal .
 Hope you get an earful , as well as an eyeful on each outing . Nothing better than watching the birds as they make their calls .
 
 It's supposed to be nice and cool here in the Ohio Valley on saturday morning . I plan to be on an old ridge road in state forest well before first light .
 Squirrel season opens on Sept . 1st,,,,,,that's when I start getting deeper into the turkeys range .Looking , listening, reading sign & taking notes .
 
 

[gooseberry]

Thanks, Mark. I guess they more vocal in the spring?
Bruce

[mark hay]

The gobbling usually isn't near what it is in spring . In fact I have gone through the whole fall season without hearing a gobble . But, on the other hand , there is the possibility of hearing them yelping , clucking , whistling or making any number of their different calls . And once the season opens and you are in search for some action , many times you can start the game with some faint tree calls of your own .
 One time I called in a brood flock with three hens . They never answered my calls , they just appeared out of nowhere at ten yards . The only call I made was about ten minutes before they arrived . My call was 3 gobbler yelps . Just goes to show ,,anything can happen .  This flock , which was around 25 birds , stood around there for quite a while . Of course the jakes were busy picking on each other the whole time . The ones feeding were all making their faint purrs and clucks . Then to my surprise 3 mature hens come out of the brush from behind me . They go by me at about 10-12 feet . They went over and eyeballed the flock and just melted away into the woods . Where I stood was right on top of the narrow ridge top , in a bushhogged tractor path .

[mark hay]

Yesterday morning found me nearly one mile into the Pike State Forest . Saw a little old sign where the turkeys had been feeding along the ridge top two-track .
 While out there I spot this 1 1/2 year buck browsing towards me . I eased my facenet up and waited for him to get closer ,,,just to see how soon he picked me out . I was standing in the two-track , with the nearest tree about 6 feet to my right . He was approaching from a quartering angle on my left . What air was moving was hitting the left side of my face.
 He was at about 25 yards when he jerked his head up and gave me a long look . He lightly stomped the ground a time or two and began his circle downwind . Stopping every 8-10 yards to look me over again and tap the ground with his right front hoof .
  He finally reach my downwind . First time in my life I have seen this . He didn't show any sign of alarm . He didn't muscle up , ready to bolt , or stomp the ground . He just stood there for probably 5 minutes or more with his nose poked up in the sky sniffing me out . At this point he is still about 25 yards . He finally began moving and just slowly walked away , browsing as he went , and occasionally giving me another look .
  Now , mind you , I do use plenty of cover scents . T'baccy smoke , deep woods off , peanut butter , and coffee . [:D]
 
 This morning I returned to my favorite hunting area . First stop , I get out of the truck to hear two separate flocks cranking it up on the roost . The one to my south had at least one gobbler in it . His deep , slow croaking yelps sounded an awful lot like the HEEHAW of a jack , without the HEE part .
  Drove over to the south side and spotted two big old gobblers on a grassy hillside . Quarter mile further there was two more broodflocks in some late soybeans . Heads sticking up all over .
  Near home there was five mature gobblers feeding in a freshly mowed CRP field . Another first for me . I witnessed a turkey drinking water from the edge of the pond . Though his beard was only 8-9 inches he was sporting at least one inch spurs .

[Kawboy888]

Here in western NY my favorite tactic for hunting fall turkey is bowhunting for white tails. That's how I get my fall birds. I of course hunt turkey with a bow. They are generally pretty quite through October and early November. In mid to late November up here the polks really get chatty. The noises that the polks make as they try to speak the language is unglodly.

[mark hay]

The Ohio Valley is suppose to experience below normal temps this weekend . SOOOOOO,,, I plan on being in the woods before first light tomorrow morning. Squirrel season is for turkey scouting,,,AIN'T IT? 
 
 
Well , it is here ![:D]
 
Our limit is 6 . I'll see if I can fill my limit ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,only head shots count.

[Turkeybuster]

Good Luck Mark.
Jon

[mark hay]

I had three fine mornings in the woods . Two at the public land , the other at a friends place. Saw turkeys , heard turkeys and saw plenty of sign .
Never fired a shot till this morning at the friends place . First squirrel hit right through the head at a steep angling shot . Missed the next one four times . I quit shooting and headed for the truck to get out a target and check zero . One inch low at 25 . ??[8|]??
 Got 'er zeroed now .
 Lot's of gobbler sign on this 85 acres . Fightin' bunch too. Place is infested with some kinda goatlike , cloven hooved quadruped . Some sportin' fuzzy lookin' headgear . Must be some kinda genetic altering victim. They all seem to be something mixed in with the genes from a pressure cooker the way they blow off steam as they depart.

[mark hay]

Located another flock this morning . It was on or near one of those places where they seem to be attracted often for the overnight . I've been on this same two-track several times over the years and listened to a flock crank it up at first light , and it is always the same general area . There was at least one older gobbler in the flock . He did some of that slow croakin' . They seemed to be having a time getting regrouped after flydown. Sounded like they were scattered about . Old hen making her long strings of ,,,,,''GET Y'RE BUTTS OV'R HERE''. Young bird keekee's over here ,,,over there ,,,momma in between yakkin' .
 The gobbler went silent after hitting the ground.