Fall turkey hunting strategies

[dewey]

Here is a refresher of the calls and the sounds each make from the NWTF website.

http://www.nwtf.org/for_hunters/hunting_tactics.html

Here are 10 myths about fall turkey hunting by T&TH.

http://www.turkeyandturkeyhunting.com/h ... 0fallmyths

Dewey

[dewey]

Thanks to everyone for their input as I will be using all of it this weekend and if we are successful a lot of the credit will go to you guys.

Thanks!

Dewey

[kygobbler]

Try using a bunch of soft clucks with different calls to sound like a flock. It still amazes me how well a turkey can hear because you can make the call bearly loud enough that you can hear but they can hear it just fine. Last fall I called up a flock of hens with their young ones and just for kicks I decided to see how close they will get to me. My gun was sitting up on my knee and I didnt move a muscle. The entire flock came within a foot of the end of my barrel. While they were standing in front of me they were making a very soft sound that sounded like the word pup. The birds were very calm when they were doing this and if I was 10 or 20 yds away I would have never heard it but I have used that soud with some success. The best advice that I can give you is if you hear tha boss hen opening her mouth. PISS HER OFF!!! Copy her sounds and talk over her and she will come in and bring the flock with her. Goood luck, I hope you get your limit.

P.S. Yes when that flock was in front of me I did wonder how many I could take out with one shot.

[mark hay]

That's good stuff Kygobbler . You hit the nail square on the head .
You didn't mention killing one of those birds . Tell me , SIR,,, was not that experience priceless ? Them really close up ,,,in you lap experiences are SWEET.

[allaboutshooting]

I love the fall hunts. It's an opportunity to see flocks of turkeys, hear their vocalizations and to watch how they interact.

There's certainly nothing wrong with an ambush but it's much more fun to "bust them up" and then call them back. It's really very easy to do, in my experience and it really helps to increase your confidence.

If I know there are turkeys in the woods (and I try only to hunt those places) and I've not had time to scout which I seldom do in the fall, I may just sit and kee-kee after sunrise. Many times that will produce some birds and many times they'll come in very quietly if they've not been separated from their flock the previous evening. If they have been, they'll come in one by one and will answer my calls.

If a small group comes in, I'll rush them, shoot in the air, bust them up and them sit and call them back. I love to hear them answer my calls and love to imitate what they are saying.

If I see a large flock, I'll get as close under cover as possible and then rush them, barking, yelling and/or shooting in the air to get a good bust and then call them back.

Thanks,
Clark

[kygobbler]

Hey Mark, I did not shoot any of them birds. I thought it was pretty cool to have them in my lap.

[turkeydoghunter]

Common sense and a good dog

[FireFly908]

I hunted fall turkey in Northeastern Nebraska a couple of weeks ago and both my son-in-law and I got two turkeys each. We were set up between where they roost and a corn field they fly down to.
First of all, I have never heard so much turkey talk that is other than gobbles in all my life. It was very educational to just listen to the cadence, volume and other aspects of turkey talk. This went on for approximately 2 hours from just before fly down time.
We also used a single hen decoy and just used subtle calls to mimic a lone hen. This led to a very interesting situation. A doe and two older fawns strolled by and were very enthralled by our blind. They moved around to get different views of the blind for approximately 40 minutes while we made subtle movements in the blind to get them to leave without alarming them. The doe would snort and stomp but wag her tail sideways to tell the fawns that everything is OK. As this was going on, a group of hens started towards our decoy, but were intimidated from getting very close because of the attention the deer were giving to the area. Some of the hens kept trying to come see the newcomer but the boss hen would keep them away. Ole Bossy took them all away before the deer left but was sure a lot of fun for us to interact and watch all of this.
The bottom line is a decoy and calling can have their place while hunting for the fall turkey. But, it isn't a necessity either. Without trying different things you won't find out what works BEST and what doesn't work at all where you are at.

[Texforce]

I have one of those Thunder Chicken 1/4 strut decoys that has the jake fan. Would it be worthwhile to use him as I imitated gobbler cluks and yelps? I will be hunting from a ground blind. Thanks for any input. Have never tried to call Fall gobblers.

[WillowRidgeCalls]

Most times if I use a decoy for fall hunting all I use is a jake.