Fall Forecast: Mild to Moderate
A Chat with Bob Eriksen, NWTF director of conservation operations
Wild Turkey Hunting – General
Q: Based on your hunting experience, what is the most effective method for setting up on turkeys in the fall?
— Stephen Ramey, Shreveport, La.
A: Just like in the spring you want your set-up to put the odds in your favor. Therefore if you have seen a flock or have scattered a gang of turkeys, try to set up slightly uphill from them or on a level even with them. Make sure there are no obstacles like a stream or fence that would give them an excuse not to come. Set up against a large tree in a spot that gives you visibility as far as you are willing to shoot (30 to 35 yards in most cases, but no more than 40 yards). Rely on your camouflage to hide you or set up in a pop-up ground blind. If you are hunting a field edge frequented by turkeys, a blind is a good start.
Q: What is the best means of turkey hunting on public land in the fall? This is asked with it in mind that busting up a flock and trying to call them back in doesn’t appear to me that it would work very well on public land.
— Michael Christensen, Omaha, Neb.
A: The standard method of fall hunting, locating and scattering a flock, can work just as well on public land as it does on private ground. If there has been considerable hunting pressure and the flocks are broken up it might work to set up and call where you have found recent sign.
I also have had success with “blind calling” or simply setting up in a good spot with some turkey sign and calling. Fall turkeys that have been pressured can be difficult to call. They also can be tough to break up. If you decide to set up and call, you need to exercise patience and call every 15 or 20 minutes. However, I would not give up on the possibility of locating and scattering a flock on public land.
Q: In my home state of Alabama we are only allowed to take gobblers in the fall. I have heard and read that busting up a flock of gobblers is not the best strategy for taking a fall longbeard. What is the best tactic to tag a fall longbeard?
— Juston Roper, Hanceville, Ala.
A: What you have read and heard is true to a degree. It is difficult to get a good scatter on a flock of wary, old gobblers. Once scattered, the gobblers will often fail to call for hours on end and may elect to regroup by returning silently to the site and waiting to see their cohorts.
It’s not impossible to scatter and call gobblers, but you had better be ready to spend a considerable amount of time studying the trees and landscape because gobblers can take their sweet time getting back together. That said, breaking up a flock of toms can work, especially if you scatter them just before dark. The following morning can be productive because the birds spent the night away from their “buddies.”
Probably the best method for calling gobblers in the fall is to be lucky enough to get close to a roosting flock and call sparingly before they fly down. That approach may stimulate their curiosity and cause them to check out the new neighbor. Another technique is to pattern a flock prior to the season and place yourself along their likely route of travel or at a place they are going to feed. Again, call sparingly using gobbler yelps and deep clucks. If you get an answer, respond with the same call the bird is making.
If you decide to walk quietly through the woods trying to locate a flock, keep your ears open. Listen for the sound of turkeys scratching or low clucks and purrs. Gobblers are constantly challenging one another. With that in mind, listen for sharp putts, challenge purrs and deep clucks. Use your binoculars to check ahead of you. If you see a flock of gobblers, keep your distance, follow them and try to scatter them as it gets close to roosting time. Use your GPS to mark the location or otherwise remember the location and get there early in the morning.
Q: In Washington State, fall turkey season begins Sept. 26 and ends one week later. There is a late season, but it is only for beardless turkeys.
Most of the turkey hunters I know wait for a flock to come by, although I have heard that running at a flock to scatter them and then calling to regroup sometimes works. The lands around here where the turkeys flock are mostly private and small in size.
Knocking on doors when turkeys are sighted on a property works only if the landowner answers the door at 7 a.m. Usually, they are already at work. The size of the owner’s property is less than 5 acres, so if the turkeys run across the boundary, another landowner comes into the picture. The turkeys congregate along streams that have many recreational lots along the waterfront.
These landowners often see the turkeys as pets and there are dogs on many of these properties that keep the turkeys moving from property to property. Also, we have a lot of anti-hunters who own those lands. What strategy to you suggest under these conditions?
— Ted Grichuhin, Wash.
A: If you can scatter a flock on property on which you have permission to hunt, set up there. Nine times out of 10, the birds will return to where they were broken up. Therefore it won’t matter much if they fly onto adjacent properties. Set up where you scattered the birds and start calling. If they call back to you but seem to be regrouping away from you, call loud and hard to draw them to you. If they are gathering together on the land you can hunt but are not coming your way, break them up again and start from scratch. Of course, if you pattern a flock prior to the fall season and they are using land you can hunt on, setting up and waiting them out while calling is not a bad strategy either.
