Figuring Out Fall Turkeys

Fall turkey hunting begins with the arrival of archery season in the southernmost parts of our state on August 3rd. Now, for the most part, the fall turkeys get killed as a target of opportunity; spring is where it’s at for turkey hunting. And getting folks to give the fall birds a real shot is usually a lost cause. But I’m going to try anyway, on the grounds that working birds now will make you far more lethal next March. This might seem like a stretch, but the reality of turkey hunting is that the more you understand the communications and habits of individual birds and flocks, the better you’ll be during the spring. The more you peek behind the curtain, the more you realize that turkeys have a reason for everything.

One thing about gobblers in the fall is there will be a distinct pattern to their travels. From dark to dark, they’ll originate and end at a roost, with the hours between devoted to feeding. It’s that simple, and they often travel in a tight circuit. So, the birds you see scratching in the pasture edges today will likely be there tomorrow at around the same time unless there is a drastic shift in the weather or a predator throws them off. Granddaddy used to tell me that if you see him do something twice in a row, you can kill him on the third.

I tell you, it took me a lot of years of shooting turkeys in the face with a 12-gauge before I decided it was time to bow hunt them. When I did, I realized that my encounters with gobblers while running and gunning caused me to miss a lot of the interaction. With a shotgun, the birds cross the 40-yard mark and it’s usually over. With a bow, you’ve got to talk them into the decoys and wait for your shot.

To be sure, I don’t believe there is a better way to learn to really call turkeys than to listen to a lot of live birds interact. It always makes me laugh when people say something like, “Fall birds don’t really call.” They do, a lot. In fact, even though you probably won’t hear gobbles (sometimes you do), you will hear everything else a turkey has to say. That’s an education that carries over nicely into the spring woods, especially if you hunt pressured birds where it’s key to say exactly the right things to get them to go from hung up to in your lap.

It’s hard to peel away from the treestand to go set up for fall turkeys but, when you do it right, it’s a blast. Even better is the simple fact that the interactions you have with fall flocks will undoubtedly make you a better spring hunter, which is more than enough reason to get out there to kill some midday hours. As always, if you’d like to drop me a note sometime, reach out to me at [email protected]. God Bless, and good hunting.