How to hunt turkey, fall season tips that guarantee success

Hunting the wild turkey during the fall season is just about as exciting as anything a turkey hunter will do with his or her clothes on. Imagine for a moment, getting set-up on the same ole long beard that made a fool of you this spring.

I believe you know the bird I am talking about, the ole gobbler that hung-up some fifty odd yards away from your set-up, strutting back and forth, spitting and drumming like a bird possessed, and gobbling with every step.

Adding insult to your injured pride, the ole gobbler just stayed out of the range of your trusty 12-gauge shotgun. Let me ask you, wouldn’t that now, like it did then, get your ole heart pumping? Sure, you know it would, and I am going to share with you how to hunt turkey, fall season tips that successful turkey hunters use to bag the ole tom year after year.

First consider this; fall is a busy time of the year for many hunters. There are bowhunters stalking deer, waterfowl hunters hunting teal and Woodys, squirrel hunters and let me not forget to mention the good ole boys running their hounds.

What does this have to do with hunting fall turkeys you ask? Look at it this way; with all the other hunters in the woods hunting other animals, you will not need to worry so much about the sounds of a turkey being that of another hunter running a turkey call.

That is not to say, you should abandon all caution. You still must remember to be a safe hunter, but simply there is a lot less turkey hunters in the woods, making any serious competition much less.

Fall turkey hunters, must learn to be patient, patient, patient and just about the time your patience has reached its end, be patient a little longer. That is if you really want to be a successful fall turkey hunter.

Turkeys do behave differently during fall when compared to the spring breeding season, so hunting them like you would in spring is not the best way to harvest that ole gobbler. During the summer, gobblers are more likely to forage with gobblers of the same interests, it is that old birds of a feather flock together thing, of generally three or four birds.

Hens that were bred in spring are no longer interested in the gobblers. There attentions are on this year’s hatch, the pullets, surround the mother hens and the hens that didn’t breed this spring, have been busy razing this years hatch.

Jakes on the other hand, adolescent toms, have been in their own little groups since being ran off by mother hen just before breeding season in early spring.

However, as the days get shorter, and the nights colder, all turkey toms and hens of all age groups alike come together to form their winter flocks.

Secondly, pre-season scouting makes all the difference when hunting the wild turkey’s in the fall season. Just like a whitetail buck, a wild turkey has a set routine they follow. In order to be successful, a hunter needs to believe this little fun fact, and understand how to use it to gain an advantage on the weary old tom.

You see a wild turkey is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he believes everything wants to eat him. The most successful hunters know, whitetail deer sees a hunter and thinks he is a stump, where the wild turkey on the other hand, sees a stump and thinks it is a hunter. Think about it this way, unless a gobbler eats it, or breeds with it, it spooks him.

Turkeys have super great eyesight; actually, they have telescopic vision. The wild turkey can see in much greater detail than we hunters can, and better clarity for smaller objects, like bugs, small seeds and some colors, than other animals. Along with their telescopic eyesight, turkeys have an unbelievably wide field of view, over 180 degrees with only a small gap directly in front of their beak, and directly behind their head. However, they can not smell, lucky for us, If they could they would be all but impossible to harvest.

Patience, is important in spring, but is doublely important for fall hunting gobblers. Busting up a flock of hens and poults just to call them, back into shooting range can sometimes be over rather quickly. Gobblers, on the other hand are a different story. Fall gobblers usually cannot be called in using hen yelps, cutts or cackles. Rather, you had better sound like another gobbler to get another ole gobbler to pay any attention to your calling during the fall. Using a series of low-pitched clucks, ‘gobbler’ yelps, and fighting purrs will get the old gobblers curiosity working in your favor. Breaking out your old gobble tube will also work to get the attention of a tom in the fall.

Fall turkey hunting is extremely exciting; what ever else you do, make sure you remember your number one priority, laser focusing all your pre-season scouting on patterning the flock. Practice your gobbler calls, yelps, clucks, fighting purrs and try to master the art of gobbling like an old tom and a young Jake.

Let me leave you with this thought, if you take away nothing else from this article; make it these extremely useful tips.

Use your pre-season turkey scouting outings wisely.

First, determine where the turkey wants to go.

Then once you have that information keep it under your hat.

Next, you will need to determine where the turkeys travel in order to get where they want to go.

Using that information, select the best location to set-up the ambush, and your blind. .

Yes fall hunting turkeys is exciting when using calls, remember, scout before you hunt, call sparingly, and hunt safely.

 The author of this publication, Mike Teddleton owns the copyright to How to Hunt Turkey, Fall Season Tips. The rights to publish this article in print or online can only be granted by contacting me the author in writing. You may use the intro and link back to the article directing the reader back to my post here at HubPages where they may find the story in its entirety