Calling fall turkeys is easiest when they start the “conversation.” If you know that a flock has been busted or you hear a bird calling, you can take your time, pick a good tree to sit against, determine the course of most likely approach, and begin luring the turkey to you. Wild turkeys are more vocal in early morning, late afternoon, or after they’ve been scattered, yet that’s not the only time they respond. Cold calling can get them talking if you do it right.
Cold Calling
A basic strategy of elk hunting is “first find the elk,” and that tactic works for fall turkeys as well. You want to keep your eyes and ears at full alert, yet there’s no use sneaking the east side of a mountain if the birds are scratching on the west slope. Fall turkeys leave abundant sign, especially in newly fallen leaves where you can more easily determine if the scratchings are fresh. Dropping also are a good indication and large j-shaped stools indicate a mature gobbler. If you only find evidence of a few feeding birds, this is likely a bachelor group of toms, an exciting find.
Think Before Cold Calling
A logging road on our hunt club runs through a small mountain saddle where the ground is flat and deer and turkeys often feed. I walked that road early one morning without giving much thought. Shotgun under my arm, I gave a few lost call yelps and immediately heard leaves rustling. Apparently a mature hen was just over the rise and came to my call nearly at a dead run. Hearing the approach, I frantically looked for a tree to sit against, yet the bird caught my movement and flushed. What should have been an exciting (and easy) shot, was gone with the wind.
Three Tactics that Work
Here are Steve Hickoff’s suggestions for fooling fall birds:
Cold calling to fall turkeys — whether on foot or from a blind — is a strategy to locate or pull in birds you don’t see or hear. You’ve likely picked a spot where you’ve found fresh turkey sign, or even seen and heard birds before (though quiet groups will sneak in too).
Now try these three calling tactics.
https://www.realtree.com/turkey-blog-with-steve-hickoff/3-ways-to-cold-call-fall-turkeys
