With dove and early waterfowl seasons in full swing, avid turkey hunters will soon be checking their pattern for the fall season.
Spring turkey season is all the rage, yet fall seasons have a loyal and dedicated following. If you’ve never tried hunting birds in the fall, you’re in for plenty of exercise and exciting moments when you encounter a flock and call in a single bird.
John Higley has changed his tactics with experience on fall birds and lays out his plan in this post from the NWTF.
Scattered doesn’t always mean covered when hunting fall turkeys.
Not so long ago, the primary fall turkey hunting tactic I used was the scatter. The idea behind it is to locate a flock of turkeys and rush them like a madman, causing them to panic and scatter in all directions. Then
you set up at or near the breakup point and try to call them back. The tactic works well with groups of hens and their broods as they want to get back together promptly. Scattering works, but not as reliably, when it comes to small bachelor bands of gobblers, because they may not regroup for hours after separating.
While scattering is certainly still an option, these days I prefer to engage the turkeys in a routine calling situation and coax them in with a few yelps sometimes mixed with kee-kees and clucks. Quite often, a curious lead hen will come to confront the newcomer and bring her flock mates with her. I’ve found that 1½-year-old jakes, often seen in small groups of similar individuals, will also come to the calls.
