By Scott Ellis
With summer winding down, archery and muzzle loading are anticipated. People are tuning bows, sighting scopes and plowing fields.
It is also a great time to tune those turkey calls for the fall season. Most states offer turkey as fair game during archery, and all but a few offer a fall turkey season. Fall turkey hunting can put your hunting skills to the test.
There are two basic angles to hunting fall turkeys: hunting bachelor flocks and hunting what I call brood flocks. Bachelor flocks consist of mature gobblers, and brood flocks consist of the adult hens and their offspring.
During the fall, a hunter has to realize that he is capitalizing on a turkey’s urge for companionship, their need to establish a pecking order and overall curiosity. He is also putting his woods skills to the test by finding his birds. Locating a viable food source and water is essential to finding them.
BACHELOR FLOCKS
During the spring, you’ll have a dominant gobbler and numerous subordinate gobblers in an area that holds birds.
During the fall, take away the breeding urge, and you’re left with the same gobblers.
These gobblers will often befriend each other and flock together. Do not be confused: there is still a pecking order.
Once you’ve conducted reconnaissance, your safest bet is to set up and blind call, or move and call.
When calling, only cluck and plain yelp to give the impression that you are alone and looking for companionship. Use slow, low ‘yawks’ every 10 to 15 minutes.
BROOD FLOCKS
These birds have a very tight-knit social grouping. They were laid, hatched and have been flocked together the last eight to 14 months.
Similar to hunting bachelor flocks, there are two basic methods: blind calling, and moving and calling. When blind calling, lure the birds in by peaking their curiosity. Mix up your calling.
The type of calling employed is different than what is used to call bachelor flocks. While trying to locate or communicate with a brood flock, produce assembly yelping, lost yelping and kee-kee running.
CALLING TACTICS
Blind calling is sitting in a stationary position and calling randomly, without being engaged in a conversation with a bird. Throw in some deep purring for bachelor flocks.
Once you get a response, call just enough to peak their interest. Hunting these birds takes an enormous amount of patience.
Moving and calling can be effective, but be mindful of your surroundings. Less foliage on the trees and the birds not being as vocally responsive as the spring can be a challenge. Without the birds giving away their location, the chance of spooking them is much greater walking through the open timber.
Once you have made contact with a gobbler, survey the area and set up in a position that has plenty of visibility. If you elicit a response during the fall, the birds will come close enough to present a shot.
TYPES OF TURKEY CALLS
Assembly and lost yelping are the same basic call. They are both 15 to 20 note yelps given with inflection and emotion.
The assembly yelp is given by the brood hen when a flock is scattered to gather her brood.
The lost yelp is when a bird is alone and is looking for companionship. I don’t feel a turkey is ever lost. I view lost yelping as a locating call. When you’re giving these yelp sequences, visualize a turkey looking for company.
Kee-kee is the whistle of a young bird. Before a poult’s voice has developed to produce yelps, it can only whistle.
Once matured, it will then combine kee-keeing with yelping, producing the kee-kee run.
The kee-kee sounds like its spelled. Produce a series of this call ending with two to four yelps at the end to make a kee-kee run.
Kee-keeing is best performed with a mouth call.
HOW TO SCATTER
Two hunters run at a brood flock from different places. Hopefully, the birds scatter in different directions.
Once scattered, wait and listen for them to yelp and kee-kee. If you start hearing multiple birds and they didn’t flush far, set up and begin calling. Call often. Assembly yelping and kee-kee running will be your best bet. Do not be afraid to call.
If the birds have flushed too far, reposition to where the majority of the flock escaped your ambush. Wait and listen for them to call, then begin your calling.
In both instances, do not start calling until the birds start calling. This way you know the birds are calm enough to start the regrouping process.
If you’ve busted a bachelor flock, rely on your gobbler yelps and deep gobbler clucks, but call sparingly. A bachelor flock has much less urge to regroup than a brood flock. Many times the gobblers will not regroup, hence seeing lone long beards in the fall.
TIPS
• Capitalize on turkeys’ urge for companionship, their need to establish a pecking order and curiosity.
• Finding a viable food source and water is essential to finding your birds.
• Turkeys will continue to use a food source until it is exhausted and will water in the same areas if available.
• Look for tracks, dusting areas and scratching.
• More often, when you find one, you will find multiple birds.