Fall Turkey Hunting

image of turkey hunter and turkey Fall turkey hunting seasons and regulations

Fall turkey hunting (archery and firearms) is very different from the spring hunt. During the fall, there is little or no gobbling activity and gobblers are in small flocks (3-10 birds), while hens and young of the year are together in large flocks (10-20 birds). It is not unusual to find two to three hens together with all their young.

The basic strategy for fall turkey hunting is to find and break up a flock, scattering them in all directions. Then locate yourself as near as possible to the spot where you broke up the flock and wait 15 minutes. Gobblers can be called back by using clucks and coarse yelps. Hens and young birds can be called back using hen yelps and/or kee-kee run calls. Young birds usually will return within an hour while an old gobbler may take 3 to 4 hours. Hens and their young tend to vocalize a lot as they return. Old gobblers tend to return silently.

Identifying Fall Turkeys

Fall turkey hunting can be an extremely enjoyable experience. The sounds and sight of 20-30 turkeys returning to you from all directions can be as exciting as calling in a spring gobbler. However, the fall firearms turkey season has the potential to be more dangerous than the spring because either sex may be hunted. Therefore, less emphasis is put on positive identification. Remember to follow the basic rules of safe turkey hunting.

image of turkey wing and feathers An orange alert band, wrapped around the bird to keep its wings from flopping, helps make your walk our a safer one. If you don't want to make or purchase an alert band, try using an orange hunting vest. A little precaution may keep your bird from being shot a second time--and you with it.

Safety tips for fall turkey hunting

Never walk through the turkey woods without first putting on hunter orange. Should you bag a turkey, always wrap hunter orange around it before carrying it out.
Never identify a turkey by sound or movement. Always see the bird clearly.
Never wave, whistle, or make turkey calls to alert an approaching hunter to your presence. Always shout to reveal your presence to an approaching hunter.
4Never shoot at a turkey beyond the effective range of your shotgun. Pattern your shotgun, learn its effective range, and learn to accurately judge distances. Always shoot at the head and neck and remember that 30 yards is about the limit for a clean kill.
Never wear red, white, blue, or black in the turkey woods. Dress defensively and remember that partial or improper camouflage can be just as dangerous in the turkey woods as red, white, blue, or black.
Be very cautious when approaching wild turkeys during the fall season. Remember the calling you hear may be another hunter trying to call in birds that already have been scattered.
Never use shot sizes larger than No. 4. Turkey hunter are restricted to No. 4 shot or smaller. shot larger than No. 4 is unnecessary for turkey hunting and increases the chance of serious line-of-fire accidents.
Never let excitement, nerves, or panic guide your behavior. Always strive to remain calm and rational. Remember, there's not a turkey in the woods worth a human life or injury.
Never assume you are the only hunter in the area. Assume every sound or movement is another hunter until you can safely identify it as otherwise.

image of turkey Even though you sense that you've got a bird coming into range, remain perfectly still. Many people make the mistake of releasing the safety and putting their finger on the trigger too soon. They risk spooking the turkey by early movement, or worse, accidental firing.

Try not to get too excited when a gobbler answers your call. When the bird appears, first identify it as a legal turkey. Wait until the turkey moves his head behind a tree before you raise and aim your gun. Look beyond the turkey before you release the safety and shoot.

Once you have shot a turkey, he probably won't lie still immediately. Wild turkeys don't normally drop over dead, even when they have received a fatal shot to the head and neck. As long as his head and neck is down, you've go him. If he's flopping around and his head comes up, you had better get ready to shoot.

Be careful how you retrieve a downed bird. It's better to let him finish flopping and lie still before you try to pick him up or tag him. The spurs on an adult gobbler are sometimes more than an inch long. They are sharp and can cut you badly. It's better to put your foot on a flopping turkey's head to restrict his movement than to try to grab a flapping wing of foot.

Once you have him in hand, tag him and be careful how you carry him out of the woods. If you harvest a small deer, would you throw it over your shoulder to carry it our of the woods? Probably not, because someone might mistake you for a deer and shot you. If you were to kill a turkey, how would you get him out of the woods? Most people carry the turkey over their shoulder. Dressed in camouflage clothing, the hunter blends well with the woods. The warm, freshly killed bird is limp; its wings drop down and its tail fans out. This, combined with the fact that a person and a turkey sound much alike when walking through the leaves, adds up to an extremely dangerous situation.

Turkey Harvest Summaries