Fall Turkey Tactics

Creating a good scatter on a group of fall turkeys can be tough. The birds often see or hear you coming before you can rush them. If you do sneak close, charging in for a proper scatter challenges even the most spry human legs and can be dangerous if you fall. And if the birds run off or fly away in the same direction, you now have a bunch of paranoid turkeys to deal with.

But there are other ways to hunt fall turkeys. These low-key but highly effective tactics rely on woodsmanship and calling. Yes, you can call in a fall turkey that hasn’t been scattered. And if you don’t get your bird today, it will still be around tomorrow.

Scouting is key

Scout during summer and early fall so you’ll know where turkeys will roost, feed, dust, loaf, get water and find grit. Walk woods and field edges looking for all manner of turkey sign—droppings, dusting areas, feathers from a roost. Find a good vantage point and glass for birds on the move.

If you can’t do any pre-season scouting, “power scout” when you arrive 
at your hunting grounds. Talk to landowners, school bus drivers, mail carriers, farmers and others who work the land and know it well, to learn when and where turkeys have been spotted. This cuts valuable hours off your search for birds.

Hunt the roost—morning

If you know where turkeys like to roost or, better yet, if you actually saw them fly up, sneak in close before first light the next morning. Set up just like you would for a spring gobbler, only the intended target now will likely be a hen or young jake.

Don’t fiddle with putting out decoys; you’ll run the risk of spooking birds. Position yourself between the roost site and where the turkeys want to go for their morning feed. Call with soft, sleepy-sounding clucks and tree yelps [see sidebar, page HB28]. Once the birds start flying down, get aggressive with bossy yelps, urgent kee-kees and pleading kee-kee runs. Fall birds make a racket as they gather, primp, preen and confirm the day’s pecking order, so you’ll need to work hard to grab their attention.

Morning setups

If your roost setup doesn’t pan out, quietly head for a feeding area—the corner of a harvested grain field (corn, soybeans and sorghum are prime), an alfalfa field with its greenery and bugs or an abandoned meadow. Or set up where you’ve seen turkeys traveling. Position yourself on a point of timber, along a fenceline, or in a funnel between woods, fields or hills.

Put out a couple of decoys, or even a little flock of four or five. Gregarious fall turkeys will check out any newcomers to their territory, either to greet them or pick a fight. Make soft purrs and clucks, like feeding birds would. Belt out a few lonely yelps every once in a while to attract attention from any birds that might be passing by your setup at a distance. Try throwing a few kee-kees into the mix, too.

Afternoon setups

Hunt in “hanging out” cover in the afternoon—mature timber where birds are likely to loaf away the midday hours. Make setups for an hour or more at strategic spots. Call with soft purrs and clucks. Sprinkle in a few yelps and kee-kees occasionally.

If the weather is unseasonably warm, go to an area with spring seeps or other dampness. Birds will come for water and greens. If the wind is howling, head for calm areas in hollows and on the lee side of hills. If you found a dusting area while scouting, set up there and wait for turkeys to come for their afternoon bath.

Drift-and-yelp

Fall’s answer to spring’s cutt-and-run, the drift-and-yelp is essentially a still-hunt through good turkey territory as you prospect for birds to set up on. It’s imperative to move slowly and quietly. Look more than you walk. Stop often, keeping your back against a tree for safety. Call with pleading lost yelps and lonely kee-kees.

Sooner or later, a turkey will answer. Since you’re already against a tree, drop down and set up immediately. Forget about decoys—the real turkeys are either close or on their way. Mimic what the bird says to you.

Hunt the roost—evening

Ease close to a known roost area a few hours before sunset. Set up quietly with a couple of decoys and wait. Sit ahead of the expected roost trees by 50 to 75 yards, so you can shoot incoming turkeys where there’s still good light.

Call softly, and use only a few contented purrs and clucks. In the quiet 
of evening, these soft mumbles and whines say plenty.