Fall turkey tactics

[twitchstick]

Going to do my first fall turkey hunt this year. I have never hunted turkeys in the fall and I'm looking suggestions on tactics. I would assume that it would be more of a set up and ambush style of hunting but I would like to here from some experience fall bird hunters. Thanks

[cahaba]

The most popular technique is to find a group of birds and bust them up then call them back to you.
Keekee type calls work well this time of year.

[centaur]

I have had good success with spot and stalk on fall birds. You will get busted a lot (at least I do), but it is a hoot.

[KyRidgeRunner]

x2 on what cahaba said.  I used this trick several times

[K.S.TRAPPER]

Everybody always  talks about busting them up and calling but nobody ever shows any success with stick bows. For good reasons too it's for shotguns! It works but very rarely for stick bows. We shoot at them every year out of tree stands just talking to them Iike they talk walking along feeding doing there everyday thing nice and quiet. Decoys will work in the fall too and I've even had deer decoys work just as good.

Why bust them all over you no what, and what if it's a group of jakes or gobblers? Don't forget spot and stalk that's a blast too like centaur does      

Heres a few fall birds.

 

 

 

 

 

[Jake Scott]

Tracy,
Great hero pics!  I have never been able to let myself intentionally bust up a group of birds, just doesn't seem right.  I posted a similar thread a couple months ago with many of the same responses.

While deer hunting last week, I had a group fly down just up the ridge from where I was on stand.  Using a mouth call I mimicked the sounds I heard them making.  Just the putts and purrs a content turkey makes while doing it's thing.  I had about a dozen come in, slow while feeding.  The fall season has already passed in that that neck of the woods, but I could have had shots on both a hen and a jake using that method, which is what Tracy suggested some time ago to me.  That's how I will hunt fall birds in the future.

Jake

[RedShaft]

We bust em all time. Works great. Same with gobblers. You have to be more patient n call less. They even gobble in the fall. Use kee kee and kee kee run lost call. That is tried n true tactic here in pa. I would venture to say that how nearly 80% of pa fall birds are killed.
Sitting and calling and scratching leaves through an area they frequent works. Same as roosting them night before and sitting up under them in the dark n wait for dawn fly down time. Honestly at least here with the bow N without being in a blind luck would really have to be on your side.

We are not over run by turkeys here either like some of your other states. They have allot of birds that seem very susceptible to kill. Why they do hunting shows there. I personally would only hunt them in the spring with the bow. Around here in fall unless you luck out with having a group come by your stand and are fortunate enough to get into position and get drawn. We hunt em with more ballistic friendly equipment.

[Shakes.602]

This will have been my 7th Fall Season, and no Turkey yet. Thats ok, its being out there that counts!! Sure would be nice to snag one, My Time IS Coming!!
  I Swear I can hear them laughing at me in the tall weeds.....  :rolleyes:    

[K.S.TRAPPER]

Yep Redshaft they gobble here in the fall all the time too, it's easy to bust them, it's easy to call them back in with kee kee calls but really how many do you kill with your stick bows doing it that way (picks).  

You keep busting them in a certain area and they will start avoiding it. There not the smartest but there not the dumbest either, I need all the help I can get when it comes to killing them with my bows.    :D

[MJB]

K.S.TRAPPER  
What kind of blind is that ?
Thanks,
Mike

[twitchstick]

Thanks for the idea's everyone. It should be a great hunt it's the first fall season Utah has had since 1984. Nice turkeys Tracy! those pic's will get anyone fired up. I'm pretty excited I haven't had the time in the spring to hunt turkeys in several years. This year my deer and elk season was cut short and I had to turned back in a couple of sage grouse tags last month. Its a long season and I'm going to really enjoy this time in the field.

[K.S.TRAPPER]

That was a Primos blind years ago before they bought Double Bull, can't remember the model but we had a couple of them and they were pretty small. There's a Barronett 350 in that spot now and has been for about 4 years, shot several turkeys and deer out of it. It's 84x84 much bigger.

 

Sure wish they came in the Predator camo.

Tracy

[RedShaft]

Originally posted by K.S.TRAPPER:
Yep Redshaft they gobble here in the fall all the time too, it's easy to bust them, it's easy to call them back in with kee kee calls but really how many do you kill with your stick bows doing it that way (picks).  

You keep busting them in a certain area and they will start avoiding it. There not the smartest but there not the dumbest either, I need all the help I can get when it comes to killing them with my bows.          :D      

Lots actually. We don't hunt birds with bow. Only in spring and that's a rarity. You be surprised. Either they are dumb or something because they come back no problems. They don't know what spooked them. Could have been a fox, coyote, anything for all they know. Good many times we break em with a shot from the scattergun.
We don't have private land to hunt. All our hunting is done on public lands. Birds get bumped and spooked constantly. To be honest. We fill the kids tags first then ours it's that solid of a tactic. But the gobblers are way harder. And if we know they are gobblers we do t ways bust em. Gobblers are either singles or in very small groups in the falls. And they don't talk much here n usually come in silent. You you have to be looking n listening constantly or they will sneak in And pick you out.
Most toms will take over two hours to come in. For us. And that usually the fastest. Sometimes it's 4 hrs or longer.

The season don't start till November 1st and only goes 2 weeks times. Sometimes 3 in certain areas. All leaves are down and it's easy to get picked off. You have to get on em n make it happen fast. That's why its a no bow for this fella
Congratulations on your archery birds btw!

[K.S.TRAPPER]

Thanks! Are birds are no different then yours we hunt public to and it got to be to easy with shotguns like you are doing, that's why I stopped killing them with scatterguns long time ago.

Try doing the same thing with no blind and birds coming in fully alert to your kee kee run calling looking in every direction for a lost mate and drawing a stick bow and getting a shot. Which is what this thread is about, sometimes you get lucky, I've done it but the odds are tuff.

Good luck twitchstick!!!

Tracy

[steadman]

Jimmy I didn't know we have a fall hunt. I gotta look into that.

[hickstick]

I've just called them in from my treestand using kee kees.

[twitchstick]

Ryan yes this year we had 200 tags in the southern unit and I think 150 in the northern unit on a first come first serve. They sold out quick but I had to make sure Cody and I had tags. Its more like a depredation hunt with small areas that have nuisance birds on the winter range. Its almost all private lands but I know a few spots.  

[steadman]

Ah man! Well good luck! Let us know how you do. I'll have to look into it next year.

[wapiti792]

I have recently been bit by the fall bird bug. I use a blind 66.6% of the time...that is I have killed 3 fall hens. Two by blind, one by ghilli  

Because our birds are roosted in one block of timber on one spot and two other locations on my honey-pot spot on public ground I choose not to bust 'em. I like to get near them and call. Sometimes just clucking and kee-kees will get the flock slipping in. Tons of fun and October mornings when crop fields are a no-no for whitetails a block of timber is for turkeys.

 

[johnnyk71]

helps if you have a food source you know they are using, and can somehow pattern their travel. of course, they're not as consistent as deer, but they do follow a route sometimes. that's how i got my fall bird last year. i saw them the day before from my lock-on, but wasn't ready. the next day, they took the same route and i nailed one from my nearby ground blind.