Any of y'all hunt turkeys in fall? Something like 42 or 43 states have seasons.

I haven’t, but you can bet your butt I will this year. Moved up to TN and the counties I’m hunting allow you to take a tom during bow season. There’s also a week long shotgun season in October I believe.

Never have, but I'd like to. The handful of times I go deer hunting every year I usually go somewhere where I think I can see turkeys. I really enjoy hearing them in the Fall.

I did when I had access to land with good turkey populations. would go a few times every fall. I had rather spring hunt tho and the past few clubs I've been in haven't had a lot of birds so I just hunt them in the spring.

I have in several diff Alabama counties. Used to do it a lot in Wilcox till they changed it.

I used to when we had turkeys in the counties I hunt. Killed several over the years. I love talking to a flock in the fall.

I've shot a couple of gobblers in the fall. I was in my 20s, so it was a long time ago. It felt about like shooting a big buck in May when he doesn't have antlers. Or at least I think it felt that way; I've never actually shot a buck in May, so I can't be sure.

I'm sure there were some ethical fall hunters back then, but the ones I talked to were all outlaws. Get them to talking and they would admit they killed as many as they could and shot the hens right along with the jakes. I was glad when Coosa county did away with the fall season.

This ^^^.

I never saw much outlawing from those few fall hunters I knew back then, but everyday dog deer hunters killed the snot out of fall turkeys illegally all the time.

I got a place in Clay County I could but never have and have no desire to, I just don’t think it would be as fun as spring time.

This seems like a trick question. Do we even have an autumn anymore ? We are over halfway through September and it’s 90+.

True. Autumn may be on Oct. 29 for about four hours, possibly in mid-November for half a day.

I always liked busting up a group of gobblers in the fall late in the afternoon and hunting them the next day.

Most good spring hunters don't have the woodsmanship, skill, or patience to kill fall longbeards on a regular basis. Different kind of hunting.

So what’s they key to killing them? Can’t say I’ve ever hunted them in the Fall.

Cant tell if your serious or kidding...

Granted my experience with it is limited when compared to others, but the experience I do have is that it's the easiest type of hunting there is. Bust the flock, give them 30 mins, start calling, and they will damn near run you over trying to get back together.

Young turkeys will do that occasionally to get back with momma. Long beards may get back together today, they may next week, or may not altogether. If you can bust them up late in the day, seems like the next morning is the best chance at getting a gobbler to come to you. If I can get set up right the next morning, I’ve had decent luck getting one to try to get the band back together the next day. Best eating turkey is a fall jake tho, haha

Yeah. I did a bunch of it in both NY state with shotgun and New Hampshire with my bow.

When I lived in NH it was open season during the bow season for deer. There were more turkeys then deer on our land.

Wed shoot em when we could if they passed a stand. My one friend shot a couple behind my house. Wed all bring a mouth call to the stand or ground blind.

In New York in some areas they use turkey dogs which are great. One of my guides had one named " Kee Kee". She was a beast.

You call them in with a "Kee Kee Run" ( hence her name)

Shed run in and bust the flock. Shed track em like a deer dog on a deer. Then hed have her lay next to him in a camo wrap and we would call after 20 minutes or half an hour.

You bust a flock of gobblers and theyd come in gobbling to the Kee Kee ,and "Jake yelping" a few times.

We busted a flock of 5 gobblers one time and clients killed 2, both gobbling. One within 15 minutes of the other.

They always come back to the site of the bust up.

It was fun but a lot of young hens get killed over all Ive found. There were some boys in Candor NY that were bad arse at outfitting for fall birds with dogs busting the flocks. I forgot their outfit, but they were known for it.

A few Quaker Boy guys went with them a few time. Old Ernie Canderelli if you remember him. He was Dicks Kirbys of Quaker Boys marketing guy back in the day and did "Gobbling Fever" with Ole Dick and Chris Kirby, Mark Scroggins and them.

Talk about a turkey hunting legend. Old Dick Kirby was that for sure. Looking at his autographed box call to me with his strutting gobbler drawing he liked to do ,right now in my office.
What a good dang guy. Im sure you knew him Clem.

But I digress.

We didnt do Fall hunts on my lands as I liked hunting them in Spring and people were paying to come do it so I saved em for Spring Clients when they were roaring.

However, I went with my one guide and helped a bunch on his lands. He hunted Pa too as he lived and owned farm land on the border south of Binghampton NY.

Its fun and allows turkey hunting. And the hens are vocal. The young uns all run in to the Kee Kee or their moms come in looking for each other. Bust a flock and you kill one or two for sure when we went.

Hope that helps.

Fall hens are easy, bust them and call them back up. Hey talk a lot and need to be together. A fall gobbler doesn’t give 2 chits about getting back together with a flock today or next month if it isn’t easy and on his way to his next meal. They don’t care if they see another turkey most of the time until spring comes along again.

Same as my admittedly limited experience

Yep. They are some vocal birds with the hens assembly yelping and the lost young jakes and Jennys Kee keeing trying to find mom.

The gobblers and jakes breaking up and gobbler and jake yelping em in.

Definitely some vocal birds but not as exciting as that gobbling, spitting and drumming of a big ole tom sneaking in all smart like. Now THATS the ticket to me.


By the way, these are the guys. Turkey Trot acres in candor NY. theyve been doing those fall hunt forever.


http://turkeytrotacres.com/welcome/

Yes sir, my experience as well.

there is a LOT of difference in calling back a young hen or jake and calling back a mature gobbler. Hell of a lot of difference.

Chilton county used to have a fall season, back in the late 70s and 80s.
We hunted them some, but it just ain't the same..
It's kinda like deer hunting for turkeys, and it ain't fun.

About six or seven years ago in Indiana I was bowhunting and heard scratchin' in the leaves. Got ready and then a flock of hens and jakes appeared behind me in the woods just moseying along.

I didn't move and let them get about 20-30 yards past me over a little ridge. Started mouth-yelping and sounded like a flywheel locking up. Bad, bad noises. But I figured what the heck.

The jakes went bananas kee-keeing and then the hens started in. Called them back like that three times under my stand and they all stood around trying to figure it out. Dumber than hammers.

Growing up in Talladega county that's how I cut my teeth on hunting really. There was a period of life in my teenage years (late 80's) where that's almost all we did. It was harder to kill longbeards in the Fall than in the Spring, they just aren't as receptive to calling. We usually used the ol "bust up" technique, but 95% of what you'd call back up were hens and jakes. I don't remember ever killing a hen (not even by accident), but I confess to killing more than 1 jake/gobbler at a time before. But crap, we were idiot teenaged boys who thought it was cool then.

There's a place on Cheaha Mountain called "Cemetery Mountain" (it's on the Clay county end) and some of you may be familiar with "Union T Church". Back in the late 80's and early 90's that little area was crazy loaded with turkeys and we tried our best to kill all of em! I remember one afternoon after school we parked at the church (we'd pull around behind the building and hide our truck) and there was a dim road that went into the woods back there. We had barely gotten out of sight of the church and heard turkeys scratching right off side of the road where a draw came up. We got low and slipped up there, but couldn't see em, yet there were just "right there!" We decided to rush em and bust em up, so I ran about 5 good long strides and stopped and there were longbeards standing everywhere...no crap, there must have been a dozen!!!! Those fools didn't move, so BANG!!! I killed one and the others started pitching up and running off, and I killed two more ( I know, I know ). Friend shot only once and apparently missed. So my idiot self killed 3 longbeards all at once. Outlaw story extraordinaire, but back in those days at our age that was the stuff of legends. That friend died of an accidental gunshot a couple of years ago, but we must have relived that story a million times over the years.

I was hunting with Doug Camp one morning behind Horse Creek Cemetery (I think I was 14 or 15 years old, and Mr. Camp was already an old man at that time), this was back when he was still with Southland. If any of y'all knew Doug then you may remember he basically went deaf in one ear (and could barely hear out of the other one). In his older years he'd say he couldn't really tell which direction the gobble came from. Anyway, we had roosted birds the day before and were in there waiting before daylight, sitting about 10 yards apart against two white oaks. It was already pretty good daylight and we could hear the turkeys maybe 150+ yard in front of us on the ridge. Well I had heard the dog hunters come in on the gravel road way back behind us earlier, and had been hearing some dogs cold trailing, then they lit the woods up hot after some deer. I could tell they were coming our way, but Mr. Camp didn't seem to hear them at all. I heard the deer hit the creek way down behind/below us and could tell they were now coming right at me up a little finger ridge, and remember Mr. Camp had his back slightly turned to me (and as far as I could tell, had no idea what was about to go down ) I never heard Doug say a cuss word before, but all in about 10 seconds two big bucks (there were more, but I ain't sure what they were) topped that ridge about 15 steps from me and BANG BANG BANG!!!!! I shot the lead deer 3 times with 3" #6's and he turned a flip right on top of us (I'm basically trying to stand up and shooting all in one motion). Turkeys are flyin' and cacklin' in every direction, one deer is running off, one deer is flopping around knockin' over bushes, dogs are screaming and barking coming across the creek, and then it goes stone cold quiet. I don't think I'm even breathing, and I look around and Mr. Camp ain't moved, still against that tree with his gun across his lap. We looked at each other about 10 seconds and he simply says, "Well damn"

Gosh I miss those days, hunting has never been like again.

Awesome story, man. That's when hunting was fun.

I have killed one every year that we have had a Fall season up here in IN. I always shot a hen. We have so many and I like to save the toms. All killed while deer hunting.

I've always thought it was interesting that we have doe harvest in Alabama, but not hens. The turkey ratio is WAY more "unbalanced" than the deer.

I'm guessing you don't know a whole lot about turkey biology

And look how well killing all the does is working out. Literally like killing the golden goose.

Um, it was simply an offhand comment that most turkey hunters could appreciate, not a scientific opinion, nor a rule suggestion. You're preaching to the choir, I've never killed a hen, never wanted to kill a hen, and have maybe killed 5 does in 10 years. It's just always been my joke about having a gobbler henned up with 40 hens. If you read it from the right viewpoint, it's a sarcastic cut about killing does, not really about hens. I probably shoulda worded it differently.

If you think your somethin' in the woods try a Fall Gobbler. You'll likely come away from it empty handed and humbled. Having said that I just found an unopened Ghost Cut for that fall Kee Kee.

Those old gobblers in the fall sound like rubbing two sanding blocks together! LOL Just a three note yelp, deep and rough.

When we had a fall season, I killed several big longbeards by going to the woods late in the evening & listening for them to fly up. Since the gobs & hens usually are separated from each other in the fall, you can easily tell the difference in them when they fly up- gobs make a lot more wing racket. Go back in the next morning before daylight & set up maybe 75 yards from them & at daylight make some course gobs yelps on a boxcall. I had no problem having a longbeards in front of me in 20-25 minutes after daylight. Only thing is they just feed towards you fairly quick & it's just listening to em walk & scratch-aint much vocals, but they're still curious & still enjoyable to hunt, just not as much as spring.

I've made similar points on here before. I don't kill does, or hens, but many folks seem to folks that you can nearly extinct a doe herd, and have bigger bucks. Hasn't worked out too well.

I cannot believe we don't know each other from back then. I just remembered the PM that you knew my uncle Hugh. I bet we have met, just don't realize it. We hunted all over Cemetery Mtn. Mr Camp and my Granddad were real good friends.

Did you ever get to hunt with Billy Curry---That is a turkey killing machine!

Naw, seems like I remember the name, but can't put a face with it. I would've been a teenager back then though. Did you ever know the Gallahars? That's how I came to know Mr. Camp (well, that and his wife Maxine was a teacher at my school)

You would know Billy if you ever met him. He worked at Southland for a short time. About 5' tall Black guy. Salt of the earth.

I grew up with Phillip, His dad was my first baseball coach. I cannot for the life of me remember his name. It was always Coach Gallaher to me. His brother Royce, lived not far from us. He killed a few bird's too! If that's the same Gallahars you are talking about.

That's the same bunch. Down in "Ironaton". Small world!