getting ready slowly but surely for my first fall hunt,just wondering if you fall hunters have had more or less success with specific tactics?going to a area with a good population of birds.can you set up on a roosted fall bird similar to the spring and are they vocal on the roost in the fall?how many of you are willing to take a hen in the fall and by taking a hen does it do any diservice to the population?cant wait to get back out there,fall hunting sounds like a unique challenge.

That' s a very good question,, Being a big spring gobbler hunter, and really not
putting to much effort in fall bird' s, because get to wrapped up in whitetail, but
if I am tagged out on deer love to go for bird' s, Personaly I try to kill a fall hen,
my theory is it save' s one more gobbler for spring, and we can stand to lose a
few older hen' s anyway busting up fall flock' s can be dangerous, so just plop
your butt down, and give some nice kee,kee lost hen whistle, and some yelpping
and be very pationt, and you will kill your bird, I garentee I have faith
in you, good luck, and be safe

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Poult, I agree with bustin up fall bird' s can be alot of fun, think about what your
saying, of all state' s P.A. especially for a newbie, runnig through the wood' s, with
a gun, [:@] not smart, but that' s your choice, but you just dont have to do
that to kill a fall bird and still have a ball,, a fall bird anybody that put' s a little
effort into, should kill a bird no problem

Busting up a flock is great fun!! And you do not have to do it unsafely. Lean your gun up against a tree, unloaded and run into the flock. You will have plenty of time to load the gun up before setting up and calling.

I' m just waiting for my fall permit here in Washington state. My strategy will be to possibly ambush them as they work their way back to the roost in the early part of the evening and try to harvest a hen. Whether or not it does a disservice to the population depends on the number of hens are out there. I' m always hearing reports of toms being henned-up, so I don' t think harvesting a hen does a disservice at least where I live. I belive there are more than enough hens to adequately support the population. By harvesting a hen, I will actually doing myself and my fellow turkey hunters a service by reducing the number of hens that keep the toms from coming into their calls by one. Just my 2 cents for what its worth.

Fall hunting can be as much fun as in the spring!!!!!!!!!!! Gobblers are very hard to kill this times of year..... i' ve only had success once. It was a warm december day in virginia...about 50 degrees...... we were actually deer hunting with muzzleloaders but you can shoot turkeys here in the late muzzleloading season. We were setting on top of this ridge where we meet to eat dinner when 2 birds gobbled about 75 yards below up......I pulled out my cane creek lost poult and gave out a few scratchy gobbler like yelps..........i could here them coming as soon as i called.......i' ve killed alot of turkeys and my buddie had only killed 1 his whole life so i was going to let him shoot.....he was on my right and the turkeys were coming up and to my left so i let him rest his muzzleloader on my knee......Then I noticed his stainless steel muzzleloader!!! So i told him to lay his gun on the other side of the tree and use my Gonic....I first seen the bird about 30 yards and gave a few soft purrs......he then turned and heading straight toward us. At about 20 yeards i told him to shoot because the gobbler was going to circle us......When the smoke cleared the bird was stone cold. We went over to get him and he hit where i tolded him to aim......right through the side of the head!!!! Dang them Gonic' s shoot....He weighed 24.83lbs with 1 6/8" spurs and a 11/4" beard. Sorry for the long story But back to your question......If theres a lot of food(acorns here) then the birds can be anywhere if not I can always find them near fields.......I' ve always hunted public land here but I never see another hunter......Its real steep and quite thick from an ice storm that hit back in 1994 so i can usually get real to close them and break them up......I can actually get close enough to shoot them but i like to break em up....just more fun to me. If you get them broke just mimic what calls they r using.......If its early in the year say october most of them r kee keeing.....in december i hear more yelping...Usually doesn' t take but a few minutes for 1 or a few to come in so be ready! Another good tactic I have used is the fighting purr.......These young birds this time of year do a lot of fighting to see where they stand in the pecking order or if there is a real low supply of food. I do mine with a mouth call and glass or slate. Another thing....If you can kill 2 birds a day or have a buddy with you and one of you has already kill one then just set tight for about 30 minutes or whenever they start calling again and do the same thing....The will come back in. If you hear the old hen start doing the assembly call you better run her off......(of course not with your gun in your hands) cause they will go straight to her (i don' t care if your walter parrot) I hope i helped you and good luck...........sorry for the long story but I guess my mind went back that day!