Fall Turkey Hunting
Hunting in the fall can be as exciting as spring hunt. Learning the difference between calls and Setups can be important to become successful. Some of the most common fall calls to learn is the , Assembly Call , Cluck , Kee-Kee , Kee-Kee-Run , Yelp , Gobbler yelps

The Assembly Call , is the call a Boss Hen makes to regroup her poults after they have wondered off. This call is very common in a Scatter or a Bust of a family flock. It is alot of yelping and done with some excitement in the call.

Cluck , is an attection getter , it means Look to the turkeys.

Kee-Kee and Kee-Kee-Run , is the whistle the same call but with a yelp at the end of the whistle. This is the call that Poults will do after the Bust. The call sounds a little like Pee-Pee-Pee and then Yelp.

Yelp , is just a plain Yelp like one would do in the spring.

Gobbler Yelps , These are a very course Yelp (deeper in sound) and drawn out , slower then the plain yelp. Most times a gobbler will only make 2-3 yelps at one time.

When hunting Gobblers it can be very timely hunt , sometimes it can take hours and at other times days to regroup them.

Most hunters find Family flocks easyer to hunt. After a bust, the hunt can start only in munites. A Bust is better done at first light or last light in the evening as the birds are in the roost. The younger birds tend to regroup as soon as possible, after the bust. An evening bust can be successfull aswell , busting the birds at the roost and being setup before morning light is a good practice. This Tastic is one that is over looked in the spring season.

The hunter wants to bust the flock up the best he can scattering birds in all directions. You want to setup at the bust up point or as close to it as possible. Most times the hunter wants to call the same way as the birds do trying to regroup. Keeping an ear for the area birds and a good eye on the closes sounding birds. The hunter should have his gun in place before the bird comes into view. A good clean head shot from your shotgun in range, will make you become a successfull Fall Turkey hunter.

Some States allow Fall Hunting with Dogs. This is another great way to both enjoy a fall Turkey hunt and watch a good turkey dog to work birds. This type of hunt is to allow the dog to run into a flock of grounded birds and scatter them as the hunter would do in a Roost bust. This is another great way to give the hunter a chance at calling back the birds into the bust area. Most times the hunter will have his dog come back after the Bust and hide low in the setup area and wait out the return of the birds. If the regroup happens to far from gun range the hunter can order his dog to scatter again to give another chance at a successfull fall hunt.

Decoys in the fall:

After a busted flock the fall hunter can also setup one or two decoys at the bust spot and call the same way as the scattered birds trying to regroup. Keeping in mind a gobbler flock can be very timely, as gobblers can take hours and even days to regroup.

Flock Setups, can also be used with 6-12 decoys at this time. Setting up as close to a roosting area as possible without the chance of spooking birds and mimicking the calls of the local birds can be very effective.
This can give the younger birds a veiw that the flock is getting togeather, and make them feel safe to approach the setup. The Lead Hen or Boss Hen is the controler of the Flock. This is the bird that is the Mother of the younger birds. Some hunters advoid shooting this bird in the fall because she is the one that helps out the youngers birds in the harder time of the seasons to come. The hunter will most times take a younger bird for this reason.

Safety :

Hunter Orange is a great idea in the Fall and some States require it aswell. A Orange Hat and or Vest can be worn while the turkey hunter moves. At a setup area, these items can be removed and a Tree Ribbin can be wrapped at the setup tree to give any hunters in the area a better idea of others in the same area. In the fall safety is a very important facter to the Turkey hunter , as all Calling is Hen Calling and hunters tend to sneek in for a bust of family Flocks. Hunter Orange is not only a Safe way to enjoy a Fall hunt , but a Smart way to protect your self and others...

Adrian J Hare
QuakerBoy Game Calls

Thanks Adrian, up here in WA they opened up a gnereal late season finally in some parts. I'm looking to head out and try it on my way to Elk camp

Sounds like a fun hunt too.... be kind of nice to hunt Turkeys again seems like it's been so long

I was a little dissapointed that I didn't fill both my tags this spring only to find out that we now have a fall season here. I can't wait.

I would like to add a component for hunting gobbler flocks.

Depending on how long your Fall season extends into the dimming daylight, the gobblers will group with the jakes. Oftentimes, gobblers and jakes will be in two different flocks, depending upon population, environment, etcetera.

If you have a large mixed flock of gobblers, which you will find in the Northeast by late October onward, oftentimes a good set of fighting purrs and gobbler clucks will rise interest in the gobblers if they are in earshot.

I've personally noticed, that unless they are filling up on the remaining grasshoppers and the dropping acorns, gobblers seem to like nothing more than beating up on aggessive jakes

Edit: I've had great luck pulling out the wingbone call in the Fall, especially one made from gobbler's wings which has a deeper more inflective tone...

I love fall turkey season they just opened it up in brown county 2 years ago, you can sit in your deer stand where i hunt and kill a hen almost every time, its a great way to start the deer season.

Thanks for all the great tips adrian. I've been hunting for 5 years in the spring but have always been too busy deer hunting in the fall to give it a try. I think i'm gonna this year.

Love the fall hunts. Last fall while archery hunting I had a gobbler flydown in front of me. He stood there and yelped seven times, took about a 30 second break and yelped seven times. I just happened to have a call with me, so I called back using the same cadence, and he answered me with more yelps. We talked back and forth for a few minutes and he worked his way up the ridge away from me. I have also heard them gobbling in the winter.

Some really nice tips...thanks.... i had really good luck cold calling with clucks, yelps and kee-kee runs brougt in 15 bird flock last fall. used a jake decoy and they all stampeeded too it. ended up with my first turkey harvest ever a 17 lb hen (the biggeset in the group)

so which call should i buy...brand and all.

Mimmicking what u hear is a good starting point and any brand name call will work! Kee-Kee's with a single reed diaphram will attract the attention of a mother hen. This works real well after a scatter of a group of hens and poults!