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September 08, 2010
You Make the Call: Fall Gobblers - 7
 You have one fall turkey tag in your possession. You’ve roosted an early-hatch, good-sized family flock of several brood hens and birds of the year. The fall jakes are the size of the mama hens, and though they can barely muster a gobble at the end of their yelps, you’d like to take one of them home in your turkey vest. The next morning, setting up where you’ve seen the turkeys sometimes feed on pre-frost, field-edge grasshoppers and the like, you hear a loud, far-off gobble on the next hillside, echoing down the hollow in the other direction. That bird is new to you, and seems to be alone. It has got to be a longbeard, you reason. You love hunting longbeards as much as big bucks. What do you do? The big flock starts clucking and yelping on the roost, not far from the field edge where you’re sitting at the base of an oak tree. It sounds like a barnyard. The far-off gobbler sounds off again, and another male turkey roosted with it does too. Suddenly it seems like spring again, not fall turkey season. Do you get up and go to the loudmouthed autumn gobblers? Do you stay put and try to kill a legal either-sex bird from the family group? In spring, mature toms are inclined to seek out hens to breed them of course. Our calling tradition then focuses around making clucks and hen yelps to lure gobblers in. In fall, adult male turkeys (and sometimes "super jakes" not yet two years old) roam in gobbler gangs. Survival—primarily roosting and feeding—and pecking order rule their movements. To call a fall longbeard to the gun or bow you have to adapt your calling. Clucking, gobbler yelping and gobbling can do that. Sometimes. So what do you do Strut Zoners? You make the call. (NWTF media photo) |
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Comments (7)
Our fall season in Ontario is a usually a short one as opposed to the spring and really with all the other seasons going at the same time-grouse-duck-goose-deer it is a bit of a scheduling issue for time--too many choices not enough time---my kind of stress!A bird in hand and on to the tree stand -duck blind-corn field-would be my choice.
Given all of the other opportunities only available in the three real months of fall, the limited amount of time I have to actually pursue them, and the fact that I like to eat turkey, I respond gobble for gobble with my shaker on one side of the tree while alternating with frantic kee-kees on my mouth call on the other even before the family group is on the ground. If I can hear them, the big boys most certainly can hear me, and there is no guarantee that the family group is coming my way. I'm going to do my best to sound like the turkey circus is in town and see what happens. I completely agree with Charlie Elk - it's way too much fun not to go all-in, and the hunt is the fun part, the killing secondary. And maybe, just maybe, one of the shut-mouthed big boys roosted near the family group might take just enough offense to my territorial infringement to try to take me down a peg or two.
it all depends how you did in the spring,but take the big gobbler!
Tough call, early in the season, sure go chase the big guys, late in the season, I think I'd drop the hammer on the first decent one to get clear of the others and in range...Or maybe go for the hail mary. Bust that flock all over the place, then head over to hunt the big guys, hoping that if that doesn't work out you can still call a young one back. I'd rather have a small bird than no bird.
I'd get my butt moving and get within a couple hundred yards of those toms before they hit the ground. Then I'd hit that gobble call once or twice to let them know I'm invading on their roost and wait for them to drop down. They may come right over to get a look at the intruder. If not try to find out where they are heading to feed and try to catch them in between later in the day on their way back or in a better spot the next morning.
Without a doubt, I will always go for the big gobbler. That's what they do to me.
Only one tag!? What am I doing in that state must be a bad dream.....
Seriously, in the days of being lucky enough to have drawn that tag I would enjoy the fly down of the flock at hand, calling one or more into range considering that a very successful morning. (turkey catch & release). All the time listening for the gobbler yelps, gobbles & wing beats in order to make the casual slip into their neck of the woods.
Not because I must kill a gobbler more to keep my one and only tag open in order to keep hunting.:-D
My obsession is the hunt.
later,
charlie
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Only one tag!? What am I doing in that state must be a bad dream.....
Seriously, in the days of being lucky enough to have drawn that tag I would enjoy the fly down of the flock at hand, calling one or more into range considering that a very successful morning. (turkey catch & release). All the time listening for the gobbler yelps, gobbles & wing beats in order to make the casual slip into their neck of the woods.
Not because I must kill a gobbler more to keep my one and only tag open in order to keep hunting.:-D
My obsession is the hunt.
later,
charlie
Without a doubt, I will always go for the big gobbler. That's what they do to me.
I'd get my butt moving and get within a couple hundred yards of those toms before they hit the ground. Then I'd hit that gobble call once or twice to let them know I'm invading on their roost and wait for them to drop down. They may come right over to get a look at the intruder. If not try to find out where they are heading to feed and try to catch them in between later in the day on their way back or in a better spot the next morning.
Tough call, early in the season, sure go chase the big guys, late in the season, I think I'd drop the hammer on the first decent one to get clear of the others and in range...Or maybe go for the hail mary. Bust that flock all over the place, then head over to hunt the big guys, hoping that if that doesn't work out you can still call a young one back. I'd rather have a small bird than no bird.
Our fall season in Ontario is a usually a short one as opposed to the spring and really with all the other seasons going at the same time-grouse-duck-goose-deer it is a bit of a scheduling issue for time--too many choices not enough time---my kind of stress!A bird in hand and on to the tree stand -duck blind-corn field-would be my choice.
Given all of the other opportunities only available in the three real months of fall, the limited amount of time I have to actually pursue them, and the fact that I like to eat turkey, I respond gobble for gobble with my shaker on one side of the tree while alternating with frantic kee-kees on my mouth call on the other even before the family group is on the ground. If I can hear them, the big boys most certainly can hear me, and there is no guarantee that the family group is coming my way. I'm going to do my best to sound like the turkey circus is in town and see what happens. I completely agree with Charlie Elk - it's way too much fun not to go all-in, and the hunt is the fun part, the killing secondary. And maybe, just maybe, one of the shut-mouthed big boys roosted near the family group might take just enough offense to my territorial infringement to try to take me down a peg or two.
it all depends how you did in the spring,but take the big gobbler!
Post a Comment (200 characters or less)