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John's Journal... Entry 168, Day 3

HOW TO HUNT FALL AND WINTER TURKEYS

How to Take Young Gobblers

EDITOR'S NOTE: The birds of fall and the winter are both the easiest and the hardest to take, depending on the lengths of their beards and spurs. The longbeards of the fall are the most-difficult turkeys to bag at any time of the year. But the jakes, the bird less than a year old, are easy to take. The hunter's strategy for taking the turkeys of fall and winter is completely different from the techniques he'll use in the spring. Sex is no longer important to the gobblers. The birds already have passed through their mating cycles, and the hens have made their nests, laid their eggs and reared their young. Fall calling and hunting tactics are based primarily on the social order of turkeys more than on the sex drive of the birds.

Let a flock of young turkeys come as close to you as they will, and then jump up, run at the birds, scream and holler. Run toward the center of the flock to scatter the birds in all directions. Watch to see in which direction most of the turkeys fly off. Once the turkeys have taken to the air, find a stand site, usually a large tree you can sit next to, with some type of hill in front of you. Listen for the turkeys to begin to call, which often will happen within five to 30 minutes after they've been scattered.

Two basic calls bring in young gobblers in the fall -- the kee-kee run (the young gobbler's squealing call) and the old hen's assembly call. A young gobbler that hasn't learned to gobble yet will make a high-pitched, kee-kee sound before giving a coarse yelp. These toms are trying to talk like turkeys but can't gobble. By giving the kee-kee run, you'll sound like a lost jake calling other jakes back to you. Because young gobblers want to band back together as soon as possible after they're scattered, this call effectively brings in young gobblers to where you are. The old hen assembly call consists of a series of loud, pleading yelps that start out slowly and then become louder and faster. The old hen assembly call, which is the call the dominant hen utilizes to bring the flock back together after it has been scattered, often will cause young jakes to come to you on the run.

What Problems You'll Encounter When Hunting Young Jakes

Often after you scatter a flock in the fall and begin to call, a dominant hen may come in first and begin to try and call the flock back together and away from you. If she's successful, you may not get a shot. Your best tactic is to get up and run the old hen off by putting her in the air. Then she won't have a chance to assemble the flock. After she's left the area, sit back down, and begin to call again. Often young gobblers will come in quickly in groups of two or three as soon as you begin to call, if you've scattered the flock effectively. As soon as you start to call to a scattered flock, have your gun at the ready, and be prepared to take the shot, since the hunt for young birds in the fall may be over within 10 to 30 minutes after you scatter the flock and start to call. However, wait until you can isolate one young tom from the group, if they come in together, before you squeeze the trigger.

TOMORROW: HOW TO HUNT LONGBEARDS IN THE FALL

 

 

Check back each day this week for more HOW TO HUNT FALL AND WINTER TURKEYS ...

Day 1 - How To Set Up on Fall Gobblers
Day 2 - How to Hunt the Young Birds of Fall
Day 3 - How to Take Young Gobblers
Day 4 - How to Hunt Longbeards in the Fall
Day 5 - How to Hunt the Lone Wolves of Fall


John's Journal