Late Fall Turkey Hunting

[yankees2]

Have wanted to go turkey hunting for the last two years just cant go in the spring because of baseball and other things. So me and my dad thought we might try the late fall hunt some time. I need help though do you guys call them in even in the late fall or if not how do you do it?

[turkeydancer]

2 Basic Methods:

1)  Scatter the flock (not just flush in one direction ... you must scatter them to the 4 winds). Best to have at least two people coming running like screaming bushes from opposite directions to scatter them .... may have to do a secondary scatter to really bust them up.  Then sit down at the scatter point and either wait 30 to 40 minutes and use kee.kees and kee.kee runs or hen assembly calls to call back the hens and young ... or wait 10 minutes and use gobbles calls to call back the toms. 

2)  Pattern the birds and setup an ambush as they go about their usual routine.

Both methods can be effective.

[Yelper Guy]

A couple years back, my brother and myself headed up towards Colville for a fall hunt.
It was about 20 degrees at the time with nearly 6 inches of snow on the ground.
We tried some calling for a while but no luck. We had heard about staging a turkey fight but had never actually tried it ourselves.
My brother started scratching his diaphragm call real aggressively, and I used my gobbler shaker to try and imitate a fight.
We "fought" for about 20 seconds and then shut-up. After sitting in the snow for about 15 minutes, hoping something would come our way we decided the fake fight didn't work, and decided to head for home. About 2 minutes into our hike out we came face to face with a flock of 15 or so turkeys, hens & gobblers.
We are convinced those birds were heading our way. The cold weather sent us packing a little too early.
More than once I have decided to "pull the plug", only to see birds that were heading my way spook off into the sunset.

[yankees2]

Ya i was looking to hunt in that area maybe a little south but have you had any luck up their.

[bigmac85]

I was looking at colville area as well. Heard that's the place for fall turkey. I am out of Spokane valley if you wanna go I am willing to share hunt PM me if you want too colville city of commerce has some great turkey interactive google maps for areas public as well not sure of you have see those tet.

[turkeydancer]

Patience kills a lot of turkeys .... when you're ready to pack it in wait another 30 minutes.

Turkey fights work, but I usually do it in the spring more than the fall ... throw in a few hat slaps like they're flapping their wings at each other.  And simulate the fight for about 3 to 5 minutes. 

I also do kee...kee. runs (occasionally) like a little lost poult to trigger their maternal instincts. Usually will get them curious and coming in ...

When I've gone out in late fall, it's been 12 to 14 inches of snow and as low as 10 degrees not counting wind chill.  I just pop up my 3 man blind, sit on my tripod stool, and fire up the 5000 BTU adjustable heater ... I can sit there for hours and be really comfortable.  Always have filled my late fall tag within 20 minutes to a few hours.

Good luck ....   

[yankees2]

thanks

[Hangfire]

In my experience the late November/December season is ambush season. Find birds, pattern them, and then ambush them. I found last year where about 400 were wintering, talked to the land owner who said kill them all. I drove in the drive way and had 75 birds with in 25 yards of the pickup when I got out. I scared them off since all were hens and young of the year. I hid behind the house until a gobbler walked by and shot it. Not much of a hunt. This year got permission from 3 land owners. Took my 25 year old grandson out. I had patterned few days before. I watched where they flew down to a stubble field with no hiding spot. A few went along a fence line to the west. We were under a tree by 6am, watched until they flew down to the east and figured that was it when 4 started up the fence line. When in range my grandson shot his first turkey. I went 5 days later, pretty much the same thing. Get hid while dark, wait until they fly down and walk by. Each trip dead bird by 7:05am.

[turkeydancer]

Been there and one that more than once ...