fall hunters?

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hawglips
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fall hunters?

Post by hawglips »

How many fall turkey hunters do we have around here?

I'll be going out a few times. Usually I'll get out 4 or 5 times from Oct to Jan.
pedro
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Re: fall hunters?

Post by pedro »

I plan on getting out when I can. WI shotgun opens on September 15th.
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gblack15
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Re: fall hunters?

Post by gblack15 »

I plan to be out every time I can sneak away from the house. 2-3 times a week if I can.
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Stinky J Picklestein
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Re: fall hunters?

Post by Stinky J Picklestein »

I usually make it out a few times.
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Johndoe
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Re: fall hunters?

Post by Johndoe »

I have never done it here, but my lease may be a good place to try. Most of where I have hunted in the past was NF and really no way to do it. I know 1 club member who see's a couple flocks in fall. I'll ask him if I can trespass a little. The other problem is most of the still hunters feed in fall and you must stay away from that.

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There are no numbers on any of my clocks below 8. Then all of a sudden, 2 days before turkey season they appear. Then right after the season they disappear.
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Jaybird
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Re: fall hunters?

Post by Jaybird »

Probably not. Too busy on the dang house, and I don't particularly like Fall hunting Turkeys. 2 years ago took 1 of the grandsons out for his first Turkey hunting experience, and we should have been Deer Hunting instead. Didn't see Turkeys, but the Deer wouldn't stay away from us.
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davisd9
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Re: fall hunters?

Post by davisd9 »

Wish we had a fall season here in SC. Think it would be fun to give a try and by November the fever has come back to me. We get 5 spring tags here and I wish that we could have one that could be used in the spring or a short fall season, like Virginia with their 3 tags, like around Thanksgiving. We used to have one in the upstate but they did away with it.
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Re: fall hunters?

Post by 2ounce6s »

Davis,
I think the last fall season here in SC was back in 90. We had them for 9 years, '81-90.
I hunted a few times total and killed a couple one of those last seasons. It was nice but no thrill for me. The cost was burning two tags from the following spring's total of 5 allowed. That's how it worked, your fall harvest counted against the next springs tags. At that cost I'd rather just wait till spring. Now if any of these gentlemen would like to put us on some land to hunt a fall season in their state, well now, I'm liable to pile in with you and head their way. I can just whistle a kee-kee or make it with most of my calls.... or if you want to just hunt wiley old toms, we'll have to work a little harder.
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gophert
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Re: fall hunters?

Post by gophert »

Yep, I'm going for the first time this upcoming fall. I will tell you something real funny...at least to me. Most of you know that I hunt with my daughter who is currently 11. Throughout the spring season, she always "names" every hen that we see. Its a fun game we play to pass the time when the gobblers seem to be tight lipped. I ask her if she wanted to go fall hunting cause we could kill some hens, thinking she would like that. ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! she said. What if it is "henrietta?" Well I guess I never thought of it that way. She loves busting gobbler heads, but the hens, not at all. I think I should write a book of the chronicles of turkey hunting with a young lady.
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Jaybird
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Re: fall hunters?

Post by Jaybird »

gophert wrote:Yep, I'm going for the first time this upcoming fall. I will tell you something real funny...at least to me. Most of you know that I hunt with my daughter who is currently 11. Throughout the spring season, she always "names" every hen that we see. Its a fun game we play to pass the time when the gobblers seem to be tight lipped. I ask her if she wanted to go fall hunting cause we could kill some hens, thinking she would like that. ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! she said. What if it is "henrietta?" Well I guess I never thought of it that way. She loves busting gobbler heads, but the hens, not at all. I think I should write a book of the chronicles of turkey hunting with a young lady.
LOL. She would get along fine with my wife. This year my wife hunted in Kansas with me, and had the same Hens around her every day. She called them her "girls", and one she named red because of a very unusual color variation. Don't think she could get too excited about shooting one of her "girls'.
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Re: fall hunters?

Post by poorcountrypreacher »

Sorry, not interested. :)
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hawglips
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Re: fall hunters?

Post by hawglips »

Here are some rambling thoughts.

As much as I live for spring gobbler season, I like some aspects of fall hunting just as much as I do spring gobbler. I like the challenge of dealing with larger flocks, and to hear the turkey talk outside of what you typically hear in the spring. It's real exciting to set up among a roosted flock of gobblers early in the morning, but can't claim to have figured out how to kill them even if I got to that point. Gobblers are much tougher in the fall, in my experience.

Finding the birds can be a lot tougher in the fall. Being somewhat of an adventurer at heart, I like that, in a perverse sort of way. And after you find them, it's surely not a certain thing that you'll be able to call them in. If you bust them up well, it gets a heck of a lot easier, but getting a good bust isn't a piece of cake either.

I don't have near as much experience hunting in the fall as I do spring, but I'd rate fall hunting as overall harder to be successful at, without dogs. I know Ray Eye says he likes fall hunting better than spring gobbler. I wouldn't go that far, but I do look forward to it. He's got a very good fall hunting DVD out that gives you a good idea how he approaches it in the fall.

And it really takes the edge off of waiting so long for spring gobbler season to roll around.
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Shooter
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Re: fall hunters?

Post by Shooter »

We have a goofy fall season here in TN. You are allowed to shoot turkeys with a bow, while deer hunting. Then Tn has a 2 week season for shotguns.
The WMA that I like to hunt, has a one week season in NOV.

Fall Turkeys,...lol, yea, it's different, but fun just the same. Wish we could figure out how to make them gobble in the fall.
I have heard them before during deer season as the sun comes up, but not too much.
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Re: fall hunters?

Post by 2ounce6s »

hawglips wrote:Here are some rambling thoughts.

As much as I live for spring gobbler season, I like some aspects of fall hunting just as much as I do spring gobbler. I like the challenge of dealing with larger flocks, and to hear the turkey talk outside of what you typically hear in the spring. It's real exciting to set up among a roosted flock of gobblers early in the morning, but can't claim to have figured out how to kill them even if I got to that point. Gobblers are much tougher in the fall, in my experience.

Finding the birds can be a lot tougher in the fall. Being somewhat of an adventurer at heart, I like that, in a perverse sort of way. And after you find them, it's surely not a certain thing that you'll be able to call them in. If you bust them up well, it gets a heck of a lot easier, but getting a good bust isn't a piece of cake either.

I don't have near as much experience hunting in the fall as I do spring, but I'd rate fall hunting as overall harder to be successful at, without dogs. I know Ray Eye says he likes fall hunting better than spring gobbler. I wouldn't go that far, but I do look forward to it. He's got a very good fall hunting DVD out that gives you a good idea how he approaches it in the fall.

And it really takes the edge off of waiting so long for spring gobbler season to roll around.
No need to explain or justify. A bird hunter surely understands. Agreed it's not easy but if you find birds it's half the battle won. :) A mature bird in the fall (called in) is a feat in itself. Plumb fickle critters from what I've seen then. We got into turkey hunting simply because it gave another month to carry a shotgun. If there were still a fall season here I'd probably hunt, just wouldn't shoot more than one, to keep those spring tags and in-state opportunities. If I hunted multiple states I'd probably have a different opinion. :thumbup:
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Re: fall hunters?

Post by timbrhuntr »

I'll be out there. For me fall hunting is just another way to interact with these great game birds. I don't think you can ever hear as much turkey talk and variety of calls as you do in the fall. Some mornings its cool just to sit near the roost and listen to the calling. Plus I have to say theres not alot thats more fun than getting a good bust and then calling them back to you. And if you don't hear any gobbling in the fall you are in the wrong spot. A few years ago I had 25 gobblers in a group out in a field about 60 yds away. Man that was cool. Not a hen in sight but you should have seen some of them old boys putting a whoopin on each other. 3 years ago I heard a tom calling (gobbling) just about non-stop from 9 am until about noon. I never did see him but the next day I sat in the same area and decided to jus gobble. To my suprise after about a half hour 6 or 7 jakes came walking in all in a row. They appeared to be looking for the tom hat was gobbling. I love spring turkey but I also enjoy the fall season as well.
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Re: fall hunters?

Post by honker22 »

I've never killed a bird in the fall, mainly because we've never had a season. I don't have much interest in it, but I won't knock it too bad til I've tried it.
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Re: fall hunters?

Post by GLS »

I wouldn't be interested being in the same woods with deer hunters with rifles during the fall. I also remember the great Ben Lee's comment about some biologists' belief that killing fall hens didn't impact the population. "How do I know if the hen I killed legally in the fall season wouldn't have eventually raised poults?" As much as I love turkey hunting, I don't think I could handle a fall season and a spring season. A boy has to rest sometime. :turkeywave:
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Re: fall hunters?

Post by timbrhuntr »

Thankfully the area I hunt the fall turkey seasons ends the day the rifle deer season opens.
And to answer that Ben Lee guys question I would say that there would have been very good odds that the hen he killed would have had poults in the spring :lol: :lol: :roll:
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Re: fall hunters?

Post by 3toe »

Where's the other newbie Yekrut? He loves fall hen hunting. :toothy7:
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Re: fall hunters?

Post by drenalinld »

I love to hunt turkeys in the Fall nearly as much as the Spring. When turkey populations are dense, you will hear a lot more gobbling in the Fall. It is simply competition. The more turkeys in an area, the more squabbling there will be over territory and who is the king. If you catch those rare mornings where large groups of turkeys are fighting over and area it can be amazing. I have taken my wife with me on mild Fall mornings even when there was not a season and get right under a flock of 50 or more hens and young. To hear them start their morning and fuss and fight in the trees and then on the ground can be great entertainment and education. One of the best mornings I have ever spent in the woods was on Jan 1st, 2003. The area I hunt was covered with turkeys at that time. I got to a listening spot just at first gray light. When I got out, I blew an owl hooter and was met with more gobbles than I could count. I spent the next half hour getting between two groups of gobblers on a bench about halfway up the mountain. I have never heard as much gobbling before or since in one morning. It was less than 20 deg F that morning and you could see their breath when they gobbled. Some really cool stuff. At the time we had on archery tag that could be used any time from Oct to Feb. I hid in a cedar tree and watched strutting, gobbling, and fighting for two straight hours. There were eight gobblers in one flock and 12 or 13 in the other. When they sorted out their dispute the smaller group of eight walked by me at less than 15 steps with the trailing three being in full strut drumming every step. I had stood up behind the cedar and was able to draw and lean around the tree and kill one of the strutters. I doubt I will ever have a hunt in the Spring to compare, except for it left something to be desired because I never called or interacted with the gobblers.

I enjoyed the few years we had a Fall gun season here in AR. I killed a couple hens and a couple long beards. I found it very fun and a great way to learn about turkeys. I miss it now that we don't have a Fall season. I miss the archery the most because many times in late Feb you could find gobblers ready to strut, gobble, and come to a call.
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Re: fall hunters?

Post by redarrow »

I always carry a tag in the fall just in case I come across some birds while deer hunting (BOW).
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Re: fall hunters?

Post by Ticeman »

redarrow wrote:I always carry a tag in the fall just in case I come across some birds while deer hunting (BOW).

This is my thought as well, I think fall hunting sucks personally, but I'll surely nail one while deer hunting if offered.
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Re: fall hunters?

Post by devastator »

have been hunting fall birds for years.and love it.can't wait to take my nephew out the first day and let him smoke one.myself,i target the longbeards if they are in the area.
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Re: fall hunters?

Post by ICDEDTURKES »

Shooter wrote:We have a goofy fall season here in TN. You are allowed to shoot turkeys with a bow, while deer hunting.
I wish every state could find a way to segregate these seasons..
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davisd9
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Re: fall hunters?

Post by davisd9 »

2ounce6s wrote:Davis,
I think the last fall season here in SC was back in 90. We had them for 9 years, '81-90.
I hunted a few times total and killed a couple one of those last seasons. It was nice but no thrill for me. The cost was burning two tags from the following spring's total of 5 allowed. That's how it worked, your fall harvest counted against the next springs tags. At that cost I'd rather just wait till spring. Now if any of these gentlemen would like to put us on some land to hunt a fall season in their state, well now, I'm liable to pile in with you and head their way. I can just whistle a kee-kee or make it with most of my calls.... or if you want to just hunt wiley old toms, we'll have to work a little harder.
2ounce6s,

You know I will follow you down into any river bottom or up any mountain to chase those bronze demons. You name the time and place and I will be there with you my friend!
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