Fall Gobblers Are Tough

Fall Gobblers Are Tough
But Success Can Be Sweet After Tagging A Longbeard

By Freddie McKnight

Given the nature of the beast, gobblers in the springtime are
relatively easy to take. You can hear them sounding off each morning in
an effort to attract lonely hens, and their habits at that time keep
them in one area busying themselves with the ritual of courtship. In
fall, they are an entirely different bird, one that oftentimes seems to
have literally disappeared off of the face of the earth.
Having put my fall tag on more than a few longbeards, I have found not
one consistent item other that time put into the hunt in filling that
tag. These birds do not play by any rules in fall other than the one
for survival.

ERRATIC BEHAVIOR
Break up a bachelor group of gobblers in the fall and they may or may
not seek to get back together. Sometimes they will attach themselves to
a flock of young birds, but when the flock is broken, they simply go
about their own way.
At other times I have seen the boss gobblers strutting and gobbling for
hens during the months of October and November as if it were spring.
One thing is certain, there is not a pattern to follow.
I vividly recall the first time I took a longbeard in the fall. I was
working the steep hillside of the mountain. The area was thick with
grapevines carrying a bumper crop of the fruit. It was about
mid-morning and the fog that had blanketed the region was starting to
burn off with the rising sun. Though the leaves were damp from the
previous days rain, I could make out the brushing away of leaves from a
small flock of turkeys somewhere ahead.
Sneaking across the damp earth as best as I could on the steep
hillside, I was able to position myself above the feeding flock. In the
mix of trees and vines, I could occasionally make out pieces of the
birds as they went about their task of survival.
Knowing I had made it into perfect position, I leapt from my position
to scatter the flock in hopes of calling them back. I did not know it
at the time, but the flock turned out to be perhaps six or eight boss
gobblers that were banded together.
When the birds flushed, two of them came right over my head. In close
proximity, they were very low to the ground and I could clearly make out
a long beard on the nearest bird. Total reaction took over as the
Mossberg came to cheek, the safe came off, and the report of the blast
echoed off through the valley below.
The bird folded cleanly, heaped up in a grapevine tangle not more than
20 yards to my side. That bird is my heaviest to date, weighing 24
pounds.
After many years of taking old hens and young birds, I had finally
succeeded in taking a boss gobbler in the fall, and it just whet my
appetite for more of the same. Since that hunt several boss birds have
bore my fall tag, but it has not been an easy path to follow.

ACCEPT SOME FAILURE
If you have your sights set on a longbeard this fall, my best advice to
you is be prepared to fail. With so many turkeys in the woods these
days, it is quite easy to stray from your goal and fill your tag on the
first bird that comes along.
Time too is a factor that dictates how we will react to our hunting
opportunities, and with so much time to hunt these days, one often
questions themselves for passing up a gift bird when given the chance.
When you are totally committed to only taking those big birds in the
fall, start searching them out by finding areas of isolation that are
not too far from where you heard gobblers in the spring.
Being in bachelor groups they like to find an area with plenty of food
and roosting sites. In the region where I hunt this is near the tops of
mountains with deep hollows. The birds like to get in the rough stuff
and stay put.
In particular, one similarity I have found with mountain gobblers in
the fall and winter months is that they like to hide out and loaf in
laurel patches. If any are close to a food source known to be used by
the birds, you may want to check it out for activity.
You never know about the weather of fall, and should a snowfall hit
early, keep the evergreens in mind. The first laying snowfall of the
year will often send the gobblers to hemlock patches both for roosting
and for thermal cover.
Heavy winds and rain may do the same. If no evergreens are present,
try an older clearcut that is in the polewood stage. This type of
habitat is not too thick for the birds to travel, yet allows for good
security cover from predators and weather.
If possible, get on high points in the morning and listen for the birds
to come off of their roosts. Occasionally one will sound off at first
light, letting you know their location. At other times it may just be a
bunch of clucking from the flock to let one another know where they are
at. Gobblers will often roost in a long strung out formation of several
hundred yards or more, depending upon how many are in a flock. They
still like to get together in the mornings, but will often not bunch up
as tight as a flock of young birds.
Should you be able to slip into a position amongst these birds coming
off of their roost, you stand a decent chance at getting a shot at one
as they try to get together.

A TOUGH CALL
Calling in the birds in the fall is something that I have struggled
with. Yes, I have had gobblers come to the call, but they are far more
suspicious at this time of the year than they are in the spring.
Hang-ups from the birds are commonplace, which is why I would recommend
you tag-team for this type of hunt.
Set your shooter out about 50 yards in the direction which you think
the birds will approach. They will often hang up well out of sight, but
calling as they circle to try and see the bird that is talking back to
them. Other times I have had them come straight in to a certain point,
call for a bit, then shut up and walk away.
This has been confirmed many times by tracks in the snow when hunting
later in the season. Why they come from several hundred yards away,
then hang up just a short distance from the calling is only known to
them.
Taking the fall gobbler challenge is akin to only taking a wall
hanger buck. You will fail far more often than you succeed, but man are
those successes sweet. Don't figure on tagging a longbeard every time
you go out the door, but count on it occasionally. One story of success
is enough to whet your appetite for years to come.