Easing slowly through a hardwood bottom, I topped a rise on a ridge, and the woods exploded with wings flapping and turkeys shrieking and making all manner of commotion and unearthly sounds. I was startled by a flock of wild turkeys flushing in all directions, and it took me quite a few minutes to settle down and get my wits back.
I sat down and waited for the woods to calm down so I could resume deer hunting. In a few minutes, turkeys started calling from all directions, calling to the other turkeys using kee-kees and lost calls. It seemed like every turkey in the flock was sounding off.
I copied one of the hens with my natural voice and sent out a high-pitched lost call of my own. I was answered by turkeys from every direction. As young birds sent out high-pitched kee-kees, the older, raspy hens and gobblers responded with lost calls.
I kept calling, and they kept answering as they closed in on my position. It didn’t take long before the whole flock appeared around me and assembled on an acorn flat before moving off. It was the first time I’d busted a flock and called them back. It took place near Daleville many years ago.
What I learned that day was textbook in calling up fall turkeys, and it has served me well in the years since. Although we didn’t have a fall season at the time, what I learned back then has led to successful fall turkey hunting trips.
Fall turkey hunting
On another fall deer hunt in the midwest, I called up a flock of 80 hens while waiting on a buck to pass by. There were obviously many more in the area, but when the bucks started running does by me, I quit fooling with the turkeys and eventually took a nice 8-pointer that morning.
After harvesting my buck, I borrowed a shotgun and went turkey hunting. I had two either-sex tags and was gung-ho to call up a Thanksgiving gobbler and fill one of my fall tags. At the crack of daylight, the turkeys started welcoming the new dawn, and I quickly sent out a few sultry yelps, clucks and purrs.
The turkeys started flying down in my direction, and before long, I heard gobblers fighting, wings beating and raucous fighting purrs from several birds. I kept calling, and the gobbling and fighting intensified as they got closer.
Suddenly, I heard a gobbler cluck from over the rise to my left, so I cut my eyes in that direction and saw a longbeard walk behind a tree. I swung the Remington shotgun around and took aim to the left of the small tree just in time to see the old tom peak around the tree with only his head showing.
“Ka-Boom” roared the shotgun, and the gobbler bit the dust, never even twitching.
If you like to hunt gobblers in the spring, then you will love fall hunting as they are challenging and make for exciting hunts. If you have access to some of the limited hunting available in the state, then try your skill at calling fall turkeys.
Fall season dates, regulations
Fall turkey season is open by permit only from Oct. 15 to Nov. 15 on private lands in the following counties or portions of counties where the landowner/leaseholder completes a fall turkey hunting application to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks’ Jackson Office and receives tags. The fall season bag limit is two turkeys, which may be of either sex.
Delta Unit: Bolivar County west of the main Mississippi River levee and those lands east of the main Mississippi River levee known as 27 Break Hunting Club; Coahoma, Desoto, Issaquena, Tunica, and Washington counties west of the main Mississippi River levee.
North Central Unit: Benton, Lafayette, Marshall, Panola, Tippah, and Union counties.
Southwest Unit: Adams, Amite, Claiborne, Copiah, Hinds, Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, Madison, Warren, Wilkinson, and Yazoo counties. For further information check out the Department of Wildlife’s website at www.MDWFP.com.
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