Fall - Best Time to Hunt Turkeys

Fall – The Best Time to Hunt Turkeys Bill Cooper “The colors alone make it worth the effort,” my wife Dian, said. She had hunted fall turkeys with me before and she knew what she talked about when she referred to effort. There is no better time to hunt turkeys than in the fall – period. “Fall is the season when all new turkey hunters should begin,” says Ray Eye, the most well known turkey hunter in the sport. “Birds are far more vocal in the fall. Most people will tell you that turkeys are more vocal in the spring, but there are not enough hunters out in the fall to know what is going on. Everyone wants to hear gobbling and males do gobble more in the spring. However, fall is the season of plenty and that is when the turkey population is at its highest. Fall not only gives a new hunter more opportunities to take a turkey, but fall is also the time when a new hunter can best educate himself about turkey vocalizations. The noise can be almost deafening at times. Birds group up in the fall and winter. The noise they make when they fly up and down from the roost is tremendous. All the hens are calling their broods and all the poults are trying to find mom. Flocks run from a few birds up to 300. You get that many turkeys talking at the same time and you have got a lot of noise on your hands.” And turkeys do gobble in the fall. “Turkeys gobble and struggle for position in the pecking order every day,” says Eye. “I have video footage of gobblers strutting and gobbling in July. They were jockeying for position in the pecking order. The better a hunter understands this, the better he can take advantage of it and kill more turkeys.” I hunted with Eye a few falls ago and witnessed an amazing scene. He used gobbler yelps and called aggressively. He worked five adult gobblers into a fighting frenzy. And all five raced to the call to find the new turkey in the woods and put him in his place. One went home with us. The brilliant fall colors along the Current River in Shannon County provided the backdrop for our fall turkey hunt season. Dian and pitched a tent camp far back in the woods not far from the river. We drove out early each morning to a neighboring farm which provided a remote and beautiful setting. We arrived at the farm about 1 pm the first day. Fall turkey hunting is an all day affair, which makes it even more appealing. The land owner had seen a couple of large flocks of birds, giving us an extra sense of confidence. Dian and I first checked out the usual places where we had found turkeys on previous hunts. Primarily, we spent our time walking and glassing the fields and corners. Dian had a new pair of Alpen binoculars which had been given to her by a company rep at a women’s turkey hunt in Arkansas. As a result of owning the fine glasses, Dian became the lead scout. To our surprise, an hour into the hunt, we had not yet found birds. I suggested we start climbing. That brought a frown from her. The Current River hills are steep and rough, but it was becoming increasingly apparent that the turkeys were in the woods. I lead the way up a sharp spur leading to a heavily wooded ridge top which the turkeys liked to frequent. “Besides,” I said, “The climb will allow us to check out the valley on the other side.” Thirty yards up the slope I motioned for Dian to stop. “I just saw a gobbler walk behind a bush in that pocket field 200 yards away. Let’s backtrack, drop into the dry creek and close in on him.” Ten minutes later we were in position to ease up over the creek bank for a look. What we saw caught us off guard. “Turkeys”, Dian whispered. “How many?” I asked. “Eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve. Twelve adult gobblers.” The birds fed into a slight dip giving us a chance to crawl over the lip of the creek bed and make our move. We set our sights on a small cedar tree 75 yards out and in the direction of the turkey flock. One of us crawled while the other kept an eye on the birds. By the time we reached the cedar tree the birds had moved slightly away from us. I gave a few hoarse gobbler yelps and the birds turned towards us almost immediately. Dian and I laid our plans. We hoped for a double. We all know about the greatest laid plans. The birds stopped their advance just out of gun range. Dian wanted to belly crawl a few yards to the right to put her into gun range. I suggested we rush the birds, scatter them and call them back in just like you would do with immature birds. I got a good scatter on the birds with the majority of them going straight up the hill. “I definitely do not want to go after those birds,” Dian said. “OK, let’s head after the three that scattered to our left.” Within five minutes we both settled by a walnut tree in a flat where two dry creek beds came together. We were 75 yards from where we first scattered the flock. Dian and sat 30 yards apart. I waited five minutes and gave three gobbler yelps on my Hunter Specialties mouth call. Immediately, I heard the faint yelp of a gobbler. I raised the bar a bit and became a little more aggressive. Two gobblers responded. The first bird was advancing from straight in front of me and seemed to be coming fast. The other yelped from a spur just above us. The first bird to respond covered ground quickly, but walked through thick, bottomland cover. I would have to shoot him at about 25 yards as soon as he broke from cover. That only took 15 minutes from the time I sat down. A load of 3-inch Winchester number sixes put the bird down cleanly. “Nice bird,” Dian said, but I still think I should have crawled on them. You just didn’t want me to kill the first bird!” “So, what is wrong with that thinking,” I asked. “You’ll find out soon enough,” she quipped. “The brilliant fall colors really do make it worth the effort, doesn’t it baby……….?”

Deer Hunt a River

DEER HUNT A RIVER Bill Cooper Thousands of miles of rivers and waterways course their way across America. Deer commonly utilize these corridors of life. Most rivers and surrounding lands provide all the essentials for a deer to survive: food, water and cover. Few hunters, however, utilize rivers to transport them into some of the finest and most remote deer hunting area available in the nation. A new dimension While there is nothing inherently wrong with hunting river bottoms that are accessed by land, floating or boating up or down a river to access remote areas to deer hunt adds a whole new dimension to deer hunting. I began using both canoes and boats to access remote areas in the Missouri Ozarks after decades of floating a half dozen rivers which took me through expanses of wild country. Sightings of abundant deer trails became the norm as I drifted downstream on any of my favorite rivers. The wilder the country, the more trails I discovered. Utilize maps Regardless of what region of the country you decide to choose for a river hunting expedition, purchase the best maps available of the river you intend to traverse. Most state fish, wildlife and park agencies now have detailed maps of riverways, which show boundary lines for both public and private lands. Experienced deer hunters can look at a good map and pick numerous spots where deer hunting will be exceptional. Look for funnels such as tributary streams, islands, river bottoms, bluff lines, ravines and edges. Find as many of these features as you can on your maps before making your first scouting trip. Maps are a hunting tool and should be used religiously. They will make your deer hunt both enjoyable and more productive. Begin your search for maps on Websites like: www.mytopo.com, www.terraserver.com, and www.usgs.gov. Purchase both a topographical map and an aerial photo and spend much time with them. And never begin a river hunting trip without them. River terrain Rivers run downhill. Therein lies both positives and negatives for deer hunters. For the canoeing deer hunter, the flow of the river provides a power source to move downstream. Maps and scouting trips will help unveil long, slow moving stretches where paddling will be in order. Such stretches can eat up both time and energy to paddle. Know where they are and how much time it will take to cover them. Rivers are classified by difficulty, with a Class 1 rating being the easiest. Know the rating of the river system you intend to hunt. Make at least one trip on your chosen stream well before the hunt date. If you are inexperienced, hire a guide or make the trip with a heavily experienced individual. Obstacles in a river such as boulders, logs, downed trees, sharp turns and drops are real hazards. Know where they exist and learn how to negotiate them. Most rivers have river bottoms or sand or gravel bars, which are great places to pitch a camp. Pick spots that will not leave you stranded or trapped should the weather turn sour. Larger river systems lend themselves to the use of boats, making travel both up and down river possible. This option adds a great deal more flexibility to a deer hunting plan. A popular choice on rocky, shallow rivers is a jetboat, which will run in very shallow water. Where to hunt The possibilities of areas to deer hunt along a river corridor can be mind boggling. Scouting trips will reveal dozens of well worn deer trails coming down river banks. Studying your maps and burning some shoe leather on the ground will narrow your choices. Rivers often serve as a dividing line between between bedding areas, feeding areas and loafing areas. Only time spent observing a trail , or the use of a trail, camera will uncover the movements of deer. In general, the lowlight periods of morning and evening often find deer at waters edge. I often hunt areas along a river that consist of huge blocks of public land. I normally only travel a short distance to find a myriad or trails coming together before narrowing down to the one that crosses the river. Have a plan Trip planning is never more important than when putting a river hunting trip together. Every detail must be covered. Once on the river, it is very difficult to take off the river to get something you forgot. And getting a deer out of rugged terrain can be difficult as well. Go over your plans numerous times. Leave a copy of your plan with several people and have all emergency phone numbers with you. Plan well, scout well and execute well. Your hard work on a river deer hunt will provide the most exciting deer hunting adventure of your life.