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Plan now for fresh Thanksgiving turkey

Local hunters have the opportunity to get fresh turkey Oct. 15-28 for Chautauqua County hunters.

This version of fall turkey hunting is very different than the spring season.

The first major difference is there is no breeding going on during the fall. Fall birds have long finished their need to further their species.

Next, turkeys in our part of turkey country are flocked up with long beards, hens, hennies and jakes in October. The flock began and will continue until winter months when multiple family flocks join into huge flocks. The ease of working in a large flock to find food sources has been working for the turkeys for centuries.

The major difference is in our part of turkey country, we are allowed to take one bird of either sex. Also, hunters can hunt throughout the day, instead of stopping at noon like we do in the spring. This allows hunters a large array of hunting opportunities and styles. The extended hours allow hunters to catch birds going to roost in the evening or coming off the roost in the morning.

With both of these methods, the key is to knowing where these large flocks are roosting and then getting close enough undetected.

Once the roost is uncovered, an evening hunt makes this strategy work well as long as you stay away from the flock before they head into roost. Scouting will uncover well-traveled trails and ambush points.

Getting up bright and early, and sneaking into the roost area without being heard or seen with dozens of eyes and ears can be difficult, but is very successful in the fall.

The most popular way to hunt fall birds is with a dog. Yes, here in New York state the land of crazy rules and laws, hunters are allowed to use dogs for fall turkey hunting. If you haven’t ever done this or heard of it, let me explain the system to the best of my ability.

This hunting tactic is really simple; use a trained dog. The dog follows fall turkey scents to find and then scatter autumn flocks. The hunter then gathers his or her canine and makes a set-up like he or she would in spring, while also concealing the dog.

When people think about turkey hunting, most think about calling in a strutting tom in the spring. Few people think about tagging a turkey during the latter months of the year. What few turkey hunters know is fall turkey hunting has a longer history than spring hunting.

In particular, turkey hunting in the fall with the help of hunting dogs goes back over 100 years. In those days, turkey hunting with dogs was a gentlemen’s sport and often only the wealthy had good turkey dogs. Spring hunting, on the other hand, has only been legal around decades in many states.

Currently if one needs to find a good turkey dog, one needs to go to Virginia, which is where most turkey dog breeders call home. I have spent many fall hunts with dogs that have come from handful of breeders, but in my option there are none better than the ones that from the Byrne Family.

The late John Byrne developed a line of turkey dogs that is a cross between a coon hound, an English setter and an English pointer. The Byrne line of dogs is considered by many to be the best of the best, but the truth is almost any bird dog pup can make a great turkey dog if trained properly.

A turkey dog is trained like a coon hound to cover lots of ground and to find fresh turkey scent, which eventually leads the dog to a flock of turkeys. In a typical day of fall turkey hunting, a dog will cover miles of ground in search of a flock of turkeys.

When the dog finds a flock, they run into the middle of the flock barking loudly. Barking gives the hunter the location of the flock and it helps scatter the flock. When a dog runs into the middle of a flock, the turkeys fly and run in all directions.

When a flock of turkeys get separated from each other, the turkeys start calling to each other within a few hours or less and head towards the scatter location to reunite. The goal of the hunter is to sit down at the scatter location and call the lost turkeys into shotgun range.

With the use of the lost hen call, the birds will work their way to the scattered location. Sitting down right where the break happens is the key here. While there are many amazing aspects of Byrne kennel lineage, the most amazing is that once they break the flock and start barking, he will not stop until you find the turkey and put it in their bag.

The bag is a key for many reasons. Byrne dogs will either sit or lay still while they are in the bag, which is basically an oversized pillow or camo duffle bag. Once they are in a bag they would move, even when the birds start working their way back to the scatter spot. It is an amazing site to witness.

A fall gobbler is often called shy, quiet and sneaky. After they have been separated from the flock, they don’t come running to the gun like a spring tom. In fact, many serious fall hunters say you can plan to wait for hours or even a full day after a flock has been scattered before a bird comes back in. Patience is necessary when hunting fall gobblers.

This is where we need to discuss the either-sex tag we are allowed. I know and understand both sides of the story. Some will not shoot a hen while others only want to shoot gobblers. Folks, again, I get the logic. For me and mine, we have been embarrassed enough by a hen during the spring, that we only shot mature hens. This is the one time of the year that we as hunters can do our part to increase odds of a mature long beard in future spring hunts.

Fall turkey hunting with dogs requires a good hunting dog, decent calling ability and good woodsman skills. In the fall, a turkey isn’t letting you know where they are. They must be found. Knowing where birds roost, what their food sources are and the typical daily patterns of turkeys helps put a bird on the ground.

When a well-trained turkey dog hits the woods, they go crazy. Nothing beats the sound of a dog barking in the fall woods followed by the sound of turkey wings.

As with all types of hunting with a dog it’s important to keep track of them with the help of a GPS collar and keep them hydrated. Years of experience have proven that when you are walking in a straight line your dog is walking or running three to five times as much as you are.

While the use of a dog is a great way to hunt fall turkeys, we have used with good success the “human dog.” Once a flock is spotted, send one hunter into the flock and scatter them. The key here is to get a good break. You need the birds to fly every direction possible. When a good flock bust happens this can be a sign for a good hunt. The key is a good bust of the flock.

If you haven’t tried fall turkey hunting, this season take a little time out of the tree stand and work on getting fresh turkey for Thanksgiving. Trust me your family will be appreciative of this tasty, wild table fare.

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