On April 1st, 2011, Scott Cronin, Tedd Moffett, and myself traveled to Scott’s Grayson county farm to get ready for Kentucky’s youth turkey season. Mike Ausbrooks would be bringing his son Jameson down to hopefully bag his first turkey. After everyone arrived, we set out to locate some birds. Scott spotted 4 longbeards strutting in a field, so we backed out and waited until dark to set up blinds for the morning hunt.
Early the next morning, we headed to the blinds to wait for the birds to wake up. It was not long before the birds started gobbling. We could hear one bird gobble on occasion behind us. Scott got out his Derby City Spur and did some calling and the bird responded. We could hear that he had some hens with him, we were hoping he would see the jake decoy with two hens in the field. We felt confident that if he did, he would not like an intruder coming in to steal his ladies. Fortunately for us, we were right.
The gobbler was spittin and drummin behind the blind and he came out into the field in full strut. He went up to the jake and started sizing him up. He pecked and flogged him a few times before Jamison put him down for good. We had a great time hunting and spending time with each other. It was a great way to open up turkey season. Congrats Jameson.
This has been a very strange waterfowl season with fronts not pushing large flocks of birds down like one would expect. Waterfowl hunting seems to take cycles(weather, number of birds, and pure enthusiasm to hunt). Many waterfowl hunters in Kentucky find themselves with the will and gear to go but not the migration of waterfowl to make it worth dealing with. Read more
If you have ever been lucky to observe wild turkeys in the fall, you have gotten to experience the social nature of these great birds. When turkeys form their winter flocks, they will fight to establish their dominance in the flock (hens and gobblers alike). Scott Cronin has some great late season advice that can prove to be deadly and provide for an exciting hunt.
Scott's 2009 Fall gobbler
If you have dust collecting on your full strut turkey decoys, it is time to get them out and use them in December. Last year, I had the nerve to try a full strut decoy on a late fall turkey hunt in December. The key to using this tactic is having a bachelor group of gobblers located ahead of time. Since the beginning of bow season, think about how many times you have seen turkeys fighting to establish the pecking order in their fall flocks. These flocks have now grown into larger winter flocks. If a full strut decoy does so well on one or two gobblers in the spring, how would it do on a group of 6, 8, 10+ in a late season flock? DEADLY! Like spring hunting, you will find fall gobblers do not like the idea of a full strut decoy around 3-5 hen decoys. Call it crazy until you try it. Those breast fry just as good in late winter, as they do on a spring day at turkey camp.
Before you try your luck at a late season gobbler hunt, scout a few fields where birds may be feeding on a regular basis. It is very common for late season turkeys to feed in the same places both early in the morning and later in the afternoon. You may or may not want to try this tactic but it is a tactic I experimented with and will use for many years to come. Unfortunately, this year I will be joining a great friend in Illinois at deer camp to hopefully watch him drop the hammer on a big Illinois buck.
Other traditional late season tactics such as busting flocks, lost yelping with kee kees, and hunting feeding areas can lead to a successful hunt. The full strut decoy approach gives you another tactic for an action packed long beard hunt in December. It’s not uncommon to catch birds strutting this time of year, especially those soon to be two year olds that we love so much in the spring. Do not be afraid to try a decoy set of 5-7 decoys since birds are in their fall flock patterns. This is also a great way to hunt with a partner because the birds will not be by themselves. You can do the count down and shoot together method or just wait to shoot after your partner has harvested their bird. Most of the time there will be one or more birds that stay in range after the shot, allowing your partner a shot opportunity. If the birds scatter, call them back using traditional fall strategies.
The picture above is a December long beard I killed last year using the full strut decoy on a late season turkey hunt. Not only did this bird come in, so did 11 other long beards. The one I harvested met a load of extended range #5’s at twenty yards. The other bird is a hen my partner shot using a more traditional fall set up. Good Hunting!
Derby City Pro Staffer, Scott Cronin, finally connected on a nice buck after a long and trying season. Here is the story of his successful hunt in his own words. Congrats on a great deer, Scott.
When you don’t have lots of ground to hunt and no one to share it with, hunting takes a different turn other than marketing and television shows. It would be nice to kill the biggest deer you get on trail camera photos or see while scouting. However,that is not always the case. Killing several nice deer in years past puts a little more pressure on you to kill one even bigger. Letting deer walk in early season with hopes of filling your tag with a buck of a lifetime takes patience and commitment. At the ripe age of 32, I am learning how to become more of a seasoned hunter. Trying to spend time with friends and family are more important during the hunting season than ever before. The price of equipment, the time it takes to scout, and finding a spot to hunt are increasing when my time and funds seem to be going in other directions. After having a drought in my area, a farm have major dirt work done on it during the heart of gun season, and having a wife expecting our first child, I decided to think level headed. This season has been filled with more disappointment than thrills. For the first time in my hunting career, I was pressured so much with these disruptions and frustration that I filled my tag with a deer I would normally pass up. Now that it is done, I can honestly say that it was good to enjoy the hunt, fill the tag, and start planning for another season.
On Wednesday, I woke up to a pouring rain that I really did not want to see today. I needed that rain months ago when food plots were being put in and the dirt was like sand. I grabbed my gear and made the twenty minute walk to the blind I had set up on the edge of a cut corn field in Muhlenberg county. The land owner has been doing a tremendous amount of work on the property throughout the early season and on into rifle season. To say the deer were disturbed and on a different pattern than normal would be an understatement. I was still confident that I could locate a buck searching for love. The day passed slowly with a few does drifting in and out of the field. The rain keep coming and finally at around 11, it started to break. By the time I would have walked back to the truck, ate, and changed clothes it would push me getting back into the blind later than I wanted. Therefore, I stuck it out with very slow mid day and early evening activity. All trail cam pictures have shown mostly nocturnal activity and reports from other hunters were little to no deer movement. As the afternoon turned into those last few moments of light, this buck came in the field checking does. With little light left I decided to put an end to a long and stressful season for my buck tag. At 75 yards I put the cross hairs behind his shoulder and dropped the deer in his tracks. While it is not my biggest buck it was a buck that I was relieved to take during a difficult season.
Mike Hagan, Bass Pro Shops Pro Staffer and friend of Derby City, had a great fall turkey season. Mike is a seasoned and very successful hunter. He lives to hunt, but he also lives to get others involved in the outdoors. Mike is a great ambassador for getting our youth started in hunting. Here is a link to a video of his hunt this past fall season. Congrats.
