CALIFORNIA'S FALL TURKEY TACTICS

Going after a fall turkey is much different than going after a spring bird, which means you need to change up your tactics if you want to have a successful fall turkey hunt.

In So Cal, the fall turkey season starts the second Saturday of November and lasts for about two weeks. You can harvest one bird of either sex and need a current license with an upland game bird stamp. The biggest obstacle, however, is getting to the birds. This time of the year they are not spread out across the backcountry. You'll find them in large groups or fall flocks — usually on private land.

Hens stay in groups of 15 to 50 birds and the jakes hang out with them. The toms will be in bachelor groups of four to 12 birds. Although they may be near the hens they won't be paying any attention to them, so to call in a fall tom you have to use tom calls such as the tom yelp. The tom yelp is like the two-note hen yelp but it is slower and raspier. I do hear toms gobble a little bit in the morning during the fall but they don't go off like they do in the spring. So I only gobble if I hear a bird gobble first or right after fly down time to try and locate the toms.

It's not as exciting as hunting turkeys in the springtime. You don't get the big show — all the strutting and gobbling — they won't come running in and pummel your jake decoys. Still, it's a lot of fun and provides a chance to bring home a wild turkey for Thanksgiving dinner.

The ideal situation is to know where the birds are roosting, and where they are going after fly down. They will usually do the same thing for several days or even weeks but they do change their pattern a little as the season rolls on. Once I know their travel route, I will set up and kill one as they come into range.