Just below the point of long wooded ridge, a chorus of raspy yelps, sharp cutts and cooing purrs filled the chilly fall morning air. Large clumps of freshly scratched leaves were erratically scattered across the forest floor. It practically looked like a wide-bladed bulldozer had cut multiple zigzagged shaped paths along the ground beneath the tall canopy of white oaks. Undoubtedly, this deep mountain basin area was covered with hot sign and loaded with blabber-mouthed turkeys. Without question, mornings like these in the Bluegrass State can really get into the blood of a die-hard turkey-hunting fanatic!

All of a sudden, a deafening flurry of flapping wings and emotional fly-down cackles echoed across the hollow. It sounded like there were at least 30 noisy turkeys dropping out of timber just after daylight. Immediately, I hit the birds with a coarse assembly yelp that triggered several soft responses from the bench above my setup.

These hens were obviously hungry after a long night sitting on the roost and very anxious to get started on the all-you-can-eat buffet of fall acorns. Finally, the last hen cleared a thick entanglement of underbrush and gave me the perfect shot. A thunderous boom from my Benelli 12-gauge shotgun literally kicked off my October season with a bang! On that positive note, let’s take an inside look at how things are shaping up this fall for Bluegrass turkeys.

SEASON EXPECTATIONS
There is no question that hunters can take advantage of some phenomenal turkey hunting across the Commonwealth. Overall hunter participation, along with harvest numbers, seems to climb with each passing season. For good reason, most Kentucky residents are only a short drive from huntable populations of turkeys. At one time, there were only isolated pockets of birds, but now you would be hard-pressed to find an area that is not covered up with these long-legged game animals. The last few spring turkey seasons have produced some impressive statewide harvest numbers. In addition, the fall seasons have also been generating high harvest statistics; this trend is only expected to continue with each passing year.

In fact, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) believes fall turkey harvest numbers could keep getting better. The 2007 fall turkey season ended with hunters tagging 4,578 birds. However, the overall harvest numbers statewide jumped to 5,058 during the 2008 fall season. The experts are predicting yet another productive year this fall as well.

The 2009 spring season was up and down because of the strange weather. Cold fronts, windy days and periods of rain kept a lot of gobblers safe last season. Furthermore, many hunters reported seeing record numbers of jakes in the field along with numerous hens. This simply translates to more birds in the woods and the possibility of an unbelievable fall season this year.