PRIME PUBLIC-LAND LOCATIONS
In my opinion, Kentucky has some of the best public-land turkey hunting in the entire nation. Our state is loaded with wildlife management areas (WMAs), national forest and many other regions that are completely open to the public for hunting. Last season, the Daniel Boone National Forest, Peabody and Taylorsville Lake WMAs and Wendell H. Ford Regional Training Center were the best public-land fall turkey-hunting destinations.

Once again, these same public-land areas should produce again this fall as well. The fall turkey hunting should be phenomenal this season, regardless if you’re hunting the thousands of acres of public or private land in our beautiful state. The most important thing is to grab your calls, throw on some gear and hit the woods hard this fall with the same passion you have during the spring season.

FAILSAFE FALL STRATEGIES
Without question, setting up and imitating a hen during April can be all it takes to pull a nice longbeard into gun range. However, calling like a hen during the fall doesn’t do much for gobblers during the fall season. Basically, you need to decide whether you want to take hens or longbeards when hunting this October. This choice will ultimately determine what strategies will be needed to punch your tags. Pay close attention to these deadly strategies and you’ll making things tough for fall turkeys in your neck of the woods.

A great technique for busting fall longbeards is to break up a bachelor group of gobblers off the roost or on the ground. Once the gobblers are apart, it’s time to get down to business. Wait about 30 minutes before lost yelping like a gobbler, or you can even gobble to reassemble the flock. A second strategy is to simply scout a bachelor group of longbeards and hunt the flock like you would a buck during the pre-rut period. This calls for pinpointing fresh sign and ambushing the birds when the group least expects it. Key areas will be fall food sources like acorn groves, dusting bowls and roost sites. Hunters should also not overlook travel routes gobblers utilize daily to reach these destinations.

On the other hand, you can exploit fall hens by busting up the flock and hitting the girls with some lost yelps or assertive assembly calls. Fall flocks of hens need to be grouped up and are susceptible to calling that attempts to reunite the group. It’s amazing how quickly hens will respond to calling with this lethal strategy.

Another high-impact technique is to utilize a pair of optics to spot and stalk a large group of hens. After locating the flock, try to utilize the terrain to move ahead of the hens and cut the group off. Both of these strategies can generate some close encounters with fall hens this season. Implement these tactics this October and you’ll be carving wild turkey for your November Thanksgiving feast.