Brent Rogers of Ottuma shows off a nice gobbler. Turkeys like this are nothing unusual for hunters going after birds in the fall. Photo by Dan Anderson

There are places in the eastern and southeastern United States, long-standing strongholds of turkey hunting, in which hunters and wildlife biologists congratulate themselves when they achieve 25 to 35 percent success rates during turkey seasons. Such results would disappoint Iowa's wildlife biologists and turkey hunters.

For the past five years, hunters afield during Iowa's fall turkey seasons have consistently posted success rates near or above 45 percent. That pretty much proves that the Hawkeye State is one of the best places in the U.S. for tagging a fall turkey.

"Fall turkey hunting may be one of our best but most overlooked upland game hunting opportunities," said Todd Gosselink, Iowa Department of Natural Resources upland wildlife biologist. "There are so many other things going on in the fall --waterfowl hunting, pheasant hunting, deer hunting, football -- that people don't have time to try fall turkey hunting. That's too bad, because fall is maybe the easiest time to get a turkey."

FACTORS FAVOR FALL FOWL
Many elements of fall turkey hunting work to foster success. Hunting seasons are longer, fall's weather is more hunter-friendly than is spring's, and specialized tactics favor hunter success. While spring turkey hunting seasons range from four days to a week, Iowa's split fall turkey hunting season in 2005 will run from Oct. 1 through Dec. 2, close during shotgun deer hunting seasons, and then reopen from Dec. 19 through Jan. 10.

Fickle weather often works against turkey hunters in the spring. How many of you have sat in a cold rain during a spring turkey-hunting season because the brief season gave you no other option? Late-fall and early-winter weather actually benefits late-season hunters.

"Some of those gorgeous days of Indian summer in late October and early November are actually the best days to hunt turkeys," said Brent Rogers, a self-described turkey addict from Ottumwa. "You almost feel guilty for hunting when the weather is so nice. In the late season, the cold weather and snow can be uncomfortable, but it concentrates the turkeys in timbers close to good feeding areas. They move around less, and they're easy to pattern."

FALL TURKEY TACTICS
Rogers employs two techniques to tag turkeys in the fall. One, a venerable strategy for fall hunters all across the U.S., involves sneaking up on a flock of turkeys, flushing them, and then using a call to bring the birds within gun range.

"Shooting them on the fly when they first flush is a low-percentage shot," noted Rogers. "They're a big bird, and their feathers are like armor. You're better off flushing them and then using their flocking instinct to bring them back so you can get a shot at a standing or walking bird. If you spook a bunch of turkeys in the fall, then sit down and wait, within a couple minutes you'll hear them calling, trying to get back together. Turkeys really don't like to be separated from their flock."

Rogers uses kee-kee or hen calls from a well-camouflaged position to bring flushed and scattered birds within gun range. "Sometimes they're so eager to get back with their flock that they literally come running towards you," he said.

While the "bust-and-call" method works well for Rogers, his favorite strategy for fall turkeys is to "put the sneak on them." "I've hunted the same areas for a long time and pretty well know where they're going to be feeding and where they go to rest," he explained. "What I really enjoy is finding a flock feeding in a field or in an oak grove, then working myself into position so they either feed within gun range, or I can call just enough to bring them to me."

Rogers uses full camouflage, including a face net, as he eases along the edges of timbers adjacent to fields where turkeys are feeding. He has also gotten results by walking quietly along dry streambeds, occasionally peeking his head above the creek's bank to keep track of the feeding turkeys. "Sometimes they'll feed and move into gun range on their own," he said. "Other times, I'll maybe use a yelp or a kee-kee call to get their attention and bring them closer."

Rogers uses a 12-gauge Benelli Super Black Eagle autoloader and 3- or 3 1/2-inch Winchester Supreme shells loaded with No. 5 shot to bring his birds down. "I like the autoloader because things happen fast when you pull the trigger on a turkey, and I want to be able to make a quick second shot if I have to," he said. "I go with No. 5 shot because I'm after pattern density more than larger shot."