Secrets of the Fall Turkey Masters

Ralph Permar, who operates Permar Turkey Calls, says that many of his most memorable fall hunts were ones during which the action came hard and fast.

“I was with a friend, Rob Mucinski, who lives just down the road from me,” recalls the Old Zionsville, Pa., sportsman. “Rob’s dog had just busted up a flock, and we started up with some kee-kees and loud yelping. One of the birds came running in, and I shot it just three minutes after the bust. It was right before dusk when that happened, which is why, I think, the bird came in so quickly. It was terrified of maybe having to spend the night by itself.”

Conversely, one of my most memorable turkey hunts came on the sixth day of pursuing a flock. Every day, it seemed, something went wrong: storms, snowfall, poor busts and turkeys coming in behind me. But on the afternoon of the sixth day, a jenny responded to my calls and marched straight toward me for an easy shot. It was my biggest hunting thrill of the entire fall.

Fall turkey hunts can play out in myriad ways, though we can try and control the proceedings with our tactics and strategies. We asked some of the East’s best turkey hunters about their favorites.

LOCATING FLOCKS

Ask Eastern hunters what the most difficult aspect of chasing after fall birds is, and chances are many of them will say locating flocks.

“I think the best way to find birds is to find sign, especially scratching,” Permar says. “If you come across scratching where the ground is moist and free of leaves, you know the birds are near. If the ground is dry looking and the scratching is full of leaves, that means the birds are long gone. If you find a place with some sign that’s fresh, other that’s maybe a few days old and more that’s older still, you’ve located a place the birds have been coming for many days.

Permar says identifying roosting areas, such as pine glades and hardwood bottoms, is also beneficial. Again, look for places where there are fresh droppings as well as old and dried out droppings, indicating birds have roosted there recently and for multiple days prior.

THE BUST AND AFTER

When the subject concerns how to bust gangs, Virginia’s Jim Clay suggests not trying to scatter flocks while they are uphill from you or when birds are more than 60 yards distant. Ideally, a flock should be just outside of shotgun range and appearing not to be coming any closer, and either downhill or on the same level as you are, before you make your charge.

Clay, who operates Perfection Turkey Calls, says knowing the composition of flocks is just as important (if not more so) as knowing how and when to scatter gangs, and that hunters should try to gain that information before, during and even after the scatter.

For example, a flock could consist of a mother hen and her jakes and jennies, jennies and the mother hen, a jake gang or a gobbler flock.

“The most common fall flock that hunters encounter is the mother hen with her jakes and jennies,” Clay says. “After you scatter them, wait 15 minutes or so to begin making kee-kees. Jake kee-kees will be more raspy and slower, the jenny ones higher in pitch and faster.”

Come mid- to late autumn, many jakes leave their maternal flock, and their responses to being separated from their fellow juvenile males could be quite different from jakes that remain with their mother hen.

“With an all-jake flock, you might hear more jake gobbling and yelping after a scatter than with a mixed gang of young birds,” Clay says. “Two points worth mentioning are that if you bust a mother hen flock or a jake flock, chances are good that if the turkeys hear you, they will answer. You should answer back the same way they call to you. If they kee-kee, so should you. If the jakes are gobbling, you should do the same.”

If after a scatter, you espy beards dangling as the turkeys fly overhead, you have busted up a flock of longbeards. However, that’s not necessarily good news.

“Everybody who goes after fall turkeys knows how difficult it is to call in mature gobblers,” Clay says. “They may very well not respond to any calls the day they are scattered. They may not even try to regroup until a day or two goes by. And when they finally start calling, the gobblers may just make those low, deep clucks they are known for. Often, the best way to hunt scattered gobblers is to sit still for long hours and call seldomly. When you do call, make gobbler yelps. Constantly scan the woods and expect a gobbler to come in silent.”

THE CALL LINEUP

What type of sound makers should hunters include in their daypacks?

“I’m a big fan of diaphragms and recommend that hunters have four or five of them in their packs,” Clay says. “A single-reed is great for making high-pitch sounds, like those coming from a hen. A double-reed is better at making the raspy sounds of a jake. For an old gobbler, you really want to turn up the rasp, so a triple-reed is the choice. Then, throw in a mouth call with a cut in a corner, and you have the capability to make all kinds of sounds.”

Choosing a versatile box call is the next step.

“Boxes should also be selected on their ability to produce different sounds,” says Clay. “Get to know your boxes and choose one that makes high-pitch notes for jennies and medium-pitch sounds for jakes. The more pressure you put on the paddle, the higher the pitch. Also, don’t use box calls when the birds start to come closer. Then it’s time to let the diaphragm finish the job or to stop calling altogether.”

Similarly, Clay places a variety of pot calls in his daypack, with surfaces including slate, copper and glass. He will also bring afield six to eight pegs made from a variety of woods and non-wood options. For example, the lineup could consist of strikers made from oak, hickory and walnut, as well as carbon, aluminum and composite materials.

Custom call maker Jeff White of Reedy, W.Va., is known for his box calls, especially his one-sided and long-box models, and has the NWTF awards to testify to his craftsmanship. Not surprisingly, this category of sound makers dominates his daypack.

“The longer rail of a long box can be manipulated to make jake, gobbler and old hen yelps,” White says. “For yelps, it all starts with the screw end. Manipulate the paddle at the screw end and you’ll get great young hen yelps. A little lower will be the jake yelps, and lower still for the gobbler ones. With practice, you can even learn to produce kee-kees.”

A must-have in my daypack is a jake gobbler shaker call. Mature gobblers will occasionally respond to one, but jakes often quickly become vocal when they hear one of their own sounding off.

I relish the spring gobbler and all the various deer seasons. But the season I look most forward to most is fall turkey. Nothing challenges my woodsmanship skills like a flock of old gobblers, and nothing is more exciting than a flock of young birds descending upon me at once. See for yourself this autumn.

TOP TURKEY TRACTS

• The East is home to many large public properties on which to stretch your legs.

Rob Mucinski, of Limerick, Pa., is a staunch advocate of public land for fall turkey hunting.

“I’m a turkey dog hunter, and most all my fall turkey hunting is on national forests and larger WMAs,” says Mucinski. “A dog and a hunter, or just a hunter by himself, can cover lots of ground and eventually find birds.”

In Pennsylvania, Mucinski is known to run his dog on the rugged, mountainous terrain of the Allegheny National Forest (514,029 acres). In New York, he says, the Finger Lakes National Forest (16,259 acres) is defined more by rolling hills, but there’s plenty of room to get away from other hunters.

Jim Clay says the 1.8 million acres of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest has long been a traditional destination for him.

“The key to finding birds in the Washington and Jefferson is finding the food,” he says. “Hunters know about the importance of acorns as a turkey food source, but grapes are probably the most important soft-mast food and really draw flocks.” Jeff White relates that in West Virginia, the 919,000 acres of the Monongahela National Forest is the go-to option for both resident and nonresident sportsmen, but the call maker offers another possibility.

“Both in-state and out-of-state hunters should consider those mid-size WMAs that are nearest to their homes,” he says. “Many of them see very light hunting pressure, especially on weekdays.”

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• This article was featured in the November 2025 issue of Game & Fish magazine. Click to subscribe.

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