CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The fall turkey hunting season opens in 34 counties of West Virginia October 11. The success of the spring gobbler season dictates which counties west of the 14 traditional counties will have the opportunity at fall birds. The numbers indicate turkey numbers in the state are strong.
“We’re still using a model developed in Missouri several years ago,” said DNR Wildlife Chief Curtis Taylor. “It’s based on the spring season harvest and also on participation, although I don’t think that’s nearly as much as it used to be.”
The fall season was once as big a deal as the opening day of deer season, but over time the popularity of archery hunting for deer and bear eclipsed the turkey hunting numbers. It’s a good problem to have, but Taylor is a die hard turkey man.
“It’s kind of disappointing in that the interest in turkey hunting has fallen by the wayside,” said Taylor. “Hunters have to pick and choose what they want to do. It certainly doesn’t carry the mystique of killing a deer with a bow and arrow.”
Unlike the spring, the fall hunt for turkeys is a completely different game. Hunters have to plan a hunt based on food sources where in the spring, they’d be focusing on mating habits.
“In the spring, the key is sex. You’re looking for gobblers and they’re looking for a receptive female,” said Taylor. “In the spring it’s all based on food.”
Taylor said with food being the primary dictator of location it’s incumbent on hunters to thoroughly scout the patch of woods you plan to hunt.
“This year, our mast survey indicated there’s a lot of white oak acorns out there, much more than last year,” he said. “When you’re out there squirrel hunting, look for turkey sign. It’s going to take an investment in boot leather to find them. If you can find a grape arbor in the head of a cove with some white or red oak acorns, that’s the place to be.”
Taylor said turkeys will work on a food source until it’s gone and then they move.
The challenge of a fall hunt is far different than the spring as well. Stealth is the key in the spring where hunters attempt to convince a gobbler they are a receptive hen. The fall hunt requires breaking up a flock, staying put, and attempting to call them all back together.
“You’ve got to beat that adult hen, because she’s going to be coming back and calling her brood back in,” he said. “You sit right down where you broke up that flock and use kee-kee runs or assembly yelps and they’ll come back. They are a flock animal and they love to be together.”
Taylor suggested if you really want a challenge, attempt to hunt a mature gobbler in the fall.
“They don’t care if they are with a flock or not,” he said. “That’s the most challenging game West Virginia has to hunt is adult gobblers in the fall.”