How to hunt fall turkeys with your gun dog

Sending in your dog to bust up a flock of fall turkeys, then setting up to call the birds in, is a great approach – if your dog can sit still and be quiet. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

HOW TO HUNT FALL TURKEYS WITH A DOG

By Scott Haugen

The whites of Echo’s eyes rolled to the left as she tracked movement, but I dared not budge. In front of us, eight paces away, stood a hen turkey that had responded to a series of kee-kee calls, coming in as planned. What I didn’t anticipate was how effective the calling would be.

Echo, my then-3-year-old pudelpointer, and I sat against the base of a fat Douglas fir tree. Fifteen minutes prior I’d sent her to flush a big flock of turkeys more than 150 yards away.

The flock was feeding away from us, into a strip of open meadow bordered on both sides by fir trees. The plan was to send Echo in to bust up the flock, call her back to me, then go in together and call the flock to us using assembly calls.

It worked. But what I didn’t plan for this November day were so many birds responding all at once.

First came a hen, which stood right in front of us. I was tempted to shoot her but knew there were several young toms and a monster gobbler in the flock of more than 50 birds. Echo was laying beside me, head near my left knee.

When I saw Echo’s eyes roll to the left, I knew more turkeys were silently approaching. She held solid, not twitching her head or lifting an

This flock of fall turkeys is in perfect position to send in a dog from below. Hunters can’t run fast enough to bust up a flock like this, but your four-legged partner can. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

ear. When a pair of jakes strode into view, 15 yards away, I eased off the safety. Then they paused. I didn’t want to swing and send a muzzle blast over Echo’s head, so I waited.

I let out some soft yelps with a diaphragm call and a hen replied with a crisp, loud kee-kee. The woods came alive. From all directions the flock started talking in their reassembly chatter. Birds started dropping from the trees, headed our way.

Surrounded by so many turkeys, I wasn’t sure how long Echo could maintain her composure. As I nestled my cheek into the shotgun, ready to pull the trigger on a jake, the big tom came striding out of the timber. A number of birds were between us and the longbeard, but when an opening developed, I fired. At 35 yards the tom crumpled.

Through a flurry of turkeys going in all directions, Echo managed to mark the big tom, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t pick it up for the retrieve. Later I found out why – the tom tipped the scales to 23 pounds.

THAT EXPERIENCE MARKED one of my

most memorable turkey hunts, not because I’d filled a tag, but because of how well Echo performed. The scenario proved how effective and fun fall turkey hunting can be with your gun dog. California is among the 25 states that currently allow it.

Busting up a flock and calling them back in is one way to hunt Merriam’s and Rios in autumn. There’s another approach I’ve enjoyed over the years with both of my dogs, and that’s getting them to point a turkey.

Turkeys lay down a lot of scent, and if you want to see a dog work with utmost focus and intensity, cut them loose in the turkey woods. The challenge here comes in running across a bird in the right habitat so it holds rather than runs and then flies. To best achieve this, I’ve learned the element of surprise is the ticket, for if a turkey can see you from a long way, it’ll often take off running, then fly as pressure increases.

A COUPLE SEASONS ago I was catching a lone tom on trail camera. Every day for three days it walked a deer trail between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

The next day I took Kona, my male pudelpointer, to the place but we never found the tom; nor did we see it the next day, or the next. Then, things came together.

We worked into the wind, along the base of some rolling hills. Timber and hardwoods dominated the upper hillside habitat, while we hunted through dry grass laden with 3-foot-tall briar patches. The briars were sparse enough to weave our way through.

We covered over 200 yards with nothing, then Kona’s tail started wagging and he was off. He ran as fast as his nose would allow, never leaving the scent trail.

I lost sight of Kona over a hill and when I eventually caught up with him, he was on solid point, hindquarters shaking with intensity. Slowly I worked behind Kona, searching for a turkey. Finally, I found a lone tom, neck stretched out, body flat to the ground inside a tangle of

Hunting turkeys in autumn predates today’s highly popular spring season and California is among 25 states allowing the use of dogs, according to the National Wild Turkey Federation. After busting up a flock, dogs must be concealed in your blind or taken from the hunting area, per the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. (NWTF)

briars. This is a common position for pressured toms to assume.

As I moved around for a clear shot, Kona stood firm. At the shot, Kona was on the tom, quickly nabbing the 18-pound bird and bringing it to me.

One of the most enjoyable turkey tracking moments, however, isn’t when they hold tight; rather, it’s when they get nervous and flush. Having a turkey, or flock of turkeys, erupt at your feet is an upland hunter’s dream. I’ve encountered moments like this many times with my dogs, including twice last season. It’s happened in heavy brush, fernladen timber, tall grass – even snow. It’s turkey hunting like many folks never imagine, but would love once they got a taste of it.

Whether you’re looking to hunt fall turkeys with your dog in the traditional way, on point, or more aggressively with an intentional flush and calling birds back in, the options are there.

Just be warned, it’s an addictive, thrilling way to hunt for that holiday bird, one you won’t be able to get enough of, and neither will your dog. CS

Author Scott Haugen and Kona pose with their “trail cam tom,” a turkey they hunted four days straight before their plan came

together. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

Editor’s note: For signed copies of Scott Haugen’s popular book, Western Turkey Hunting: Strategies For All Levels, visit scotthaugen.com. You can follow Scott on Instagram and Facebook.