DONALDMJONES.COM
HARVEST YOUR OWN HOLIDAY BIRD
yelling. They key is to scatter the turkeys in as many different directions as possible. Next, retrieve your shotgun and find a hiding place near the spot where you busted the flock. Wait 15 minutes and begin calling. The young birds, anxious about being separated, will begin to drift back to where they were scattered. The turkeys often respond to either a plain cluck or what’s known as a lost or kee-kee call. Another option
is to sit tight and wait until you hear the birds approaching, then mimic their call. Make sure the turkey is within range of your shotgun and shoot at the neck and head to ensure a killing shot. In fall, both male and female turkeys are legal targets. The fall wild turkey season runs September 1 to January 1. The limit is two birds (though the total for one hunter for both spring and fall seasons combined
can’t be more than two turkeys). Most of Montana’s western half is open to hunters with a fall turkey license. Some areas elsewhere in the state have special seasons requiring permits that are awarded by lottery in late summer. For regulations covering Montana’s fall wild turkey season, visit fwp.mt.gov/gamebird.html# turkeyfall. For information on hunting fall birds, visit the National Wild Turkey Federation website at nwtf.org.
Montana Outdoors takes silver
TIM CHRISTIE
T
his Thanksgiving, consider treating your family to an organic, free-range wild turkey you shot yourself. Here’s how to bag one of these game birds for a holiday meal: Though most wild turkeys in fall are shot incidentally by deer hunters who happen upon one (turkeys can be killed using rifles during the fall season), fall turkeys will come to calls the same as spring birds. The hunting is just as exciting, though the tactics differ greatly. In spring, the goal is to sound like a lonely hen and hope to lure a lovesick tom to within shotgun range. But in fall, the mating season is long over, so your best bet is to attract youngof-the-year birds, called poults, which hang together in a flock with their mother hen. Once you find a flock, sneak as close as possible without spooking the birds. For your safety, lay your shotgun on the ground. Then— believe it or not—run toward the birds, waving your arms and
November–December fwp.mt.gov/mtoutdoors
Using a hen decoy can help direct the lost poults to where you are waiting.
Montana Outdoors came in second in the state conservation magazine category at the 2009 Association for Conservation Information (ACI) awards ceremony held in July in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The winning publication was Arkansas Wildlife. Third place went to Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine. This is the fifth time in the past five years the Montana FWP conservation publication
