Nothing says fall like the first hard frost of the year.

But does that really announce autumn? Maybe it simply wakes you up to the fact that the turkey woods are changing daily.

Gone are steamy September days when turkeys hammered grasshoppers in grassy fields. Those fields are mostly empty now, as many birds have shifted their feeding efforts to acorn-laden ridges or freshly cut grain fields.

Also gone is the lush foliage that crowded the timber just weeks earlier, replaced by decaying sumac along the edges and brilliant reds and yellows on the ridges.

And what about those little fuzzball poults you saw in summer? They're almost full-sized turkeys now, as their bodies grow and prepare for the upcoming winter.

Winter. Now that's a depressing thought. Can it really be far off? Of course, winter leads us to spring and the season for which we long.

Spring is a nice thought on cold days, for sure. However, I'm not there yet. No, I'd rather appreciate firsthand the daily changes occurring in the autumn turkey woods.

Wisconsin has approved a new mentorship program that will let children as young as 10 begin hunting under the supervision of an adult.

The Hunting Mentorship Program takes effect Sept. 1.

An adult mentor can only assist one person at a time. Also, the mentor must be within arm’s reach of the hunter at all times, and only one firearm or bow can be carried between the mentor and hunter.

Click here for the full story.

Here are some more results from the World Championship Turkey Calling Contest held July 17 to 19 at the World Deer and Turkey Expo in Birmingham, Ala.

2009 Friction Division
1) Mitchell Johnson
2) Sadler McGraw
3) Jason Conrad
4) Mike Pentecost    
4) Bobby Woods          
6) Robbyn Day        
7) Matt VanCise   
8) Terence Williamson  

2009 Two-Man Team
1) Stephan Richardson and James Harrison
2) Sadler McGraw and Matt VanCise
3) Doug Benefield and Billy Yargus
4) Chris Parrish and Steve Stoltz
5) Mitchell Johnston and Mike Pentecost

2009 Gobbling
1) Stephan Richardson
2) Doug Benefield
3) Mark Purdhomme
4) Kerry Elliot
5) Preston Pittman
6) Chuck Doss
7) Juston Roper
8) William Jordan
9) Kenneth Weiss

2009 Owl Hooting
1) Sadler McGraw
2) James Harrison
3) Mark Purdhomme
4) Scott Holcomb
 
Click here for full results and more information on the annual World Deer and Turkey Expo.

Chris Parrish, of Centralia, Mo., recently won his third World turkey calling title.

The 66th annual World Championship Turkey Calling Contest was held July 17 through 19 in conjunction with the Birmingham Deer and Turkey Show in Birmingham, Ala.

Parrish, also a two-time NWTF Grand National Turkey Calling Contest champion, won a call-off with second-place finisher James Harrison, of Hillsboro, Mo., to claim the title.

Here, courtesy of our good friend Steve Stoltz, is a list of the top 12 Open Division callers.

1) Chris Parrish, Centralia, Mo.
2) James Harrison, Hillsboro, Mo.
3) Shane Hendershot, Zanesville, Ohio
4) Josh Grossenbacher, Ohio
5) Billy Yargus, Ewing, Mo.
6) Sadler McGraw, Camden, Ala.
7) Matt VanCise, Pa.
8) Mark Prudhomme, S.C.
9) Jim Pollard, Ark.
10) Mitchell Johnson, N.C.
11) Jesse Martin, Ky.
12) Steve Stoltz, Mo.

Two big turkey hunting states posted excellent harvest numbers this past spring.

As first reported May 13 by turkeyandturkeyhunting.com forum member "Ozarks Hillbilly," Missouri hunters shot 41,830 birds during the three-week regular season and 2,883 during the youth season, for a total of 44,713 birds.

The regular-season harvest was down about 3.7 percent from 2008 but higher than predicted by the Missouri Department of Conservation. Click here, and then scroll down for a full report.

Meanwhile, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources recently announced that hunters shot 52,581 birds during the Spring 2009 season. That was down slightly from the record Spring 2008 harvest of 52,814 turkeys. The Spring 2009 success rate was about 24 percent, down from about 25 percent in 2008. Click here for a full report.

One comment: The difference between the Wisconsin and Missouri spring harvests might seem significant, but remember that Missouri has a three-week season, two-bird season limit and 1 p.m. daily closure. Wisconsin has six five-day periods and all-day hunting. Further, after tags are issued through the initial draw, hunters can purchase leftover permits — often available for the fourth through sixth weeks — until they're gone, letting them hunt three or four time periods with multiple tags during later seasons.

You really can't make this stuff up.

From the Associated Press:

OSWEGATCHIE, N.Y. — A wild turkey landed inside the cab of a manure-hauling tractor trailer, startling the driver and sending the truck rolling into a ditch off a northern New York road.

State police said Scott Fisher, 38, was traveling in St. Lawrence County near the Canadian border when the turkey flew in through an open window.

Click here to read the entire story.

If you're like me, the first few weeks after turkey season serve as time to reflect on spring and analyze wins and losses.

As I do this every year, I tend to stumble back to a few simple truths. None are revolutionary; some are downright basic. Yet every turkey hunter can relate to them.

Here are some examples:

It's easy to identify poison ivy. But if you don't see it, you're in for a long month, brother.

To paraphrase Jim Spencer, if you sit down wrong, you're beat. And you will do this more often than not.

If a hunt is going too well to be true, just wait.

Sleep deprivation can really affect your mental capacity. Also, sleep deprivation can really affect your mental capacity.

Gobblers really don't read the playbook presented in hallowed journals such as Turkey & Turkey Hunting.

If you move, he will see you — guaranteed. In fact, he might even see you if you think about moving.

Your screw-ups stay with you longer than your successes. A lot longer.

Sleep deprivation can really ... uh, wait a minute.

No matter how tough your spring was, you can't wait till fall or the next spring.

by Brian Lovett, editor



Ohio hunter Trace Claypool scored a record bird May 3 on his first-ever
turkey hunt.

Claypool shot a hen with a 9-inch beard. After consulting with the National
Wild Turkey Federation, he learned the previous record for a hen beard in
Ohio was 8.5 inches.

About 15 percent of hens grow beards. However, they are typically thin and
rarely grow longer than 7 inches. The national record for a hen beard is 11
inches.

Claypool is getting the record-setting hen mounted.

by Brian Lovett, editor



I should feel good.

I'm caught up on sleep, and my tick bites are healing. My truck isn't jammed with junk, and my workroom is somewhat orderly.

But I feel like garbage, and you know why.

The Spring 2009 turkey season is finished, at least for me. Sure, some folks in Kansas, Nebraska and the Northeast have a few more days left, but the end is coming.

No more crisp gobbling mornings. No fly-down jitters. No floating your best
yelps and clucks into the timber. And no more face-to-beak interaction with
America's greatest game animal. When the season winds down, it seems like reality slaps you right in the face.

But wait. Those fans, beards and feet are still drying in your basement, right? Also, you still have to send photos and stories to your turkey hunting buddies across the country.

Of course, we all need to thank the landowners who let us tromp around their dirt this spring. And fall seasons are only a few brief months away.

No, maybe I'm wrong.

Perhaps turkey hunting endures. The pursuit part of the cycle has concluded, but the spirit and obsession of the year-round turkey
nut lives on.

Turkey season is done. Long live turkey season.

I had no intention of hunting this past Saturday morning, but something rousted me out of bed.

"I need to know what they do," I thought. So off I went.

"They" were two gobblers I'd twice had at 60 steps that week. And after looking over the area Friday evening, I saw exactly what they'd done. The birds had flown into a hayfield, walked south along the edge, and then entered the woods via an old logging road near a wood pile. I'd struck them from farther south and then watched them skirt past me in the timber.

"All I need to do is get by the old road, and they'll walk right down my gun barrel," I thought.

After flydown, things were looking good. The birds got into the field and headed toward me. Within minutes, a hen and jake were 20-some steps away. The longbeards would be there any minute.

Or not. I glanced to my left and saw the gobblers chasing a hen 100 steps out in the field. Then, the birds started to drift left. They were going around me.

Actually, they walked right past my setup from the previous day. I fell in behind them, but as you know, that's never a good play. It didn't work that day, either. They'd dodged me again.

"Well, that's it," I thought as I walked back to my truck. "Another spring in the books."

I silently wished those turkeys hadn't been so difficult and unpredictable. But then I quickly reminded myself about the nature of the bird. There could be no other way.

With luck, I'd be treated to more of that maddening, unpredictable behavior in fall and next spring.