Turkey season in Wyoming runs through the end of the year in most hunt areas. You can get a general license that’s valid in every hunt area. Make sure you check your area closing dates, though, because Area 1 and Area 4 are only open until Nov. 30.
As opposed to the spring season, when only male turkeys, or turkeys with visible beards, are fair game, during the fall, you can take any wild turkey. If you’re hunting in an area where the numbers of turkeys aren’t booming, you might want to limit your hunt to toms. Taking toms doesn’t have much effect on the overall population of the birds, but hunting hens will affect it.
If you don’t know of a good place to hunt, ask around. There are usually farmers or ranchers who want some help thinning out the crowds of turkeys that hang out on their land. Some of those landowners might charge for the right to hunt there, while others will let you hunt there for free.
There’s also a lot of public land, especially in the northeast corner of the state, where there are loads of wild turkeys. The Black Hills are crawling with turkeys, and there’s enough land out there you probably won’t have to share the space with many other hunters.
You might not have much luck getting turkeys to come to a call in the fall, but you can still use a call to locate the birds. Once you find them, try to figure out where they’re going, and then you can ambush them along their trail. They tend to gang together, and they’re pretty wary, so good luck putting the sneak on a group of turkeys. You’ll have better luck if you can sit completely still and catch them coming or going from a water hole or a feeding spot.
Get out there and get a turkey for your table.
