I don't advocate hunting too close to a roost. What that usually accomplishes is to make the turkeys go roost somewhere else, probably on some nearby land that you don't have permission to hunt.

Protect the roost, but study where the birds travel. Then it's a simple thing to ambush them as they pass.

I know that some diehard turkey hunters consider it unsporting to kill a turkey in any way besides calling it in. I disagree.

There are also turkey hunters who criticize anyone who shoots a hen, even in the fall in counties where it's perfectly legal. And the there are those who cry foul about anyone using a rifle to kill a turkey. Rifle hunting also is legal in the fall in several of our western counties. (See the current Oklahoma Hunting Regulations booklets for specifics about rules in each county.)

To my way of thinking, whatever tools and tactics you choose are fine, just as long as they are legal and not detrimental to the bird population.

I'll concede that fooling a lustful gobbler in April by pretending to be a potential mate adds another dimension to the hunt. And shaking a gobble-call to draw a territorial gobbler in to do battle with a gobbler decoy can be exciting as you watch the bird approach and try to figure out just what that decoy is up to.

I know that some diehard turkey hunters consider it unsporting to kill a turkey in any way besides calling it in. I disagree.

But there's nothing wrong with an ambush now and then. After all, that's the way we Oklahomans kill most of our deer and other big game.

Where are the most promising places to hunt turkeys this fall? Northwest and southeast -- that is, those counties lying west of I-35 and north of I-40 have the best populations of Rio Grande birds. And that northwest area that encompasses Harper, Woods, Beaver, northern Ellis, Major, Dewey and Woods counties has more turkeys per square mile than anywhere I know of in the region. Roger Mills County, where Black Kettle National Grasslands is located, is also topnotch.

Hunting eastern turkeys in the fall is tougher in Oklahoma. Several of the southeastern counties aren't even open for fall turkey season. Some are, though, and checking the hunting regulations or going on line to can show you which counties are open and what rules are currently in effect.