i'm not a fall turkey hunter, but shock gobbling, i've understood, is more reliable in the spring, because they're so hopped up horomonally. still happens in the fall, just not as consistently. visibility is so much more important than noise though. i've come up on turkeys unexpectedly and been gobbled at when i snap branches and things, but i usually blow it because i can't get to cover slow-and-fast enough to keep from spooking them. they do have great hearing and absolutely amazing eyesight, and have a tendency to remain well-covered, periscoping their heads to use obstructions so you can barely notice them even at relatively close range. turkey i shot last spring i did need to adjust on at very close range, luckily it was in pretty thick woods and he would go behind a tree here or there. "luckily" is definitely operative though, there was only so much i could move, and i just picked the closest thing to an open lane and hoped he'd walk through it. worked out for me, but i'd probably had at least a half dozen gobblers hang up or spook out on me in the 24 hours before that. fall turkey my understanding is you want to find and scatter flocks, and then try to hunker down and use less aggressive calling to lead the birds to believe their flock is where you are. at least for someone of my experience level, though, i don't see how you could still hunt turkeys, their ears will tip them off and once they're looking in a direction, even if they gobble your way, their eyes are just too darn good. it's a heck of a rush though.
