I had such good success in getting helpful replies on mid-morning hunts I figured I'd ask about afternoon hunts. I've had decent afternoon success, but often I bump birds going in or see them already in the fields I hunt. What are your thoughts on hunting in the afternoon? I typically hunt in and around fields.
Afternoon hunting can be great, I've killed a lot of birds in the afternoon. Most guys don't like it because they don't gobble much, but if you're patient it will kill a lot of birds. Best thing is to figure out when the birds are hitting that particular field, and get in there at least an hour before them. Either set up near their travel route or put out decoys, whichever way suits you. Then sit and call about every twenty or thirty minutes. Keep it soft, easy on the aggressive cutting and yelping. Other than that be still and patient
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I have had decent luck in the afternoons, but yes it pales in comparison to mornings. In the east US it seems that there is a dead period from around 1:00PM -3:00PM from my experiences. I usually take a break around noon and head back out around 3-4 and get in areas I think birds will travel or feed in. Gobblers won't be far off their strut zones. So it's a good time to slip into one of those. I am usually not a sit and wait guy, but my butt is more stationary in the afternoons and evenings than mornings. when I do move it's slow and not far. My calling is soft clucks and maybe a serious of yelps now and then. When a bird opens up, I hammer him right back with a string of yelps and maybe a cut. If he engages I shut up to see if he moves, if he does I stay silent. He if doesn't I hammer him more and try and stir him up. Keep your eyes peeled, they often show up silent. I'll really listen for spit and drumming.
Although I have killed some gobblers in the afternoon, I have less confidence in hunting then than I do before noon. Personally, I would just rather focus my time hunting the morning hours. The birds just seem to be more willing to carry on a conversation at some point in the morning.
There are some rare occasions that things are tough enough that I resort to hunting roost areas late in the evening, as well. ....But I really don't like having to do that. Too much "ambush" and not enough "conversation" there for my taste,....but still I do it if absolutely necessary for the conditions at hand.
I've killed them from morning legal hours to the end of day legal hours. Most generally I hunt all day regardless with best luck 9 isham-1ishpm. Like i tell my son they aint gonna die if were sitting on the couch. Persistence will kill alot of Turkeys.
Anymore I almost prefer mid-day and afternoons. It requires more leg work and patience with less vocal birds but if you get on one and you sit tight you have a good chance of getting a shot. Don't just listen for gobbles. I've located several hearing them drum.
Quote from: StruttinGobbler3 on April 18, 2020, 09:49:43 AM
Afternoon hunting can be great, I've killed a lot of birds in the afternoon. Most guys don't like it because they don't gobble much, but if you're patient it will kill a lot of birds. Best thing is to figure out when the birds are hitting that particular field, and get in there at least an hour before them. Either set up near their travel route or put out decoys, whichever way suits you. Then sit and call about every twenty or thirty minutes. Keep it soft, easy on the aggressive cutting and yelping. Other than that be still and patient
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Couldn`t have said it better. It`s not for everyone. I love it because I just love the woods. Different style of hunting ( requires more patience than I think a lot of guys have ). You have to know the birds, at least the general area they like to be in or move through. Have to be able to sit still for protracted periods. They don`t talk much at all, but if you ever get one to gobble in the afternoon, get ready, he`s coming!
Afternoons are best for me in the last few years. Once you learn to hunt completely silent birds. Setup is critical and overcalling will ruin it. Pay attention the entire time and hunt like you're being hunted. From a distance a small white bobbing head is what you want to see headed your way.
Killed one at 3:10 this afternoon. They never made a peep but I expected that. Just when you think you should give up wait another 15 minutes. Good scouting is key in putting you in the right spot.
We all have different terrains, land sizes, and styles of hunting. It might help to share more details of your area. I assume you are hunting with a shotgun?
I hunt from before sun up until the dinner hour. I do a lot of sneak hunting so by late afternoon I've covered a lot of ground and am tired and hungry and ready to call it a day. I would say my number one most successful time frame is from around 7-9am, after the hens have gone to their nests and the toms are now alone. My umber two is late morning, say 11am to to early afternoon around 2pm. In the morning I'm working specific birds/areas that I heard on the roosts or gobbling on the ground soon after. By late morning going into the afternoon I'm covering ground trying to strike one up. Going after them increases my success rate compared to sticking in one spot or potentially trying to pattern them from day to day. It took a lot of mistakes and learning to build the skills to be able to sneak hunt successfully. I still bump birds here and there but not like I used to when I was more of a rookie.
QuoteI do a lot of sneak hunting
Are "sneaks" anything like turkeys?
anything like this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q34-wjgn1QY
Quote from: Timmer on April 19, 2020, 10:13:50 AM
We all have different terrains, land sizes, and styles of hunting. It might help to share more details of your area. I assume you are hunting with a shotgun?
I hunt with a shotgun. We (just about everyone in this area that turkey hunts) hunt field edges. Back when turkeys made a comeback the guys say they hunted turkeys in the woods more. Now they have all switched to field edges. It's flat terrain in the coastal plain of NC and VA. All private land. Usually fields that have large trees next to them, even better if there is a swamp right there too. I typically have the best luck if I pattern birds and watch them go to roost and hunt them the next morning. Sometimes if the afternoon is nice I go hunt in the afternoon near where they roost. I typically prefer first light. When they are henned-up like they are now I feel hunting near the roost works in the afternoon. Killed a few that way.
The only real times that I have had success in the afternoon is when I studied the turkeys fields they frequent, and beat them to the field. More times than not if they beat you there, you are stuck...
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Quote from: Moneyball11 on April 20, 2020, 09:18:40 PM
The only real times that I have had success in the afternoon is when I studied the turkeys fields they frequent, and beat them to the field. More times than not if they beat you there, you are stuck...
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Nothing more disheartening than sneaking to a field edge in late morning or early afternoon and seeing or hearing the birds already there.
I think eggshell was dang spot on .
I think evening hunts are a lot like deer hunting set with your eyes open and be ready you never when its going to happen...
just saying (not sure how you feel about it) you could bring a reaping decoy. if they beat you to your spot you can always crawl :z-guntootsmiley:
I've killed them in the afternoons as well. I find a good spot to sit where I see sign or have seen birds and wait. I'll soft call, short Yelp every so often. Sometimes after it's been a while that I've been there or called I'll do some soft yelps and pickup the volume just a little and then throw in a quick set of cuts JUST to see if something has heard me and off in the somewhere distance and try to get him to announce he's there. The cuts are super loud and long or super aggressive. Then just before I get ready to get up I will do the same, soft call and throw in a quick cut along the way to see the same thing so I hopefully don't stand up and bust one that hasn't gobbled yet coming in. It's slower paced in the afternoon but it'll scare the crap out of you when one slips in on you and hammers down on a gobble and that is what keeps me on the edge of my seat the whole time afternoon hunting, because he can come in unannounced at any moment.
It just depends on the type of country you hunt. 75% of the turkeys I have killed in my life have been after 3pm.
Afternoon hunting is awesome if you want to kill birds. I hunt woods , no fields. They are not as vocal but if you get one gobbling in the afternoon , chances are you can kill him. Alot of birds come in without making a peep. When you get one answering you in the afternoon , it can get your heart rate up just like a morning hunt.
If he gobbles after eleven, he is going to heaven.
Quote from: Gobbler428 on January 19, 2021, 08:21:36 AM
If he gobbles after eleven, he is going to heaven.
Good theory. My personal experience is a bit different, though. I hunt primarily Merriam's turkeys, which are admittedly notoriously more inclined to gobble when prompted. Here's my theory on the birds around here.
If he gobbles once, he may just be giving you a "courtesy" gobble. You can pull those gobbles out of a bird with some regularity, but it doesn't necessarily mean anything in terms of whether he is going for a ride in the truck later. There are lots of gobblers around here that will give you that single "I am letting you know I am over here" gobble,...and quite often, that will be the last time you hear from them.
Now, if you can get him to gobble a second time, your odds have definitely gone up, but nothing is conclusive yet. But that does give you a clue that he is at least interested in having a conversation with you. However, if he is closer on that second gobble, things are a bit more promising for a face-to-face discussion. ...But not always.
For me, it is that third gobble that is usually the clincher. If he gobbles three or more times,...and in addition is closing the gap,...I am mentally cooking up turkey nuggets at that point. He is likely to be having his snood flopping in the dirt in short order.
Of course, there are variations on the theme above, but it is consistent enough that I have confidence in starting to heat up the cooking oil after that third gobble! :D
The old saying, " If you can get an afternoon bird to gobble, get ready because he`s coming " is very accurate, and for sound biological reasons. In the Spring, by the late morning and certainly by the afternoon, the hens have dumped the toms. That doesn`t mean by any means that he`s no longer interested, even though they don`t tend to gobble as much in the PM. That`s also why so many come in silent and why you have to stay alert. That required alertness, patience, and the ability and necessity to spend more time in one set up is what turns a lot of folks away from afternoon hunting IMO. Me? I love the woods in the afternoon!