Should I hunt the early season or late?

[Brillo]

Here in Michigan we get one tag.  We have the choice, basically, of several two week periods from April 22 through May.
I plan to hunt public land.
As a new hunter might I learn more by choosing an earlier more active window or wait until later when the toms are searching for hens again and, theoretically, fewer hunters are in the woods?

[Sir-diealot]

I am no expert at all but I would never wait myself, once they hear a ton of calls they are going to start to dummy up and be harder to get. That is just my take on it. Oh and as well as less hunters there will be less birds.

[Greg Massey]

Go as soon as you can and spend as much time with them as you can.. Sir,  is right , why wait ... The season is only so long ....

[GobbleNut]

My standard response to the early or late question around here is, if you are hunting public land, go as early in the season as you can BUT avoid hunting the first couple of weekends if you have that option.  In public open seasons, a large percentage of turkey hunters, especially the casual ones, are going to be in the woods those first couple of weekends.  That usually ends up being a circus.

Having said the above, there are nuances involved in your strategies on whether you should hunt early or late season and whether to hunt those weekend periods or not.  Most of us wait all year for the season to start.  If the opener occurs on a weekend, it pretty tough to sit it out.  The way I deal with that is to spend time prior to the season trying to identify those places that I know are going to get hammered by hunters,...those areas with lots of visible/vocal birds,...and make the conscious decision to avoid them. 

Instead, I expend my pre-season efforts looking for those out-of-the-way places that hold a few turkeys and that are likely to be overlooked by the hoards or are so difficult to get to that most hunters will not make the effort.  Granted, with the ever-increasing popularity of spring gobbler hunting, those kinds of spots are becoming increasingly fewer in number.

Then again, some folks have no choice but to hunt weekends (poor souls).  Generally speaking, as others have indicated, the later weekends will be considerably less crowded, but the gobblers will have been picked over, and the ones that are left are usually going to be some pretty tough customers to hunt.  Pick your poison...

[Tom007]

My standard response to the early or late question around here is, if you are hunting public land, go as early in the season as you can BUT avoid hunting the first couple of weekends if you have that option.  In public open seasons, a large percentage of turkey hunters, especially the casual ones, are going to be in the woods those first couple of weekends.  That usually ends up being a circus.

Having said the above, there are nuances involved in your strategies on whether you should hunt early or late season and whether to hunt those weekend periods or not.  Most of us wait all year for the season to start.  If the opener occurs on a weekend, it pretty tough to sit it out.  The way I deal with that is to spend time prior to the season trying to identify those places that I know are going to get hammered by hunters,...those areas with lots of visible/vocal birds,...and make the conscious decision to avoid them. 

Instead, I expend my pre-season efforts looking for those out-of-the-way places that hold a few turkeys and that are likely to be overlooked by the hoards or are so difficult to get to that most hunters will not make the effort.  Granted, with the ever-increasing popularity of spring gobbler hunting, those kinds of spots are becoming increasingly fewer in number.

Then again, some folks have no choice but to hunt weekends (poor souls).  Generally speaking, as others have indicated, the later weekends will be considerably less crowded, but the gobblers will have been picked over, and the ones that are left are usually going to be some pretty tough customers to hunt.  Pick your poison...

Take this advice, you will do well cause it's spot on......

[ChesterCopperpot]

If I could only hunt two days in the woods it'd be opening day and last day. I LOVE late season. That said, opening day, assuming the timing aligns with a point in the breeding cycle where toms aren't entirely henned up, is about as good a day as there's going to be. Timing of the breeding stages is critical in that decision, though.


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[GobbleNut]

I will add another comment on late season hunting that I believe is a critical consideration.  That is, unless you are hunting a place that you are familiar with and know where you are likely to find birds, it is often much more difficult to locate birds to hunt in the later season.  Going to a location that you have not hunted before in the late season can be an exasperating exercise in futility trying to find gobblers to hunt.

The complications with late season hunting under those unfamiliar conditions are that 1) often times, a lot of the vocal, early season gobblers have either been killed or have learned to shut up, and 2) the breeding season may have tapered off enough that even if there are gobblers around, they just aren't gobbling as much, and hence, are just harder to find.

Bottom line for hunting late season in places you haven't hunted (or haven't received "insider info" on) is that you better allow a bit more time for finding birds to hunt than you probably would in the early season.  Take my word for it,...I have learned this lesson a number of times over the years!   

[alex_sebh]

I think you can be just effective during the early and late season. It just depends on your experience level and knowledge base. For the newer hunters, there's a decent article at https://southeasternbowhunting.com/common-turkey-hunting-questions-answered/ that answers a lot of helpful turkey hunting questions. Good luck, whichever you choose.

[silvestris]

You are not going to hear them as far in late season due to the trees leafing out;  if you hear one, he is probably closer than you might suspect.

[jhoward11]

I'm going early. Especially on public land. All the pressure they are going to get from other hunters is going to make it harder to call one in later in season. Hunt hard early season. Good luck

[Lcmacd 58]

Get in the woods as  often and as much as you can.  Knowledge of the area you hunt is absolutely a must when you need to move on a bird. Public hunting is always a challenge because you need to remember that other hunters are out there to and that will affect what and where the turkeys might go.

[Marc]

Some great advice given...  But, are you hunting private or public land?

I have no idea of the nuances of the areas you hunt...  But...  Private land (low pressure), I might lean more towards late season, and public I would lean towards early.

If hunting public, I would not ignore the late mornings and afternoons.

[olemossyhorns]

I always prefer early. You can hear a long away. There's more birds still alive. Less susceptible to being shut down mid day when it gets hot. There's also less bugs and active critters.

[Paulmyr]

I'll agree to some extent on pressured birds being tougher late season. The reason I say this is the gobblers that are left were probably tougher to hunt during the early season as well that's why they are still around. If you got on one such gobbler early season the outcome would likely be the same. The one thing going for you on pressured late season birds is the lack of hens might make him more willing to do things he wouldn't have during the early season.

[Tom007]

Hunt whenever you can. The seasons are short. Any chance you get to hit the woods, I would take it.......