It's getting towards the end here in Texas, and was wondering what everyone's favorite late season strategies/tips were. You hear a lot of different opinions on hen decoys only, no decoys, time of day, etc...
If it's late season and I am still hunting for a bird and the hunting is tough. I quit calling all together. I use a blind in areas where birds like to gather/ feed etc.. I'll set a blind in a good turkey area with fresh sign and hunt 5-6 hrs at a time..sometimes all day.
When the going get's tough, this method has always produced me a bird. I enjoy calling birds in gobbling right off the roost, but when it comes to eating my tag in late season, hunting wary birds, the blind method is killer, if you have the patience.
I've come to like hunting later in the season. In Missouri the hunting is usually tough the first week to week and a half of the season because it seems like that time the birds are always henned up and stubborn. As the season goes on thougb it seems like you're more likely to find a bird by himself and feeling lonely. As long as they haven't been pressured too bad anyway. The hens go to nest earlier and earlier in the morning and the boys aren't quite ready to give up on breeding for the year.
As the season progresses I have more success hunting later in the morning around 10ish until about 4 pm. Little calling if any and open fields seem to be popular with late season birds. Its been a great year here in Texas and hope we get some rain soon. We need it bad.