Johnson county Southern Illinois

[Louisiana Longbeard]

I lucked and found a friend with 1000 acres in Johnson county that butts up to the Shawnee national forest. We put in for tags and were drawn for the 5th season which is April 28- May 5. What can I expect the birds to be doing? Will they still be gobbling good and should they still be receptive? Never been to Illinois in my life. Thanks

[fallhnt]

I killed my biggest IL bird last year during the 5th season. Late season is always good. Good luck.

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[Louisiana Longbeard]

Awesome, sounds great. Really looking forward to it. Hopefully will be a few more birds to try and hunt then what I'm used to in Louisiana. Pretty pitiful around here.

[Dtrkyman]

Illinois 5th season is Jekyll and Hyde, can go from dead silence to gobble fest one day to the next with perfect weather both days!   If you get one going he is in trouble that time of year!

Traditionally good bird numbers down there, but like many places Illinois is down, on 1k acres you should have a good hunt!

[Hwd silvestris]

Louisiana long beard,  Your buddies place in illinois,  does his first name start with a B and his last name with a D?


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[Louisiana Longbeard]

No sir

[Hobbes]

Johnson County is near my old stomping grounds.  I drew it a few times when other tags that were a touch closer weren't available.  I bowhunted it for whitetails occasionally.  I really like late season turkey hunting but it could be hit or miss.  Birds have definitely felt the pressure by the 5th Season on public.  I could typically find a few birds that still had love on their mind.  Really hot weather seems to shut them down but that's not always the case.  You can get in tight in most cases because there will be so much leaf cover.

[Dtrkyman]

FYI it may be prime time for buffalo gnats!  There is a spray called Buggin's, worth it's weight in gold, they eat thermacel and deet ffor breakfast!

You think they are just buzzing you, then two hours later your head swells up like a pumpkin!

[Hwd silvestris]

No sir

Gotcha. I was thought it might coincidentally be the same guy we hunted with last year.   He from Louisiana too with a 1000 acre that butts up to Shawnee. 
Good luck to you!


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[joey46]

You're about the same latitude as my old haunts in LBL KY.  Long after the KY season was over we would be fishing the KY Lake bays and hear consistent gobbling.  Often remarked "they didn't gobble this good a month ago".  IMO the left over three year olds are active well into late May.  Good luck. 

[TRG3]

Being from Southern Illinois, I love the 5th season where I've taken my largest birds. A lot of the mating is over and often only the boss gobblers are still looking for straggler hens willing to breed. My experience is that they still expect the hens to come to them and will periodically gobble for a couple of hours after fly down. My most success has come when, after 20-30 minutes of occasionally yelping to him, I introduce a gobble tube which gives the impression that a strange tom has moved into his territory and is courting "his" new hen. This often creates a dominance situation which, after another 20-30 minutes, brings the real bird in which by now is in a fighting mood. Last year's 5th season brought in a gobbler that was barely in hearing distance at daylight. I often take a black powder gun because the shots are often right at the decoys. Best of luck in your hunt.