Shooting Daylight is 6:00 AM?

[Turkeybutt]

I like to get to my spot at least an hour before daylight. That gives me time to settle in, calm down a little and get myself situated.  In my thinking it also allows the woods to calm down around me as well.

[Tom007]

A lot of different, interesting answers. I respect those who have to get up super early to get to a gate/travel long distance to a spot, whatever the reason. When I hunt New York, I have to get up at 2:30 myself. This season opens May 1, and because it's further North, it gets light much earlier. I have about an hour drive, I like to start heading in to the woods at 4:15-4:30 depending on my walk. Great responses, thank you....

[joey46]

Play it by ear depending on the area.  Always better to be one hour early than 5 minutes late.  Usually shoot for one hour before official sunrise to be totally set up and quiet.

[eggshell]

I hunt almost exclusively private ground with low pressure. Most mornings I am getting out of my truck at gobble time. If I have a specific bird located and a bone to pick I might be set up 30 minutes before shooting time. Some days I don't even get to the woods before fly-down. I used to be up and out early, but I still killed most of my birds an hour after fly-down and a lot later than that. One of my favorite times to hunt public is from 10:00 - 12:00 after most of the 4:30 guys went home. In my old age I just don't get as excited about that early morning and have learned I can get my rest and still kill birds. I believe I could wait and eat breakfast and get in the woods at 8:00 AM and my success wouldn't change much at all. If I hunted exclusively public I would not change and probably not even go until 10:00 AM a lot of days. I am not into competing for spots. When it gets that complicated I will just go fishing. I turn 69 in two weeks and have spent 52 of those years hunting turkeys, my flame burned down to coals a long time ago, but any good BBQ guy can tell you the coals are the best to cook with. 

[King Cobra]

I try to get in at least 30 minutes before day light and listen from an area the bird would feel comfortable moving into. It always does not work out that way, especially when you are in an unfamiliar area. Early season, late season, with hens, without hens all play into the game plan. The key is keeping the gobbler in a mindset that is normal to his daily routine.

[Muzzy61]

One hour before if hunting roosted bird,  half an hour before if I'm going to a listening spot.

[Old Swamper]

Very seldom am I part of the "daylight" crew anymore. Fortunate to live right down the road from the wma I hunt the most, and within 40mins of 2 others. I'm thru the check station usually around 9am. Well rested, full belly, and dry feet. Almost all of the morning crew are gone, and I usually have most of my spots to myself. That 10 to 2 time frame has become my "killin time" over the years.

[mountainhunter1]

I usually leave the truck an hour plus before daylight, and, although I dig a guy trying to kill a Tom the second his feet dirt as that is an art in itself, I am with Happy and Marc on this one. I like the cat and mouse game of making him come that last couple of hundred yards trying to find that hen who is talking to him. It really about undoes me even thirty plus years later when I know he is about to top that rise and is on full alert looking for either a hen or danger and you have little to no margin for error.

[NOmad]

If I know the tree where he is roosted, I am going to try to be around 75 yards away 30-45 minutes before when I think his first gobble will come. If I know the area he is roosted, I will try to be set up 30 minutes before the first gobble about 100-200 yards from where I think he is going to. If I have no clue, I will be standing somewhere to listen about 15 minutes before first gobble.

[Twowithone]

I like to be at my spot at least 1 hour before shooting light. I like the woods to settle down after I've been snapping twigs and all getting to my spot.


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[Tom007]

30 minutes to 1 hour seems to be popular. Great responses......

[Mountainburd]

Sheesh 3am in? I give some of you guys a ton of credit. I'm fortunate enough to have exclusive access to a large tract of private. I always aim to get to a high point by gobbling time, and make my way to the closest bird hopefully before he flys down. Then I just enjoy the rest of the morning roaming. I kill then at all times.

I utilize the same strategy on public. One exception is a place that's 4 miles in so I start that hike about an hour before gobbling time. I can generally make it walking at a fast pace.

Now you guys hunting southern Florida public in early March....i feel sorry for you guys.

[dan]

If I'm hunting the private ground here at home or the spot I hunt out west where there isn't much pressure, I don't get into my spot until a half hour prior to legal shooting hours. But if I'm hunting DNR property here in Indiana on one of the draw only hunts, I'm there an hour and a half early.

X2


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[zelmo1]

My neck of the woods is "Posted/Non Posted" which is similar to Private/Public. If I am hunting a roost that I am familiar with then I am there at least 30 minutes before legal shooting time, which is 45 minutes to an hour before fly down. If I am walking and listening, I get there 10 minutes before legal and listen to set up. I love to hear them sing too, but if my setup is perfect and I get one off the roost, I'll try him. Opportunities are very rare here, seeing birds is easy, lol. All land that is not posted is fair game here as long as you follow the rules. Most posted signs are earned by "slob hunters". The birds around here get pressured hard early season then dwindle due to the nicer weather activities. Take the shot when you have it here.  Z

[GobbleNut]

Generally speaking, I am going to be in the woods a minimum of half an hour before "gobble thirty", sometimes earlier if I am going to a known roosted gobbler and am not expecting to have competition.  Like others have said, though, if I think I need to be somewhere to be ahead of potential competition, the arrival time moves up considerably.

Having said that, around here, it is not unusual for the pre-dawn temps to be in the twenties, or lower, and getting to a gobbler often requires a lengthy, sweat-inducing climb of several hundred vertical feet.  If somebody wants to experience turkey-hunting misery at its best, try sitting against a tree for an hour in the dark at 9000 ft. after negotiating a 45-degree incline up a mountain and getting soaked with sweat prior to that sit.  I can guarantee your enthusiasm for sitting in that darkness any longer than necessary will be diminished.   

Also, anymore, part of the challenge for me is hunting gobblers in areas I have never hunted before.  I often hunt areas where my first clue a gobbler is in the area is from hearing that first gobble in the morning.  Randomly choosing a specific spot to sit and wait an hour early is a waste of time.  In those situations, it is a rare occurrence to be able to get tight to a gobbler before he will be able to see your approach.  Starting that process of finding a gobbler to hunt only requires being in the general area when I think I can induce that first gobble, which most often is roughly when the eastern horizon first begins to glow. 

...The added advantage to that is that I am not freezing my patootie off sitting somewhere in the dark...at 9000 ft...in 20 degree temps...soaked in sweat.  Granted, I still do that on occasion...but to be clear, it ain't no fun...even when I know there is a gobbler close by!