afternoon spring turkey hunting

[maustypsu]

Filled my last tag 15 mins before quitting time on the second to last day if my first season in NC.

Killed two of the last six that I can remember after 4 pm. Evening hunts are all about scouting and woodsmanship.

[ccleroy]

I hunt all day here in SC. I ghost along ridge edges up river and creek bottoms just like in the morning trying to strike up a willing tom or else set up trying to catch a tom headed back to where he was roosted that morning or on recent hunts. I scale back calling a bit unless it's a real hot talkative tom.

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[ElkTurkMan]

The last five gobblers I have taken have all been in the afternoon.  Anywhere from 5 past noon up to 6:00pm.  I love my afternoons!

[El Pavo Grande]

Anywhere I hunt that allows it, I will be hunting the afternoons.  I have had some great afternoon hunts.  Majority of the time turkeys aren't as vocal, but when you do find a vocal one I would say my percentage of calling him in is pretty high.  If I am hunting a new unfamiliar area I am more apt to slowly cover ground calling and scratching in the leaves like a feeding hen.  But, if I know the area and am confident turkeys are around, I will set up near where I think a gobbler may roost and call very little.  My hunting here in state has changed a little since I have young kids.  I don't get to hunt as many evenings as I did in the past.     

[WildTigerTrout]

Pa. just started afternoon hunting in 2011 and then only the last two weeks of the season. It may take a while for us to figure it out. We have had a spring season in Pa. since the late 1960's but this afternoon hunting is brand new here! I did not get a chance to try it as I filled my tag the first week. Any other Pa. hunters here try the afternoon hunt?

[maustypsu]

Pa. just started afternoon hunting in 2011 and then only the last two weeks of the season. It may take a while for us to figure it out. We have had a spring season in Pa. since the late 1960's but this afternoon hunting is brand new here! I did not get a chance to try it as I filled my tag the first week. Any other Pa. hunters here try the afternoon hunt?

I grew up hunting Clinton, Union and Centre counties and fishing White Tail creek or one of the native trout streams in the afternoon.  That was such a tradition that I can't imagine hunting turkeys all day there.  Tough hunting in those mountains and we didn't have much for fields.  So almost the entire game there would be scouting and knowing where they roost.  If they come in quiet you'll have no idea until they are in your lap most of the places I hunted.

I would hunt an old tram road where it intersects with a stream (or a gut) that goes up hill.  Good chance they'll be working their way down that tram road looking for a hen feeding on the first fresh sprouts of spring along that creek bed on their way up the ridge to roost.  I always did that hunt backwards in the am but the reason I chose the spot where the tram road met the creeks or gut in the am was the same reason I would hunt those in the pm.

[TauntoHawk]

hunting PA and NY I never got to hunt the afternoons, we do a lot of glassing every evening from about 6pm til fly up watching the birds go to roost.

PA added afternoon the final two weeks of the season last year but I tagged on the second day and spent the rest of my season in NY.

I know ive left a ton of birds working right at the noon bell and would love to keep chasing them in the afternoon.

[gob09]

all good tactics
i have killed a few turkeys after lunch and right before fly up
every time it's happened very quickly and they gobble a lot . i think they are a little bit harder to get to gobble in the afternoon than in the morning but if he gobbles and not with a hen (my excuse) he will likely come in

[timberjack86]

I think I will try some afternoon hunts after reading some of your guys experiences sound like I was missing the boat!

[maustypsu]

i think they are a little bit harder to get to gobble in the afternoon than in the morning but if he gobbles and not with a hen (my excuse) he will likely come in

This was said earlier and I will concur based on my few seasons of being able to hunt in the afternoon.

From watching the birds (and I could be wrong) I think it is more natural for a hen to call in a gobbler in the evening.  In the am the gobbler expects her to come in and she will find him if she's looking to breed.  In the evening a few quiet hen clucks, purrs and leaf scratching will bring the gobbler in to roost near the hen expecting to meet up with her in the am.

[gob09]

you may be on to something, because the afternoon before i killed the last turkey of the season last year i was trying to call him in. i was sitting just inside the woods soft calling and scatching in the leaves he gobbled some but never seemed to move .

so i got tired of fooling with him and went to the truck i drove by the field. from the road i could see him walking toward where i had been sitting close to where he had been roosting went back the next morning and killed him at 6AM

[dawgfrombama]

6 of my last 10 have been killed after 4pm.  I love hunting evenings.

[GobblerChaser]

Add me to the all day hunter list. I hunt them till I get it done or I run out of daylight. My tactics change throughout the day, but in short, my aggression slows and I slow down as the day goes. By late afternoon, I usually set up in a feeding area near a roost and blind call. When the birds are right, you can get the, fired up at any time. I have killed turkeys gobbling like crazy at all hours of the day.


Safe and Happy Hunting!
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[SWAMPFOX]

have killed a pile of gobblers in the afternoon.  actually most i harvested last year in 3 states came after 1pm. i always hunt am. and if i mess with one that doesnt work out i will be back in pm. i have learned the individual nature of many gobblers like this. this is where i learned what a "circuit rider" is.

[contagious]

I hunt a lot in the afternoon here in south Alabama.I call a lot less,and they usually come in quiet,or just drumming.You have to be on your toes,because they will slip up on you and bust you here in the afternoons.Took my best bird ever at 4.30pm two years ago,just drumming and slipping a few feet at a time.Took him 30 minutes to go 45 yards.