hunting later in the morning?

[jbennett]

I have read for the past couple of seasons on here that several of you guys like to go in later in the morning. I have always hunted at first light and have only stayed till lunch on a few rare occasions. It is looking like I may be hunting starting around 10-lunch due to work this year. How do you approach the hunt from this start time and what should I expect to hear/encounter? Just trying to get a general idea. Also how much calling and walking should I do while in search of a willing candidate?

Thanks,


Josh

[bushwhacker]

I have the best luck from about 9:30 until closing time, 1pm here in Missouri. I like to get in an area and just walk the ridgetops and call every 150 yards or so. Some toms will just shock gobble and never answer again but if you can ever get one fired up or catch him gobbling on his own you have a great chance of getting him killed. Don't expect to hear great numbers of gobblers but the gobblers you do hear you can typically do something with because chances are his hens have left for the nest and he's alone. They like to get on the ends of points to strut and gobble later in the day so those are good spots to call from.

[ziggy]

we all like to hunt at daybreak because of the gobbling, obviously, but late morning can be a good time as well.  i typically like to hunt until 12 or 1.  after the initial morning gobbling and the gobblers finding their hens, i'll start walking and calling every 200 yards or so, as the poster above me has said.  if i can't get one to start up at me by calling, i'll try the crow call and hopefully get one to shock gobble.  if he does, try to figure out which way he's going and head him off at the pass.  if you can't get anything to gobble, i'll set up in a strut zone and either not call, or very, very sporadically call quietly if you just can't stand to sit there not saying anything.  if you're not familiar with the land or haven't had time to thoroughly scout, just take a hen deek and set up in a field or open area and sporadically call.  when the hens go to nest you may just catch ole' tom by himself.

[WildTigerTrout]

I tend to do more running and gunning later in the morning here in Pa. The first two weeks of the season you must quit at noon. I cover ALOT of ground and figure if I can get a bird to sound off late in the morning I have a 50/50 chance of calling him in. My gobbler last year was gobbling on his own at 945am and I worked him slow and steady and killed him at 1150am. Cut it close with only ten minutes left but it worked out great. Turned out to be my most exciting turkey hunt ever! That's him in my avatar.

[WildSpur]

More than 50% of my luck is after 0930.  I am in PA too and quit at 12 noon.  Ideally you find a loud mouth gobbling on his own and get close.  If done right your hunt lasts minutes.  If not I run and gun til I get one to gobble.  You can tell pretty quick if you stand a chance (I know, always exceptions) by how hot he is.  If answered back with a "courtesy" gobble there is a good chance he is still henned up which will make for a challenging hunt.  If given a lively response the odds are getting better.  Definitely make sure you have a good tree or set-up close by before cranking out a call.  Many times I have been busted setting up on a bird that was less than 100 yards away.

[TauntoHawk]

we'll do a lot of glassing mid morning in the fields and pastures, driving between our properties we have permission on try and save some boot leather, if we aren't finding anything taht way we'll  take a short walk and throw out some calls or got to a good area and just hunker down til the noon gun.

Killed a few within in minutes of being off the limb but outside of those its that late morning action that produces the best. Kill a lot of rainy day birds too, not as fun of a hunt but a slow steady drizzle makes them as predictable as they get.

[WickedBama]

Starting at 10 the gobbling silence will be almost over (in most cases). All the gobblers have most likely bred or the hens that they gathered with that morning have left the ol tom leaving him lonely. Or in some cases you will have younger 2 year olds that were intimidated by an older bird that might be hot by 10 looking for some action. 10-2 have payed off in the past for me seems like the birds i hunt like to feed around 12-2 in nearby food plots. Good luck. Plus all the other hunters will probly be out of the woods by then so you just might have it all to yourself.

[atoler]

I kill about 50/50, off the roost and middle of the day. They are going to be way less vocal, but If you can get one fired up, hes normally coming. The reason I like hunting 9-12 is most people are out of the woods by then. It seems like a lot of public land birds will only gobble a few times off the roost, then shut up til all the hunters leave. after that i've seen them break loose. Its gonna require covering a lot of ground though.

[jbennett]

Thanks for the great info guys! I'm taking notes from each reply with plans to implement as much as possible this season.

[WickedBama]

Turkey hunting after roost can be difficult because the lack of talking toms try using a locater call every two or 300 yards or some cuts this will make some silent toms gobble try to get within 100 yards of him and set up with some soft yelps and purrs.

[jblackburn]

Depending on where you are at, walk and use locator calls (or cutting, sometimes that will fire them up) every couple hundred yards.  Also, glass fields and find strut zones and dust baths where hens hang out.  The gobblers know where the hens like to dust and will cruise by every once and a while.

[Turkeykiller12]

9 to noon is just about that magic window for my leases. If luck is on my side, I can strike one up and have him killed pretty quick during this time also.

[atoler]

I would be real careful about using locator calls. Most people around here scare more birds than they get to gobble with a crow call. I'm of fan of doing some soft yelps followed by aggressive cuts. Just start quiet, because you don't know how close a bird might be.