Now I'm really baffled.

[Farmboy27]

I think I can sum up what we all saying here in one sentence.  You ain't gonna kill him if you're not out there hunting him!

[Bill Cooksey]

10-15 years ago, I would have said most of my birds had come between nine and one. Now, the vast majority come in the first hour. May be no validity to it, but I believe I've just gotten better at identifying the best turkey to go after and also better at working them early. Much of that is due to being much better at calling hens that I once was.

[Turkeyman]

I've killed the majority of mine right in that first hour or less. For instance, this spring I got seven...six soon after flydown, one at 9:00. However, if they're henned up tight latter morning becomes very good. Maybe the big bald guy sleeps in until eight or so which would make sense in his case! I'm always skeptical of anything these "TV guys" say. They're in the business of selling something, including different spins and stories to demonstrate their prowess...real or not perhaps.

[silvestris]

Jordan thought that the first hour of daylight was worth all the rest of the day and I agree.  After that first hour, if I am not working a turkey, you will find me resting on a high spot simply listening for a gobble.  If he advertises, it is game on and time to position for the call.

[Dr Juice]

I disagree. My most successful experiences in NY are off the roost first thing in the am. I have only killed one bird after 11 am and a few after 9 am.

[Turkeyman]

Jordan thought that the first hour of daylight was worth all the rest of the day and I agree.

Years ago I read an article by one of those old time turkey hunters, can't recall who. He said give me the first hour and the last hour and you can have everything else in between.

[wvmntnhick]

I've never had the chance to hunt past 12 with the laws as they are in WV and considering it's the only state I've hunted birds, well...

Having said that, I've killed my share of birds right after fly down but I've also killed a share of them later than 9. In my youth is pretty much leave once the morning gobbles stopped. If a bird wouldn't gobble, I was back at the house taking a nap. After hunting a couple years with Happy, I got into that hunt all morning thing which led to killing birds later in the day. Every once in a while you'd get a bird fired up later in the morning and it was on. Since then, I've found that if I can get a bird to reply after 9, and he's not been pressured that morning already, there's a good chance I'm taking that bird home with me.

That wasn't the case this year though as most of my hunts were cut short because of work or other things.

[fallhnt]

In the states I hunt I was always ready to kill from 11-1 in the early 1990's. Now days that doesn't happen much.