Turkey Hunting: Early, Mid, and Late Season.
- Thread starter 4n2t0
- Start date
Generally turkey hunting gets better as the season progresses... is the corn field cut or standing? Does it border any timber? Is the timber mixed hardwoods and conifers? Is there a pine plantation nearby, is there a drainage ditch or creek? Have you seen birds? A description of the property would help in offering advice.
It really depends on the hens breeding. Later season is better as they hens are on the nests and toms and jakes are more likely to be called in but the bugs get worse. Just need to get out and try. After the May long weekend and last week a lot of turkeys are shot as the hens are on the nests and toms are still looking to breed. Right now the hens are leading the toms off the roost. But need to keep trying. So far missed one opening morning and two different times hens grabbed the toms off the roost and lead them the opposite way. That is turkey hunting.
If the creek runs into the woods from the field, then use it as a funnel to get the birds into your decoys... make sure that you are set-up on the side the birds are roosted on, get in place well before light... use soft tree yelps once legal light arrives. When you have a tom gobbling pay attention to how he responds to your calling. When the tom gobbles, hit him with an aggressive yelp sequence... if he gobbles back before you are done, keep hitting him with aggressive calling to keep him coming... if the tom gets timid or doesn't call back for a few seconds... then slow down and soften your calling... only call to get him moving toward you again, and use more clucks and purrs. Make sure that you pattern your gun with the loads you will be using, pay attention to POI and if the patterns have holes... if they do, then try other loads and/or chokes. The tightest chokes don't always deliver the best (even) patterns... I would recommend #6's, as pattern density is more important than pellet energy in anchoring toms. Good luck.
I have been out this past week which is unusual for me in the last 5-6 years as i will agree on later season is better. The only reason I have been out is the daughter's boyfriend took a week off(against my recommendation) as he has been working in Thunder Bay all winter and was chomping for some hunting time. We have had toms going every morning, some roosted not 40-50 yds and the song remains the same. Soon as they are on the ground off they go with the hens. Had one coming Tuesday morning within 20 yds of a shot and here comes a hen across 300yds of wide open field to take the tom(a good one) away from those interloping decoys. Yesterday morning hunting a farm with 4 mature toms roosted from 40 to 150 yds, 2 fly down, coming to the edge and see hens across the creek, there they go. Then all four and about 10 hens sit out in the field across the creek for 2 hour sunning at daylight. I have not had a tom show any interest in a call or decoy after flydown all week which is not surprising given the weather this spring.
I laughed, looked at the boy and said welcome to early season turkey hunting. Luckily, he booked more vacation the last week and as I told him you will be amazed at the difference a month makes
I laughed, looked at the boy and said welcome to early season turkey hunting. Luckily, he booked more vacation the last week and as I told him you will be amazed at the difference a month makes
Yes, really not much you are doing wrong during the next week or so until the hens are firmly on their nests weather is getting warmer. A decoy that just does not "respond" to a strutting turkeys advances just don't cut it right now, he would rather run 200 yards to the real thing. I went out this morning with my bow, I had heard 7 toms gobbling all around me...and then all quiet. They took of after the hens. Just sit tight, your efforts will pay off later in the month. Yes we are fortunate to live in parts of Caledon where the populations are good.
