Late-Show Gobblers
Late-Show Hit It was a sunny South Dakota afternoon, it was turkey season and my son Ethan had a tag. We headed out right after lunch. No naps for us -- you don't shoot turkeys in bed or on a couch. Our first stop was a feeding area. We put out a couple decoys, settled in below a cedar tree ... and promptly took a nap! Oh well, we were outside, and in turkey country. About 3 p.m., turkeys started showing up to feed. But they didn't like my calls, or our decoys. After the birds left the field, we picked up the decoys and switched spots. Maybe the birds would come back. With about an hour of light left, they did just that. I called lightly on a slate pot, and Ethan was ready, but the gobblers wouldn't leave their hens. The calling wasn't scaring the birds, so I kept on them. Then we heard it. A whistling whit, whit. You might call it a pop. It's a sound that gobblers make when they're trying to hook up with a hen. This bird was coming from behind us, in the woods! Ethan shifted to get ready. Soon, I saw the gobbler, neck outstretched, looking for that hen he had heard calling. BOOM! Ethan pounded him. It was a gorgeous Merriam's, and we were two happy turkey hunters. The late show was a hit again. |
Morning isn't the only time to get your turkey. Afternoons and evenings are prime too. Here's your ticket to hunting the late show.
by Tom Carpenter
To be a good turkey hunter, sometimes you have to break the old rules a little bit. In spring turkey hunting, one of those old rules is the idea that hunting is only good during the half-hour or so of shooting light before sunrise, and the first few hours of the day. Call it the early show.
But there's another great time to get your turkey. It's the afternoon and evening, also known as the late show. In some states you can only hunt until noon or 1 p.m. That makes the late show off limits. But what about all the places where hunting remains open until sunset?
Many hunters skip the late show. That can be a mistake. The afternoon and evening are both great times to be in the woods. To be successful, you must first understand the habits of afternoon turkeys. Then you need strategies for hunting late-show birds.
Understanding Late Show Turkeys
In the morning, wild turkeys are all about feeding and breeding. Coming off the roost, the hens want to eat and fill their crops. They usually pay little attention to gobblers.
The desire to breed takes up much of toms' energy on a spring morning. Between gobbling for hens and touring around to find companionship, there are high levels of turkey activity. It all peaks during the first couple hours of light, but activity can remain good until mid-morning.
Afternoons are different. With full crops, hens head toward safe loafing areas to digest food, dust their feathers and pass time. Some hens sit on nests. Gobblers leave the hens for awhile.
Wild turkeys aren't very vocal in the early afternoon. The toms have gobbled themselves hoarse. The hens have yelped their groups together. The birds don't want to make a ruckus and attract predators.
But wild turkey activity and calling picks up again in late afternoon. Birds get more active again about 3 p.m. (just right for an after-school hunt, right?) Hens are hungry and feed. Gobblers follow. Turkeys move about, and sometimes breed, until sunset.
One reason that few turkeys are shot in the afternoon is that few people hunt in the afternoon. So, just get out -- that's step one. Turkeys will come to calls now, and some forms of afternoon hunting don't even require calling. Here are six approaches for bagging afternoon toms.
1. Wait For Them at Loafing Areas
Figure out where turkeys spend their afternoons where you hunt. Get to these loafing areas (often open woodlands or forgotten corners) around noon, set up, and settle in for a long wait. A portable blind is a good idea. The biggest trick is getting there before the turkeys. The wait can be challenging, but patience is worth its weight in gold now. Catch a little snooze (especially if you've hunted the morning!) You'll feel better.
2. Troll Them Up
Afternoon is a great time to run-and-gun for a gobbler. Use cover and terrain to hide your movements. Travel a lot of ground. Stop and call frequently. Use turkey sounds -- hen yelps, cackles and cutts -- to elicit response from a receptive tom. Don't worry if you do happen to bump birds: They won't go far, and they have plenty of time left in the day to work their way back.
3. Stake Out Late Afternoon Feeding Areas
Late afternoon is prime hunting time. Birds get hungry and start moving to open feeding areas such as fields and meadows. Set up and intercept turkeys on their travel routes, or set up on the feeding area itself. Arriving early and waiting patiently is the best plan. Call only lightly, unless you get a hot gobbler answering you. Then crank it up if he likes it.
4) Adapt to Weather
Adjust your hunting approach to the weather conditions:
Hot? Get down near creekbottoms or in river valleys, near ponds or around wetland areas or swamps. These areas are shady and cool.
Cold? Turkeys like to use openings or forest trails, and warm up in the sunshine.
Raining? With their hearing abilities cut back because of all the pitter-patter raindrops, birds move to fields and open areas where they can see danger coming.
Windy? Go deep into valleys, draws, gullies, basins and bowls that are protected from the blow.
5) Improvise
Try something new. If you can spot a bird, put a sneak on him. He might not move very far, and what do you have to lose? Later in the afternoon, if you spot birds moving, try to predict their line of travel, then sneak around and attempt to head them off. Call with clucks and light yelps to pull them your way if you need to ... or maybe you'll get right in their path!
6) Hunt the Highway to the Roost
Don't hunt birds at their roost area. Consider that spot a sanctuary for them. But you can hunt turkeys on their travel paths to the roost area. Now is the time to be extremely cautious about doing any calling. If you do call, make only the lightest yelps and softest clucks you can muster on a little slate call. Sit very still, and watch hard for birds -- turkeys are very wary and skittish as they approach their roost.
There are many reasons to hunt turkeys in the afternoon -- you couldn't hunt that morning, you haven't gotten your bird yet, you've got some time after school or on a weekend afternoon. Spring is short, so get hunting. Best of all, the late show truly is a good time to be in the woods chasing gobblers. Armed with an understanding of how wild turkeys behave in the afternoon and evening, and good strategies on how to hunt now, you can make the late show a real hit.
