Opening day of turkey season has its perks. A new season will make you forget about the previous year’s mistakes or misses, and it’s hard to beat that first spring morning after you’ve been cooped up all winter. Morale, energy, and expectations sit at an all-time high, with a season full of promise straight ahead. Killing a turkey on opening day might be your most exciting hunt, but killing a turkey during the last days of the season will be your most rewarding.
Despite what the outdated hunting forums or comment sections say, birds still gobble well into (and even after) the season. They might not be as eager as they were opening week, but there’s plenty of good turkey hunting to be had during those last few days of the season. Whether you’ve yet to fill a tag or you’re in a multiple-bird state, here are a few tips on how to kill late-season gobblers.
While this tip applies to turkey hunting across the board, it really pays off if you hunt pressured turkeys, especially in the late season. It’s tempting to think that the next call will be the one he gobbles at, but that’s rarely the case. If you’re hunting public ground or other hammered areas, put your call away and scout for turkey sign. Just because the birds aren’t talking doesn’t mean they aren’t around. Fresh tracks, scat, and scratching will help you find birds faster than cranking down on the yelps.
If you come across an area littered with scratching, post up and keep the calling to a minimum. When I find areas like this and the birds are quiet, I try to impose a no-yelp ban on myself. I’ll scratch in the leaves, cluck, or purr, and then wait. It’s tough, and I’m not always that strict with it. However, I’ve had multiple encounters where I called lightly and a curious hen brought a gobbler in or multiple gobblers came in silent. And, yes, the occasional fired-up tom will stroll in too.
I promise, I’m not sending mixed signals. Nor am I an advocate for overcalling. Successful turkey hunting has more to do with interpreting an individual bird than it does being a champion caller, though that certainly doesn’t hurt. While it’s generally a good idea to call less, some longbeards seem like they fire up the more you call to them. After all, sometimes punching a tag comes down to not just finding a bird but finding the right bird.
I’ve had gobblers, especially in the late season, that gobbled all the way into my setup, like they couldn’t get there fast enough. Those hunts aren’t frequent, but they are awesome. I don’t have the research to back this up, but I have to imagine it has something to do with hens going to nest, a reestablishing of the pecking order, or a combination of things.
Recently, I killed a turkey that wanted to play the game exactly the way a turkey hunter dreams. He gobbled at yelps, cutts, clucks, purrs, and scratching in the leaves. I got to watch him strut and gobble his head off around a field. Only, every time I’d go quiet, he’d turn the other way, quit strutting, and start to leave.
When he’d start to walk off, I’d turn my head the opposite way and yelp. Just like that, he’d blow up, turn colors, and start strutting toward me again. I’d go quiet, and we’d repeat the process. Finally, I decided to keep calling, even though it felt wrong, and everything inside me told me to shut up. I’m glad I didn’t. He put on a show, gobbled his tiny brain out, and strutted all the way to 35 yards where I shot him. While this goes against turkey hunting 101, there are always exceptions to the rule.
This should go without saying, but in the latter part of the season, most of the killable turkeys are in someone’s freezer. There are still plenty of turkeys out there; they just might not be in obvious places (like in earshot of the road). If you’re not hearing any gobbles, it’s probably time to trade out your heavy rubber boots for some hikers.
One of the best ways to do this is to pick a large parcel of public ground and work your way through it, calling sparingly and listening for walking or scratching in the leaves. If you come across a place with fresh turkey sign, park it for a while. It’s probably a good place to kill a tom at midday.
Turkey hunting in the late season can be challenging but extremely rewarding if done right. As spring turns to summer turkey behavior changes and hunting tactics must adapt. Follow these tips to fill your tag during the toughest weeks of turkey season.
Understand Late Season Turkey Behavior
By late season, most hens are sitting on nests and no longer coming to tom’s calls. This causes toms to change their habits. They become more restless and mobile as they seek out the few hens still receptive to breeding. Toms also gobble less and are less eager to respond to calling.
As hunting pressure mounts, gobblers grow increasingly wary. They shy away from areas with lots of human activity and seek out hidden, remote spots. Pressured toms also tend to go silent and refuse to approach calls. Success depends on changing your tactics to match the late season conditions.
Focus on Food Sources
With no hens around, late season toms spend more time feeding. Concentrate hunting near food sources like:
- Hardwood ridges and hollows where toms forage on acorns, fruits, and greens
- Open fields planted with wheat, clover, alfalfa or other greens
- Pastures and livestock areas with abundant insects
- Freshly planted crop fields
Set up where you can intercept toms traveling to and from these feeding areas. Calling sparingly to pique their interest as they pass by.
Target Roosting Areas
Even in late season toms stick close to familiar roost sites. They’ll fly down in the morning, make a loop through their core range, then return to the roost well before dark.
Use locator calls like owls or crows to get toms sounding off near suspected roosts. Then pinpoint the tree and set up within 100 yards to ambush the bird as he flies down.
Afternoons, set up 50-75 yards from the base of a known roost. Intercept returning birds with soft clucks and purrs as they arrive.
Hunt Transition Zones
As toms move between feeding and roosting areas, they often follow the same routes, using benches, saddles, creek drainages and other features as transition zones.
Look for tracks, feathers or droppings that indicate these travel corridors. Still hunt them slowly while making an occasional soft call to grab a tom’s interest.
Funnels like fencerows, logging roads and field edges are also great transition zone ambush points. Find where two habitat types meet and toms are likely to cross as they move about.
Try Unconventional Spots
While mature forests and open meadows look like classic turkey habitat, by late season the birds gravitate towards overlooked spots like:
- Regenerated clearcuts grown thick with brushy cover
- Abandoned pastures and farm fields going fallow
- Grown up pine plantations with scattered hardwoods
- Thickets around crop fields and food plots
Get permission to hunt private lands with habitat like this holding undiscovered flocks. On public land, cover more ground to explore out-of-the way locations other hunters ignore.
Use a Decoy
With hens scarce, late season toms eagerly approach decoys, especially when combined realistic sounds. Pick a lifelike, high quality decoy that allows easy positioning and visibility.
Set it up 20-30 yards away in a visible spot like a meadow opening, field edge or logging road. Conceal yourself but stay close enough to reach the decoy and make soft calling sounds. Be ready when an opportunistic tom spots the decoy and comes running.
Employ a Minimal Calling Approach
The worst mistake is overcalling to a gobbler that has likely been hunted hard. Instead, adopt a minimal, realistic calling strategy:
- Call sparingly – Less is more when pressured toms are call shy
- Stick to softer hen calls like clucks, purrs and very light yelping
- Use no calling at all if a tom is gobbling and approaching
- End calling sequences abruptly, like a real hen wandering off
Be patient and let the tom commit before ramping up calling. And resist calling aggressively out of frustration since that only scares off pressured birds.
Hunt All Day Long
Many hunters quit by mid morning if they haven’t scored, leaving public land vacant on warmer afternoons. Take advantage by staying out later when the woods are empty and toms are actively moving and feeding.
Additionally, plan multiple hunts during the final week when hunting pressure drops off dramatically. You’ll likely have the land to yourself for golden late afternoon and morning opportunities.
Team Up with Friends
Having a buddy or two to cover more ground, set up decoys, and work toms from different directions greatly improves your odds. Extra sets of eyes, ears and hands are invaluable for grabbing a tom’s attention when he hangs up out of range.
Position friends 100-200 yards apart covering likely turkey routes. Use radios or phone texting to coordinate realistic calling sequences. Be ready to converge quickly and cut off a hesitant gobbler trying to slip away unseen.
Remain Flexible and Mobile
The key in late season is staying adaptable in your strategy and tactics. Be willing to shift spots, change calls, adjust timing, or completely alter your approach until you strike on something that works that day.
Staying mobile also allows you to monitor more territory and take advantage of opportunities as they arise. Be ready to make quick moves as turkey activity dictates.
Hunt Persistently and Patiently
Some years, everything clicks and filling a late tag is easy. But more often, scoring requires persistence through tough, frustrating hunts that test your willpower.
Keep at it methodically covering ground, sticking to travel routes, watching roosts and hitting feeding areas during legal hours. Recognize that some days the hunting will be slow regardless. But eventually, your consistency and determination will pay off.
Keep grinding through the late season and success will come to patient, savvy hunters willing to adapt and hunt smarter. Trust your woodsmanship, hunt hard and you’ll be rewarded with the sweetest, most memorable gobbler possible.
Hit the Unconventional Spots
Covering ground doesn’t just mean racking up the miles. Sometimes, you’re better off working through unconventional spots that don’t scream “turkey woods.” Everyone wants to kill a longbeard in old-growth forests or wide-open river bottoms, myself included. But you have to go where the turkeys are, not where you want them to be.
A few years ago, I killed a longbeard that was roosted in a stubby pine stand that had yaupon thickets interspersed throughout it. You wouldn’t have pegged that spot on a map. He wouldn’t leave that stretch of woods, and I had to crawl my way in there before getting a shot.
Honestly, there’s no real secret to killing late-season turkeys. It might not be the gobble fest of opening day, but it’s still better than the off-season. While these tactics can help, the majority of your success depends on your patience and persistence.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve punched a tag on mornings when I wanted to hit snooze. If you can wait out the crowds, you can wait out the season for sneaky good hunting. After all, patient hunters kill more turkeys.
Feature via Justin Michau.
Late Season Turkey Hunting Tips With Michael Waddell
FAQ
How to hunt turkeys in the late-season?
Do turkey decoys work late-season?
How do you find turkeys before season?
How late in the morning should you turkey hunt?
When is the best time to hunt turkeys?
When the birds aren’t flopping, late-season, turkey hunting can really drag on. Don’t give up. Here are six ways to hunt smarter as the days wind down. It’s nice to call in a big old longbeard right off the roost first thing opening morning, and get him bagged and tagged early. But sometimes it doesn’t work that way.
Can you kill late-season turkeys?
Honestly, there’s no real secret to killing late-season turkeys. It might not be the gobble fest of opening day, but it’s still better than the off-season. While these tactics can help, the majority of your success depends on your patience and persistence.
When is the best time to fill a Turkey tag?
Most turkey hunters love the early season. Getting the first crack at the birds when they should be highly callable is a no brainer, and there are plenty of April toms in freezers to prove that’s the case. But there’s also still quite a bit of time left in many states where the chance to fill a tag is real.
Should you wait out the season for sneaky good hunting?
If you can wait out the crowds, you can wait out the season for sneaky good hunting. After all, patient hunters kill more turkeys. Feature image via Justin Michau. Access the newest seasons of MeatEater, save content, and join in discussions with the Crew and others in the MeatEater community.