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Late Season Question

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IowaDave

PMA Member
This is my first year turkey hunting and I was lucky enough to have a buddy guide me & get me on tons of birds early in the 3rd season, but it doesn't look like I'm going to be as fortunate for 4th season.

I've a secured permission for a smaller timber (80 acres) that has some birds in it for 4th season, so I've got that part covered. I'm just wondering if tactics change any as the season progresses. I'm not going to be able to go until the very last week of the season, so I don't know if they're typically still gobbling then and/or if they respond to calling as well that late.

I realize that 'it all depends', but am just wanting some general guidelines & opinions.
 
4th Season can be frustrating. In my experience the birds respond less to calls, as in they won't come into them as easily as they would the first couple of seasons. They may gobble to your calls, but I have rarely had birds come running into my calls full steam like I have 1st and 2nd season. The best advice I can give is to get ahead of where they want to go, do some soft non-aggressive calling and wait them out.
 
I have had the opposite results as SEIowaDeerslayer. In my opinion 4th season is one of the best there is. I usually end up getting my most my birds then. There is less hens out there to breed and the gobblers are searching for love. All types of calling has worked for me. It really depends on how bad the birds have been hunted but 90% of my kills are on public land so you can still kill pressured birds. It seems 1st season is the best for decoying because they haven't been educated. 2nd season there is a lot of folks out there and the birds are usually henned up. 3rd season usually still tied up. The start of 4th season I have still seen henned up birds but come the last weekend of 4th season it seems like their fired up and when I have taken the majority of my birds. goodluck, they are always looking for love!!
 
I agree 100% with Liv4rut. Ive had great results calling birds in during 4th season. Id even go as far as saying the later the better!
For all the birds i work over the length of the season in Missouri and iowa, i have more birds called into range, late in the 4th season than any other time over the last 5-6 years. They may not gobble as much as earlier in the season, but they will come to the call.
Good luck. I think you will really do well with 4th season
 
I will have to agree with Liv also. 4th has always been good hunting for me. My only complaints about the late season are the mosquitos, biting gnats, ticks and lush understory in the woods. Some highly pressured birds may be shy of the deeks and that's why running and gunning can be more effective than bow hunting late in the season. :way:
 
Well, just as I suspected it appears that it varies somewhat, but at least everyone's not saying that it's tough to nearly impossible. Things are looking up!! :way:

Any further comments or suggestions are certainly welcome!
 
Man, I need to be hunting with you guys during 4th. I hunt in Wayne county and it seems the last couple years during 4th Id hear about 4 or 5 gobblers on the roost, and as soon as they hit the ground you would not hear them the rest of the day!!
 
Another factor to consider is that even when birds are henned up they oftentimes do not stay henned up all day long. The gobbling may slow down and even cease as the morning progresses, but I have said for years that one gobble at 10:00A is more meaningful than 100 gobbles from the roost at 5:30A or so.

If that bird will gobble mid-morning, he can almost always be called in and killed, even if takes an hour to get him to commit all the way in. I have shot many turkeys between 10:00A and 12:00P, and I think the later in the season that we get the truer this becomes.
 
i agree with Daver, i dont wast my time hunting early seasons,i wait til 4th, and go after em!i have shot 80% of my birds late, and my opinion is only mine, but heres my thoughts. the first two seasons, your usally dealing with rain, cold, sometimes snow, and then --the hens.if you do your scouting and know where they roost, where they, strut, feed, ect, stay in bed and hit it mid morning or after.4th season is different. most hens have been bred and will be on the nest mid morning, thats great!If you go out and a toms gobbling, thats a plus and a bird you should go after, 9 times out of ten, theyll come in quiet.i get to where i want to set up and sit down, and i wont call for 30min. when i do, its usally on flats where i know they frequent, and its purrs and putts only. for a few minutes then i quit!an accassional ( soft) yelp wont hurt, but dont give up your location!if one comes in looking and cant find the hen hes looking for, somtimes he'll sound off, thats what you want.somtimes they dont then ill do it softer 30minutes later in case he started to come , again, you donot want to give yourself up.small purrs, and raking the leaves around with my hand briefly, but i try and only use mouth calls after ive been their awhile. one trick you can try, when you first set up, use a box, or slate, soft yelps, and at the same time use your mouth call, doing purrs- putts, to simulate more than one hen, somtimes thats all it takes, but dont wait for the gobble, the older birds tend to come in quiet.
this happened to me 2 yrs ago, 1.00 pm. i heard a gobble on a ridge, snuck in quiet, set up, called , nothing!, sat there for 2 hrs,got up, started walking away from where ide heard the tom, and had my mouthcall purring and putting as i walked away, and 2 shock gobbeled less than 30yrds behind me!, i hit the deck next to the biggest tree i could find and here they came, 2 mature birds, gobbling so loud my chest shook!exciting, the first passed to my right within 5 yrds,tough to swing to my right as im a right handed shooter, but the second stayed more in front, and i nailed him, 27 lbs, inch and 1/8 spurs, 9 1/2 beard.
im no expert, but i have mounted 4 of my best tails, and made a nice necklace of spurs from the rest, and love to hunt windy days,because they dont like being in open felids , so i sneak in the timber, and let them look for me, cant say it works all the time, but, ive had real good luck, matter of fact, i took vacation starting the 8th of may to pursue my bird, no earlier.ive been bitten waiting this late before, but not many, well see, good luck to all, ill keep everyone posted here on how i do.:way:
 
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Once again, thanks for all the help guys...this site ROCKS and so do all the helpful members!!

Chances are that when I do get a chance to go out I'm not going to be able to make it an all day event, but my spot is close to home so I will be able to sneak out for 2-3 hours here & there (stupid jobs anyhow!!).

If you guys only had 2-3 hour windows to hunt during 4th season is there a particular time that you would say would provide the best opportunity? From what's already been said I'm thinking 10am-1pm, would be a good time, but let me know if there's another time that might be better.
 
Its just hit or miss. I ate my own words from my previous post this morning, called in a group of gobblers from a LONG ways away and unfortunately missed one at 20 yards. :confused:

So, I'll retract my previous post and say that 4th season is hit or miss, just get out in the woods. If they're henned up, you can always look for mushrooms. :way:
 
Iowa Dave,
you go when its convenient for you. you did state that you have 80 acers to hunt, if it hasnt been hunted, all yr , by all means , try in the morning, if one gobbels, before sunrise, set up on him, and do what you do best!tha same tactics apply in the morning as mid morning when it comes to late season hunting. if that area has been hunted in the past seasons,he is wise to calling, so set up, and call less and wait, just as my previous posts suggested. if this ground is virgin, you may be able to be more agressive and make it work, but again, if you hunt in the morning, and the tom sounds off, hes looking for hens, and may be roosted with them. which their silent when they have already in front of them what they want. you can try the two call scenerio i suggested earlier, may work. Bottom line, you go when you can, you cant harvest a bird from the couch!Turkey hunting is the toughest, you just never know, what worked yesterday, may not work tomorrow, but if you dont go out and try, youll never know. keep notes of times and days you hunted ,wind, what worked, what didnt, calls you used ect, you will go thru them next yr and use them, every yr is different as every hunt.I can only say, go when you can. we never harvest a bird every trip, but we gain more knowledge on what worked and what didnt . good luck Dave, remember, any time in the woods, is the best time!If you know where they roost, and the ridges they ferquent, thats the main battle, they have a home range just as mature bucks do, they may wander abit, but they always come back close to their roosting site, thats why i like mid morning- mid afternoons.a couple soft yelps on that ridge from a mouth call makes them think a hen is their, thats what they want, their after one thing!once they come in looking for it, thats when you drop the kaboom on them! good luck,
keep us posted on how you do, as i will also. i am unable to hunt till the 8th , but i will pull every trick i can, as most hens are setting, some set ups work even better!:way:
 
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