Trad Gang

Does anybody turkey hunt in the afternoon?  I have always hunted them "swamp chickens" in the morning but nowadays I have more time in the afternoon.  How do ya'll do it?  Thanks for any tips.

Noon is the cut-off time here in the spring season.

I have found that unless I am near a roost. Between 9am and 2pm is the best.

Any time is a good time to hunt turkeys though.

Just my $0.02

Last spring I killed my best gobbler ever at 2:45pm, all the hens was on the nest and he was on the other side of a 20 acre field, I got set up, called 3 times and he ran over400yds to stop 12 yds in front of me. Only one I ever killed in the afternoon, 25lbs, 10&1/2 inch beard, 1&1/4 inch spurs and the points were rounded off! Real trophy for me.

We have to quit at 1:00 PM in Illinois  

Mid-day is awesome.  Took two last week 11:00 and 11:45. Pretty typical.

Though I have had many encounters in the evening, I have not harvested many at that time. I set-up within 50 yds of the roosting area and seek to call them in a bit.  Typically have lots of encounters but few "drawing-them-in" responses.  

Dan in KS

Have called more in close at 5pm'ish than any other time of day.  Takes patience and many come in quiet that time of day.  Stake out in a good area and hit the call every fifteen minutes.  Be willing to sit for a few hours.  It works.

Ohio laws only let us hunt until 12:00pm.

Here in Nebraska sunup to sun down legal times. I shot mine last year right before dark. My dad got one this last Sat about 6 in the evening. I had a shot at one about the same time. Missed high. tom and 3 jakes.

CalEfornia stops the hunting at 4:00 pm

PM hunting is legal here in MS, but I don't have enough birds on my place to risk pushing them to roost in another area. I leave them alone after 3;00 or so, because I prefer to hunt the morning gobbling time.

VA just recently instituted an all day hunt for the last half of the season.  I haven't had any success yet during that time because by that time I'm either tagged out or out of time.  But there's been a lot of times during the 12 noon cutoff time part of the season where an additional 45 minutes may have meant bagging a bird.  :)

We got an 8" bearded tom yesterday at 1:30 pm.  There were 4 or 5 toms with 3 hens, the toms would gobble back to us periodically, but the hens were calling to us the whole time.  We snuck up to within 200 yards of the flock.  It took 1/2 hour of calling and eventually the hens were the ones that brought the flock to us.  I used 2 different calls (slate and diaphram).

I've had good luck in the morning if there are toms without hens.

If you challenge the dominate hen she will get mad enough to come see who giving her a hard time. Agitated purrs and loud cuts will get her hoppin mad.

I bagged a tom this weekend with my centaur longbow about 5pm. He came running in to my decoys and calling.Intersting that alot of States shut down hunting in the afternoon I never heard that before.

Yep find their favorite roost and set up there when they show up late in the day. Benefit is you don't have to get out of bed a 5 am.

Like the late afternoon hunt, around 5pm. Pretty vocal here around that time and seems a bit easier to slip up on them.

Here in WV it's 12 also but I've had good luck in some other states in the evening.Pressured gobblers and hens make late morning alot better.

In '07 I took my only bow bird (compound) at 6:20PM.  I'd watched them go to roost the [revious 3 days and they'd skirted me each previous evening.  I kept moving 30-40yds each morning and evening, and they finally came in (or by) me.

I missed at 20yds (shot a hole in my blind....lol) and ended up taking him at 30yds.

I SEE more birds in the AM's........but my only success has been in the PM.

I'm hunting mid-day, tomorrow.  LB or nothing.

I have killed Toms that were roosted on property I could hunt but would fly down onto the neighbors property that I couldn't hunt. I just hunted near the roost trees with 1 lone hen and did a little soft calling and caught them comming back in the evening to roost.
I have also roosted a big Tom on public land and in the morning he flew down and went off with hens. I came back in the afternoon and set up next to his roost and got him.
Morning hunting is definitely more exciting and vocal but my best success from 11am-2pm and again an hour or so before dark.

WOW!  Thanks for all the replies.  I will definitely try some of ya'lls tips.  Thanks again.