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advice on hot days

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Orrin Jr

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I have never shot a turkey after 3 seasons so any help will do. During this hot days do you hunt open fields or ridge lines? I have not heard a any thing in a few weeks now. Stopped seeing hens a few days ago. I hunt Hanyes Bottom here in Clarksville most of the time. Any advice for the last weedend would help.

Orrin
 
My experience on hot days is that they tend to stay in the shade and hang out. I try to glass tree lines and field edges with shade overhangs.
 
Orrin Jr said:
I have never shot a turkey after 3 seasons so any help will do. During this hot days do you hunt open fields or ridge lines? I have not heard a any thing in a few weeks now. Stopped seeing hens a few days ago. I hunt Hanyes Bottom here in Clarksville most of the time. Any advice for the last weedend would help.

Orrin
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Concentrate on hunting early! If done properly you can have a nice breast and a limit of Crappie before it gets too hot! :D
 
Shady river bank with a cooler of beer. Hunt till mid day then when your sitting motionless and sweating like a madcat, head to the river and enjoy a nice cold beverage.
 
they will come to fields but don't stay long when its hot and sunny.
 
No different then hunting on mild days IMO. Obviously you won't find them out in fields when it is hot, but turkeys don't seem to care much about the heat. In fact, they like it in my experiences.
 
Poser said:
Setterman said:
No different then hunting on mild days IMO. Obviously you won't find them out in fields when it is hot, but turkeys don't seem to care much about the heat. In fact, they like it in my experiences.
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Completely different experience on my end. What do you consider "hot"?
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I am from South Miss, so hot to me is anything over 100. Several years ago I was in GA for the last weekend of the season which was May 14th-15th and the temps at daylight were in the mid 80's and afternoon highs right at 100. We killed birds at all times of the day, but mostly around lunch time when it was sweltering.
 
Thank you all for advice. The creek is a dry creek now but I have been down there 4 of the last 5 times hunting that ridge line and nothing. Then go to open fields and try them then hit the bottoms.
 
Yep poser if you haven't figured it out setterman IS actually a wild turkey. So id go ahead and take everything he says as gosple.
 
thebeard said:
Yep poser if you haven't figured it out setterman IS actually a wild turkey. So id go ahead and take everything he says as gosple.
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I am not all turkey just partly :)

Heat effects different birds in different ways. Maybe I have been lucky but the heat always bothered me more then it seemed to bother the birds.
 
I was hunting a pair of gobblers a couple years ago in this kind of heat. I was on a ridge top where it was nice and shady and the birds hung up just out of range. Instead of coming into range, both gobblers laid down as if they were on a nest. To this day, I've never witnessed a gobbler laying down like that. Maybe it was the heat, maybe they were just tired...
 
Heat doesn't affect their vocalizations much, but it DOES greatly change their travel patterns.

Hens especially will want to water twice a day if it's dry, hot, and sunny during egg production. Expect them to head to water around 9-10am, sometimes even right off the roost. Look for them to go to water again late afternoon.

Gobblers don't have the same water requirements as laying hens, but they also will hit water, often after the hens have left to lay for the morning (not a factor this late in the season, all mature hens should be setting by now).

One thing that does make a BIG difference is bright sunshine. On days above 75 deg or so with bright overhead sunshine, gobblers especially tend to migrate toward shady areas. Their black feathers heat up more quickly than the lighter colored hens, and therefore feel more comfortable in the shade.

So this time of year, I'd focus on water #1, and shade #2.
 
Blistering heat definitely changes things! It wont shut them down but they make necessary changes just like we do! I will take heat however over the really humid and wet/foggy mornings anytime!
 
All turkey's lay down and rest during the day.I've seen this many times over my 49 years of hunting them,the old timers called it nooning,but they are just resting and being a turkey and they do it every day !
 

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