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how often do you hunt in the afternoons?

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meemphisbluesagain

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I would much rather turley hunt in the mornings but this year my kids soccer games are on Saturday mornings. I was wondeing if hunting them in the afternoons would be better than not at all.
I can go on Sunday mornings but hunting saturday and sunday means more time in the woods.
 
you will see a lot of long time turkey hunters agree.....IMO your success rate is much higher between 10-3pm...if you find a bird gobbling in those times they can die.

i have killed more during that time then all the other times combined.
 
Poser said:
It can definitely be productive, though it certainly won't always feel that way. I almost always turkey hunt all day and the mid afternoons can be some long hours.
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How late do you hunt? Until they roost? I've just never had much luck when it gets warm trying to locate a gobbler
 
I will hunt from sunup to sundown (course this time of year has a nap or two in the mix)but rarely do much good early or late. I just like being out there amongst them.
 
Usually just hunt all day except for a lunch stop at the general store to check with my friends. Ive killed a decent percentage of birds in the evenings. If you can just get a gobble or two and get in on him then you have a decent chance.
 
I too have seen my most success between 10 and 3.

Very rarely do I kill one on flydown.
I have killed a few before 10 though.

One of the things I like about turkey hunting so much, deer seemingly disappear from the areas I hunt after 10 in the morning.
Turkeys are apt to show up any time.
 
Several years back i had access to a 100 acre farm solely to myself. When i quit hunting in the afternoons my success went way up in the mornings. Now i hunt a lease with alot of other people so i hunt when i can.
 
muddyboots said:
Several years back i had access to a 100 acre farm solely to myself. When i quit hunting in the afternoons my success went way up in the mornings. Now i hunt a lease with alot of other people so i hunt when i can.
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brings up a good point...there is strategy to afternoon hunting that is different from morning hunting obviously. I go looking for them more in the afternoon but at a much slower pace. I do all i can to not bump birds from their normal routine and the closer to roost it gets the more i slow it down.

i will also sit and call for 30mins to an hour if need be in areas i know birds frequent in the afternoon.
 
Poser said:
They may not gobble, which is what can make afternoon hunting frustrating, but they are out there.
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This is what keeps me from hunting much in the afternoons. The thrill to me is hunting gobbling turkeys and playing the game the way I want.

I tried hunting all day last year one time. It about killed me, and I vowed to never do it again. The only action I had was around 12:00, and he just wouldn't come the extra 10 yds I needed him to. I think he had gobbled twice!

Now, with that said, there was one bird a few yrs ago that I chased a few mornings that was starting to become a season wrecker. So, after his giving me the slip one morning, I decided to head back that afternoon after work. He was gobbling from the same spot he had been that morning. I ended up killing him gobbling all the way to the gun.
 
I've killed practically all of my turkeys betweeen 10:30 and 2:00. Not as much gobbling activity like in the morning, but usually less competition from other hens. Normally if I find one fired up during this time, there's about an 80% chance I'll bag him as opposed to maybe a 10-20% chance early in the morning.
 
Sounds like I need to stick it out instead of bailing after the morning. Just hard sitting when its warm, the sun is out and no turkey sounds. Feel like I sat enough during Deer season and I start thinking about all the other fun things I could be doing. But you can't kill them at home.
 
i dont really sit much in the afternoon. You dont HAVE to deer hunt them in the noon hours, you just have to look harder. I have had a bunch of VERY exciting hunts after 9am.

i just slowly walk and call from time to time looking at every field i can view searching for them. if i dont come up on something then i go get lunch or go home and do some stuff like mow the grass then head back out a few hours later and do it all over again.


50% of the time it works EVERY TIME.
 
Another great strategy is to set-up a pop-up blind near a known roost and remain stationary during the last 3 hours of legal light (right now 4-7 pm). Bring a comfortable chair and a good book. Call every 30 minutes or so.

I requested an interlibrary loan for Ray Eye's book and both Brian Lovett books for just such an occasion this season.
 
Its tough when your Gas (Give a s***) meter is running low. But will try it out this weekend with the youth hunt. May grab some breakfast and try to get my son back out around 11 if we don't get a bird early.
 
Poser said:
With the sun rise at 6:45 and sunset at 7:15, a full day of turkey hunting this time of year can easily start with a 4 am wake up call, a drive, a long approach, hunt all day, sit in the woods until 7:30-7:45, 30-45 minute walk out.

If you start your "hunting" day with the alarm clock, that can easily turn into a 18 hour day. When you do those days back to back, you can definitely burn yourself out on afternoon turkey hunts.
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Very very true. I typically hunt all/most hours of every day I am away from the office/wife. With that said, I often times smile when I see an afternoon forecast predicting thunderstorms, rain or very windy conditions. This will typically make me retreat to camp and recharge my batteries, many times, much needed.
 

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