Turkey hunting in the late season can be both rewarding and challenging. As spring turns to summer turkey behavior changes and hunting tactics must adapt. With the right strategies late season turkey hunts can result in tagging some of the biggest and wisest old toms of the year.
Understand Late Season Turkey Behavior
During the late season, turkey mating behaviors wind down as hens begin nesting and incubating eggs. This leads to changes in gobbler habits:
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Gobbling decreases dramatically or ceases altogether as toms no longer need to attract hens. Don’t rely on hearing gobbles to locate birds.
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Toms become less responsive to calling as they are not actively seeking hens. Aggressive calling tactics that work early in the season are often ineffective.
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Mature toms form small flocks and no longer aggressively compete for hens They are more tolerant of other gobblers
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With the breeding season over, gobblers focus on feeding and loafing rather than displaying for hens.
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Pressured gobblers become extra wary and secretive after dealing with hunters all season. They shift routines to avoid human activity.
Adjust Hunting Tactics Accordingly
To tag late season gobblers hunting strategies must shift with turkey behavior changes
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Spend more time scouting to pinpoint gobbler locations, travel patterns and prime areas they frequent like strut zones, fields and dusting sites. Trail cameras are invaluable scouting tools.
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Ambush gobbler strut zones since they are creature of habit. Figure out their routines and set up along their regularly used routes.
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Hunt mid-morning when there is less hunting pressure. Gobblers are more likely to still be active after most hunters have left the woods.
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Get tight by closing distance before calling. With thick foliage and limited vision, you can slip in closer than early season.
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Use softer calling like clucks, purrs and subtle yelps instead of loud, aggressive calling. Match what turkeys naturally do this time of year.
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Try locator calls like owl hoots or crow calls to get gobblers to shock gobble and reveal positions.
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Set up near roosts at fly down time without calling. Gobblers often fly down and walk away from hunters so intercept them.
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Target gobbler groups since toms are flocked up and more tolerant of other birds. Calling one in may bring several.
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Stay mobile and cover a lot of ground hitting multiple potential hot spots until you strike a gobbler. They move around more than early season.
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Hunt all day where legal since bird habits aren’t restricted to early morning in the late season.
Additional Late Season Turkey Hunting Tips
Here are some more strategies for hunting gobblers during the challenging late season:
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Pick a fight with loud aggressive gobbling, cutting and fighting purrs to simulate sparring gobblers. Pique a tom’s competitive nature.
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Imitate young hens with high-pitched, raspy yelping since some toms seek late breeding opportunities.
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Target gobbler dusting areas where they hope to encounter hens. Set up and call from these spots.
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Use a push-pull tactic with two hunters when dealing with hung up gobblers. One calls, the other sneaks in closer.
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Make a milk-run looping between several known strut zones calling until you strike. Gobblers make rounds.
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Head to the further corners of hunting land away from roads and easy access points to escape pressure.
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Avoid calling to roosted birds which only alerts other hunters. Instead intercept them on the ground after fly-down.
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Set up on afternoon gobbler staging areas near roost sites where they gather before flying up to trees.
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Physical barriers like swamps, rivers and steep hills hold less pressured birds. Be willing to hike further than others.
Hunt Patiently and Optimistically
Even with difficult late season hunting conditions, staying focused and hunting smart can lead to success. Avoid frustration and keep hunting hard. Some of the biggest and most mature toms are taken during the late season. With the right techniques, you can tag a true trophy gobbler.
1 Buddy up on a roosted tom.
Many late-season gobblers, especially old ones, have the maddening habit of flying away from calling as they exit the roost. âWhile itâs tempting to believe theyâre nervous that the calling they hear is a hunter, but whatâs probably happening is that theyâre simply used to having hens come to them, and so they just fly to a strut zone where they know thatâs going to happen,â says Billy Yargus. âLots of times a tom with have more than one strut zone, and one of the best ways to kill that turkey is to bring a buddy. Each hunter sets up in a different zone, and from there you just decide if you want to call or not. In my experience, the tom is probably going to land near the guy who never touches a call. But the minute you bank on that, the bird will do just the opposite.â Either way, one of you fills a tag.
1 Use a locator call to bushwhack a bird.
Weâve all run into those pressured late-season toms that wonât answer a hen call, let alone come to one, and yet theyâll climb all over a locator call, even at midmorning, whether itâs a crow call, owl hooter, or gobble tube (where itâs safe to use one). These birds often travel in pairs or groups, and one way to tag themâsometimes the only wayâis to keep them gobbling with the locator, then figure out their line of travel and get in front of them. Once youâre where they want to be, itâs a lot easier to pull these toms in with realistic decoys or subtle calling. Or simply study the terrain and bushwhack them along a ridge spine or other terrain funnel, without ever making a call. Itâs not the most exciting way to take a gobbler, but it beats tag soup.
How to Hunt Late Season Turkeys
FAQ
How to hunt turkeys in the late season?
Use the predawn darkness, thick cover, and terrain features to hide your approach. Crawl if you have to. And be quiet. Don’t march through dry leaves like every other turkey hunter. Walk softly and stop often. Try to sound like a squirrel or a deer going through the woods.
What is the best strategy for turkey decoy in late season?
When a decoy is placed out in the grass, it may look visible from your vantage point, but it may not be to a turkey. In all situations, but especially the late season when grass at other vegetation is thick, try to place your decoy on a hill or rise where it’s most visible.
Do turkeys still gobble late season?
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.
What are mid season turkey tactics?
Generally, the key to getting it done in the mid season is to utilize soft calling techniques such as quiet purrs, clucks, and soft yelps. Come mid to late season many hens have started nesting, or will leave the gobbler at midday to go lay an egg.