# late season question



## jonnyr7

If I checked the regulations right, I am only going to be able to hunt the last two weeks of May with my bow. I am already seeing turkeys strutting around like crazy and I was wondering if the last two weeks in May are too late to call turkeys in. So....any advice on late season hunting? Do I still call? Do I still set up decoys?


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## young_gun33

I actually prefer the late season especialy for calling, don't have to mess with the pesky hens.


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## Chuck Smith

Late season can be very good.

Like mentioned above. You won't have too many hens to compete with. Most of the breeding hens should be on nests. But for last season tom they might not be as vocal. They will also more than likely stick to certain patterns.....ie same strut zones, feeding areas, travel routes, etc. IMHO scouting becomes even more important in late season as well as having a good game plan.

What I mean is.....find strutting area's, find travel routes the birds are using (ie a certain ridge, fence line, logging road, etc), finding the roost for that particular week, etc. Then make sure you have a tight game plan. Like...the birds are roosting in area A.....then at 9 am I have seen them routinely in strut zone B.....then at 12 am I have been seeing them in field C. So you have blinds set up of you make moves to each of these areas if you are not having birds respond or not having any action.

I hope this has helped.

Good luck


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## trophy-1

if your seeing turkeys strutting you dont need to call just set up close .


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## jonnyr7

Thanks a lot guys, that lifts my hopes a little bit hearing you say that you prefer late season. The problem is that the places I see all of these turkeys are about 40 miles from where I will be hunting, I see them while I am at work, strutting in the middle of paved residential roads, and in culdesacs. Unfortunately I only have 20 acres to hunt, so my spots will be limited as all of this land is wooded, the good thing though is that these are the same woods in which I deer hunt, and I ALWAYS see turkeys while deer hunting. I know they roost in those trees, but maybe it will be different because all of my sightings are in the fall, guess I don't know. I really appreciate the responses and hope to be posting a picture in a couple of weeks. With turkeys can you overcall? I am an avid coyote hunter and call very little with them...too much and it seems unrealistic. Do these same principles hold true with turkeys? One more question, should the decoys I set out later in the season differ from what you guys would do earlier in the season? Thanks for the help.


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## Chuck Smith

Yes you can over call! That is the number one mistake people make. But on the flip side you can under call as well.

Now with that said here is what I typically do. I call about every 15-20 mins. I do a couple series of yelps, clucks, cutting , etc. But in every 15-20 mins I also change it up.... maybe only cluck....only yelp....only cut and purr.....or mix and match. But my calling sequence changes. But I also listen to see if I hear hens. Then mimic what they do. But sometimes my calling changes to every 5 mins or even out to every 30 mins. It all depends what I am seeing, hearing, etc....while I am scouting or in the woods.

Also when you hear a gobble you need to learn how to read that gobble. This means listening to the tom responding to your calls and the way he responds makes a difference. If the tom is just gobbling to gobble. Then he might have hens around him. So with this you need to get aggressive and try to call those hens in. If the gobble cuts your series of calls off. I typically give one more series to see if he will cut me off again. If he does......get gun into the ready position because he is coming in.

Now with the decoys. In the early season. I typically use more decoys. Because you will see birds in larger flocks. Come late season I cut it back some.....maybe one or two decoys. Also during the late season (if you have a strutter decoy) I would bring it but it could hurt you. Because a 2 year bird that has been getting beaten up by a mature tom might not come in to a strutter with the fear of getting another beat down. But it also might make a mature bird want to fight. It is a coin toss IMO. But I would bring it and see how the birds react. Then make a the call on to using it or not.

I hope this has helped.


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## jonnyr7

So when choosing the strutting decoy do you always use a tom, just sometimes a strutter and sometimes one that is just hanging out? I guess I am really not to familiar with the decoy system. I have seen turkey decoys that have beards, but they are just standing there, and then I have seen some that have their fans out which I am assuming would be the strutter. By the way Chuck, I appreciate all of the advice you have posted, I picked up a lot of info from you reading other threads too, it really helps.


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## jonnyr7

Oh and one more quick question-Is this like deer hunting where if you have the patience you should sit out there all day? Or should I be like the guy that only goes out first light and evening? I am sure this depends on bird movements etc...but I know in the woods I am hunting(its where I grew up) I think I have jumped turkeys while shed hunting at basically all times of the day. If I remember right even in the middle of the day.


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## Chuck Smith

Ok....on the decoys.

A strutter decoy is the one with the fan out. The other ones are just Jake or tom decoys. A turkey struts to get the attention of hens and show dominance. Among other reasons. So that is why if you use a strutting style of decoy the birds will come in because it is a new guy on their turf type thing. Or they will avoid it because they have been beaten up by other toms. So it is a double edge sword sometimes....it works and other times the bird will hang up. I have had jakes (juvie males) come running right into a strutting decoy and I have had big boys hang up. So I am not 100% sold on them. But more times than not these decoys work great during earlier seasons.

I would say if the time allows you stay in the woods. Because here is a rule of thumb to kind of go by.... Toms are on the roost. either they are with hens or they are looking. If they are with the hens they might go away from you. But then around 9 am if the tom is with hens they will either have breed the hens or the hens are not interested in them so they will start to go on the look out again for more hens. I have killed many birds from 9 am - noon. I have not hunted past 1 pm any season or state I have hunted. (some states the season closes at noon or 1 pm. or I have filled the tag). But I would do is scout, scout, scout. If you see birds in a particular area at a certain time. Get to that area about an hour early and wait it out. Good luck.


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## jonnyr7

Ok so do you think I should use a strutter or not? I would love nothing more than to experiment a little bit, but time will only allow me to hunt 2 weekends and I really want to try the best method the first time. I guess there's really no right answer, just wondering if you think I should use a strutter or not.


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## Chuck Smith

Well I personally would take or use a strutter. You can always take it back to the truck or leave it in the blind.


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## jonnyr7

Well I went to the store tonight and they only had one strutter and it was like 70 bucks. It was a Primos B boy or something. I didn't realize those suckers were so expensive. Anyhow, once I bite the bullet tomorrow and pick up that decoy, I should use a couple hen decoys with the strutter right? Hen scratches or whatever they're called with that decoy set up should suffice I hope. Hey Chuck, if you want to PM me go ahead, I have a couple other questions for you if you don't mind.


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