I have gone out three evenings now and havent had any toms out...just hens...is mornings better?

 

I have always like mid morning or early afternoon. Both birds this year were around mid-morning; 11:00am and 10:30am. Hunted for a total of 45 minutes over two days...

 

You will hear the most gobbles right at day break and if you get close to a roost it can be a done deal a few min after flydown. On the other hand toms typically are henned up right away in the morning. If you stay until mid morning and can get a bird to gobble to you then get ready but it is more difficult to see or hear birds during this time. Another great time to go out is in the afternoon and hunt until dark. When it starts getting closer to dark the birds are on the move and usually gobble and respond to calls. You just have to be careful not to bust them if they come in and roost by you and you don't kill one of them. If it is a light rain/cloudy day i usually hunt all day. Birds love the light rain periods and the periods right after rainstorms. With that said, you can't kill one if you're not out there. Of the three birds i killed so far this year, one was at 11:30, one at noon and the other at 4:45. I have killed birds from the very first min of light to the very last but typically early morning and late afternoon are the best times.

 

Morning is my favorite time: At first light and then again in mid-morning.

 

Mornings

 

Mid morning is a good time to call in a tom. If it's overly hot out the afternoon can be tough.

 

Whenever you can get out!

 

times 2

 

First light is best normally just because there so vocal, i have better luck killing them after 8am though. When i hunt Nebraska i do really well early afternoon also.

Hens will have boy friends sooner or later.

 

I primarily hunt big fields surrounded by timber. I always figure the golden times are the first couple hours until about 8am. It then seems to kind of slow down until about 10-11:30am. Then it seems from 2-4 is good and then about 6-7pm. Naturally a turkey can enter the field at any time of the day but these are the time frames I like.

My favorite time frames to have one come right in is that 10-11:30am and the 2-4pm. I have also killed a pile of birds with a gun in that 10-2pm range. It seems if you don't get them right off the bat you need to just sit it out and wait till they fire back up.

 

Late morning early afternoon can be very productive.

After birds come off the roost they will hang out together and it can be very difficult to get a tom away from the flock.
But after they scratch around for a few hours the hens will go to their nests and the toms are left looking for love on their own.
I've seen them come in like a freight train early afternoon.

Also, don't know when your season runs, but I've also had good luck late season after all the hens are bred and nesting.

 

My favorite time to hear turkeys is within the first hour of daylight. However, I've killed an overwhelming majority of my turkeys from 10:00-2:00, and then from 5:00 until dark. Too many hunters hammer them hard with all kinds of calls just before sunrise until about 8:00 and when the birds shut up, they think its over and head home for the day. I usually take a nap around 8:00 or so if the gobbling has stopped. Most of the time after the hens have left the toms, about an hour later the toms recharge and start looking again, except this time, they try to get to the hens before another gobbler and they can come in on a string in just a couple of minutes. My first bird of the year, on opening day, came at between 1:30-1:45. I bet he gobbled at least a couple of hundred times and strutted back and forth for close to an hour before he sneaked in for a peek. Fatal move! the second bird gobbled about 10:30 and was just barely audible from where I was. Two calling sequences later and he was within 40 yards. Soft clucks and purrs and he strutted right on in and I was tagged out at 10:45. Two mature toms in late morning to mid-day.

 

if you can get one to gobble at 12:00 then you have a very good chance he will come in. I like about 10-2 best

 

I went out today at 4pm, it was abnormally hot for Indiana too, in the 80s...nice breeze...I seen one tom over 100 yards from me and about a dozen or so hens with one jake...the tom only gobbled at me once and thats all the response I got for the whole evening and I climbed down out of my stand around 7:30 or so...I didnt know if I was doing something wrong cause all I could get near me was hens...in Indiana we can only get one bird...bearded or male turkey for the season...it runs from april 25th till may 13th this year..

 

The early morning is best in my book.

 

Daylight till about 30-45 min after sunrise

 

Mornings are better if you like vocal birds. That's when they gobble the most.

 

Keep in mind going in during daylight you might be seen. Eye sight is a turkeys best defense. If you really want a bird sit all day. It's worth the rush brother!!!!!!!

 

Climbed down out of your stand? Are you tree stand hunting turkeys? Get down on the ground, find a good wide tree, and sit down in front of it. Move spots if you need to, don't just sit in one place and hope they show up. Cover all exposed skin with camo and when they are close don't fidget around.

Turkeys spend their entire lives being hunted by one predator or another.

 

Listen to ranger danger Turkeys are very very hard to get drawn on from above. Owls love young turkeys. They look up as much as they look down. Ground ambush and don't blink. Even in a blind!!!

 

Like I said this is my first time ever hunting turkeys...so sit on the ground...do I have to use decoys to get em close within bow range? I had hens within bow range from my stand today, but couldnt get the tom close...I deer hunt the same property and during the winter they are all over by my many tree stands...I will try being on the ground in the morning...I really appreciate everyones input...

 

Mornings have always been better hunts for me. Just watch the turkeys when you are hunting to see what they do everyday. When you get them halfway figured out make your move to the spots where the go everyday. and yeah make sure you cover all skin with camo, they can see way better than you would think. Decoys arent always useful if you have a flock of old birds, but when you have some 2-3 year old birds they work good

 

First hour of light followed buy 2 to 3 pm.....

 

If this is your first year hunting them, you might want to consider shooting one with a shotgun. You will likely find it extremely frustrating with a bow. If you use the bow try to have some big trees in front of you to give you a chance to draw while he's behind one. Once you have a toms attention and he starts coming your way it's usually best to call very little or stop all together. You can call a tom from inside a hole 300 yards away and he will come over and look in the hole.

 

For me, it's from 1/2hr before sunrise to 4:00 PM. We set up 2 blinds on our property and move as needed. The mornings we hunt near the roost, then we move to the other blind to intercept as needed.

We also move the blinds depending on where the turkeys move from day to day.

We've killed them 5 minutes into the day, and as late as 3:45 in the afternoon, as well as any hour in between. Patience is the key for us.

Your results may vary...

 

Lots of good advice here. I have killed birds in every hour of the day, but nothing beats setting up on roosted birds and taking them after fly-down. A close second is late morning as many have said, especially if you had contact with toms earlier but were ignored. They'll often look you up later. There seems to be something magic about 11:00 AM. I think every year for the past 4 or 5 in a row I have killed at least 1 bird at almost exactly 11:00 AM.

 

I think every year for the past 4 or 5 in a row I have killed at least 1 bird at almost exactly 11:00 AM.

My experience has been the same. And 90% of the time, they come in silent around that time. My kid and I were both dozing off a couple of weeks ago. I opened my eyes as a tom strutted by at 5 yards. Never made a sound.

 

Anytime :wink: