How many of you guys hunt in the evenings where it's legal too. The reason I ask is here in West Virginia we are not allowed have to be out of the woods by 1pm. I don't know if it's just in the area I hunt but the turkeys here seem to gobble really well between 3:00 and 7:00 on certain days. I've heard them gobble better at that time frame than in the morning on certain days. Just wish we could hunt all day here too. Cause there are days I think you could do extremely well if you could. How many of you guys here them gobble good in the evenings?
Quote from: Wvgobbler on June 05, 2018, 07:56:20 PM
How many of you guys hunt in the evenings where it's legal too. The reason I ask is here in West Virginia we are not allowed have to be out of the woods by 1pm. I don't know if it's just in the area I hunt but the turkeys here seem to gobble really well between 3:00 and 7:00 on certain days. I've heard them gobble better at that time frame than in the morning on certain days. Just wish we could hunt all day here too. Cause there are days I think you could do extremely well if you could. How many of you guys here them gobble good in the evenings?
Yes. In MS we can hunt all daylight hours. I don't go at dawn unless I know exactly where they are roosted. Waste of time in my opinion. I usually hit the woods around 9 and hunt til noon. I have killed way more birds during this time than any other since the hens usually leave to lay eggs. I will also hunt 3-dark. Not too much gobbling in afternoon but they will come in to calls
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I would actually sleep in in Nebraska if I could sleep, best time is 1-5 typically. But most states I hunt legal time is 1pm.
I have killed alot of them in the evenings.
Yep, lots of pre bedtime gobbling where I huntu in WI.
Just heard one gobbling tonight about 8:00. Of course season has been out for a week, but.......
My 4 birds this year came at 8:30 a.m., 11:55 a.m., 2:27 p.m. and 6 p.m. this is the first year I've really been successful past 11a.m. but I have a strategy now
Most years, the best time for me is in the afternoon. Most of the time, not all the time, but most of the time I've found that if one is fired up in the afternoon and gobbling, he can be called in without a lot of effort(as always, it depends on the turkey and what he wants to do LOL) KY put out a turkey hunting survey and one of the questions was about closing hunting hours in the afternoon. I hope they don't.
I've killed slightly more AM than PM birds here in Texas. Probably works out to a 60-40 split.
I've killed a lot of turkeys after noon, infact E of the five I killed this year were after 2:00 pm
It is a hotly debated topic here in Missouri as they are considering extending hunting hours to allow all day hunting....we currently have a 1 PM closure.
I am in the camp being in favor of all day hunting. There is no biologically sound reasoning not to do it, but in some areas where hunters see fewer birds than they did in the glory days of the 80's and 90's are not willing to liberalize the season in what they see as a population decline.
In PA the last two weeks of the season we can hunt all day. We have killed some slammers in the evening that we could not in the morning. Most have worked and gobbled great. Just be near where you think they roost and do some calling.
Since PA changed the hunting times for the last 2 weeks of the season I have called up a few an hour before roost time. Mid day and evening hunts can be just as good as in the morning.
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I kill the majority of my birds in the later morning or early afternoon hours... Especially later in the season.
I have to stop hunting at 5 PM, and wish it was 6:30 PM... It seems to me that those birds become much more vocal in the evening trying to regroup with any hens that separated from them earlier...
Previous to last year (I believe) we had to stop at 3PM, and last season was the first time I went out for late afternoon shoots... Both times I went, birds really started getting active just after 5 PM.... Hunting for three hours without a sound in the woods, and at 5:01 hearing three birds sound off is a bit frustrating....
The first forty minutes of the day are worth more than the rest of the day combined.
Quote from: silvestris on June 07, 2018, 06:10:54 PM
The first forty minutes of the day are worth more than the rest of the day combined.
I've killed a couple dozen toms and have yet to get one straight off the limb.
Where I hunt I don't get much action in the afternoon. Seems like 11:00 is the deadline. I think it's more to do with how hot it is. I've watched birds behind the house in the afternoon and they just lay around in the shade. They will get up about 30 min before fly up grab a drink then off to bed. I hear far fewer birds in the afternoons down here than I do in the mornings.
30 mins before sunrise, to legal sunset in Tennessee. I have killed a bunch in the late afternoon. But usually that means the hunting has been tough, and it takes me that long to kill one.
West Virginia sent me a survey this year and one of the questions was about going to all day hunting. I answered I support it. In most of the state's I hunt it's a relatively new thing and doesn't go to all day until later in the season but I'm a fan. Have had some great gobbling hunts in the evening.
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Quote from: silvestris on June 07, 2018, 06:10:54 PM
The first forty minutes of the day are worth more than the rest of the day combined.
Maybe if you like to hear them, but if lime to kill them, this statement is false
In my experience, Rio hunting can be great in the late afternoon/evening. Easterns not so much. But I don't do it much as our local season often brings afternoons nearing 90 degrees and it ain't much fun for me or the birds. ;D
Quote from: Rockhound on June 12, 2018, 01:33:05 PM
Quote from: silvestris on June 07, 2018, 06:10:54 PM
The first forty minutes of the day are worth more than the rest of the day combined.
Maybe if you like to hear them, but if lime to kill them, this statement is false
I have killed about half from the roost. Perhaps I don't have enough experience with the rest of the day.
I agree with Sil, I loved them off the roost but if he gets by me I also love the second set up, I don't like the evening hunts, I can't hunt from sun up to sun down and I hunt a lot days so its normally until about noon and I am done, I have tried evenings with no success here in MS.
Quote from: silvestris on June 07, 2018, 06:10:54 PM
The first forty minutes of the day are worth more than the rest of the day combined.
My experience also.If you've missed the first hour,you've missed about 90% of the day.
I guess everywhere is different. It really doesn't get hot here where I hunt heck the first 4 days I hunted in 7 inches of snow. Then it got cold the first of May and we had a little snow then. I don't have to many days it gets out of the 60's the whole season here. Maybe that why our turkeys gobble so good in the evening from 3 to 7 some days. 9 to 12 is my best time here where I hunt but evenings could be smoking hot if they would let us hunt all day.
Quote from: silvestris on June 07, 2018, 06:10:54 PM
The first forty minutes of the day are worth more than the rest of the day combined.
To be honest I have seen more mid morning than I ever have in the first 45 minutes, though this year was an exception as I had 9 hens and 2 toms come in early though I don't recall the exact time.