Best time to kill a gobbler

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BV

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Maury Co. TN
In your opinion when is the best time to fill your tag: early morning, middday, or afternoon.

I will have to say I've killed most of my birds in the morning, but those midday birds sure are fun to hunt.

When have you been the most successful?
 
Most successful in the morning for me.

I make alot of mistakes come midday or afternoon. They just don't gobble as much ,.. so i either get impatient and bump them or they sneak in on me and i can't get it done.
 
Early morning for me. Im usually hunting places with very large fields. Alot of times during the midday and afternoon they will just get out in the middle of those fields and stay with hens. Ive killed alot of a afternoon though but have had much more success at calling in the morning. Its all going to be relative to whatever areas someone is hunting. For instance for big woods hunting in the park, I have had more success midday after the hens leave the gobblers and the gobblers start gobbling some more.
 
My most successful time would be in the morning. I can locate them and set up. The afternoon they just stay out in the middle of fields. Nothing like that big Tom dropping right out of the roost into you set and ending the morning early.
 
Ive killed birds at every hour of the day, from flydown to flyup. There's not a bad time! YES you will most often hear more birds gobble early in the morning, but that doesnt mean they are easier to kill. If you can stand to do it, stay after em all day long. All it takes is for him to gobble a time or two and the game is on regardless of the time of day!
 
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agree with Lawrence....now i HEAR more birds in the morning but i would say 70% of my success hunts are from 10-2pm. I get on more birds in the morning BUT if you find one gobbling in the 10-2 range your odds go up.
 
mid morning is been best for me. Things are exciting at first light, but most often right off roost the gobbler seems to be doing his thing with plenty of hens around. On up in the morning if one gets fired up I have better luck. But every now and then I find a gobbler all alone on roost. This also is a set up that I love. On up in the day around 2-3 pm if I can get a bird fired up, odds are good on killing that bird.
 
I agree with turkey hunter that if you can get him fired up in midday you've got a pretty good shot at calling him in. Thats one thing I love about hunting that time of day
 
Huntaholic said:
Ive killed birds at every hour of the day, from flydown to flyup. There's not a bad time! YES you will most often hear more birds gobble early in the morning, but that doesnt mean they are easier to kill. If you can stand to do it, stay after em all day long. All it takes is for him to gobble a time or two and the game is on regardless of the time of day!
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What he said. I've probably killed more in the morning but when possible I'll stay out all day. Late in the season when hens are nesting if you can get one to gobble around mid-morning or later you've got a great chance of killing him.
 
killed my 1 and only bird at 2 pm in the afternoon. he wasnt gobbling him and 2 others just snuck up on me and big 8's and we doubled
 
steven stone said:
Early morning for me. Im usually hunting places with very large fields. Alot of times during the midday and afternoon they will just get out in the middle of those fields and stay with hens. Ive killed alot of a afternoon though but have had much more success at calling in the morning. Its all going to be relative to whatever areas someone is hunting. For instance for big woods hunting in the park, I have had more success midday after the hens leave the gobblers and the gobblers start gobbling some more.
Click to expand...

Good Answer
 
I love watching them fly down and eating my lead... :grin:

One of the places I hunt you have to get them first thing in the morning or you will be belly crawling... :D
 
DBLAARCHERY said:
I love watching them fly down and eating my lead... :grin:

One of the places I hunt you have to get them first thing in the morning or you will be belly crawling... :D
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Thats my kinda hunting there!!
 
Buddy of mine has a place like that. I've been with him on 3 big long beards that he killed from this spot that has a big bluff on it and the birds pitch off in the corner of a big hay field. The bird on the post "The only thing better than killing a turkey.." with 5 beards was one of those that pitched off and landed in our lap!
 
I'm no expert, but I think people leave the woods too early. I have only killed 7 birds in my short career. I have only killed one before Noon, and it was at 8:15.

I hunt alot of mountain areas no fields what so ever. Now don't get me wrong I have heard alot of birds gobble and worked alot of birds before noon, but I never could close the deal. Usally if I can get one to gobble around 11:00 or so that will be a dead bird no questions asked.

The birds I have killed have been at 8:15AM 12:10, 12:15, 12:15, 12:25, 3:30, and 7:15PM (right before pitch black dark)

To me they fly down with the hens and will not leave them, when the hen leaves and they get lonely, they will come in like they are on a string.

Alot of my buddy are calling me on the phone around 11:00 or 12:00 saying they are done for the day to get lunch. all of the 12:00 birds I heard while eating a sandwich in the woods. Then I went after them. The best lunch is eating off a point and just randomly hearing a big Gobble.

I can't wait!!!!
 
cruff10 said:
I'm no expert, but I think people leave the woods too early. I have only killed 7 birds in my short career. I have only killed one before Noon, and it was at 8:15.

I hunt alot of mountain areas no fields what so ever. Now don't get me wrong I have heard alot of birds gobble and worked alot of birds before noon, but I never could close the deal. Usally if I can get one to gobble around 11:00 or so that will be a dead bird no questions asked.

The birds I have killed have been at 8:15AM 12:10, 12:15, 12:15, 12:25, 3:30, and 7:15PM (right before pitch black dark)

To me they fly down with the hens and will not leave them, when the hen leaves and they get lonely, they will come in like they are on a string.

Alot of my buddy are calling me on the phone around 11:00 or 12:00 saying they are done for the day to get lunch. all of the 12:00 birds I heard while eating a sandwich in the woods. Then I went after them. The best lunch is eating off a point and just randomly hearing a big Gobble.

I can't wait!!!!
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Its exciting getting on those mid day birds. I find them easier to work also and besides his hens leaving him, there are less hunters to contest with as well.
 
Fooled with a bird for about a week once, he was roosting pretty much in the same area but he was henned up bad. There was a little meadow just above where he had been roosting so I set up there at 5:30 pm. I made a couple of clucks about every 30 mins. About 7:30pm EST, I hear him walking through the leaves coming to the meadow to check it out. He popped just his head up over the bank to look in field & the ol Mossberg roared. I've killed a bird or two, but I couldn't do a thing with this one in the morning time. The biggest thing about that hunt was being around where he wanted to be. He roosted there so that's where I set up.


Somebody said something bout belly crawling in this thread. I heard an old man say once,"Son, I'd just as soon crawl em as call em". Struck me funny as I was just a kid, but I have found out there's a lotta truth to that statement. Best of Luck to Ya'll!!
 
kdxdude said:
Somebody said something bout belly crawling in this thread. I heard an old man say once,"Son, I'd just as soon crawl em as call em". Struck me funny as I was just a kid, but I have found out there's a lotta truth to that statement. Best of Luck to Ya'll!!
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I've done that twice. The first time my buddy said put the sneek on him I thought he was crazy. About an hour later I killed him. Not the easiest but it can be done.
 
man i cant tell you how many i have had to belly up on to get them!!

had to crawl 300yds through a wheat field one time..the wheat luckily was about waste high so it covered me perfect. just eased up to about 30yds and popped up and let it rip!!

the only thing i hate about belly crawling is when you STILL get busted....at that point you are not only pissed about it but usually WET AND MUDDY to add insult to injury lol
 
I have had about fifty percent sucess rate with belly crawling, that is a lot better rate than calling them in. Both ways are exciting. I have to say I still prefer to call them in.
Oh back to the original topic I have killed more birds mid morning around ten o clock.
 

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