Turkey hunting in the PM?

[SuperK]

Does anybody turkey hunt in the afternoon?  I have always hunted them "swamp chickens" in the morning but nowadays I have more time in the afternoon.  How do ya'll do it?  Thanks for any tips.

[vermonster13]

Noon is the cut-off time here in the spring season.

[BlacktailBowhunter]

I have found that unless I am near a roost. Between 9am and 2pm is the best.

Any time is a good time to hunt turkeys though.

Just my $0.02

[koger]

Last spring I killed my best gobbler ever at 2:45pm, all the hens was on the nest and he was on the other side of a 20 acre field, I got set up, called 3 times and he ran over400yds to stop 12 yds in front of me. Only one I ever killed in the afternoon, 25lbs, 10&1/2 inch beard, 1&1/4 inch spurs and the points were rounded off! Real trophy for me.

[Hawkeye]

We have to quit at 1:00 PM in Illinois  

[KSdan]

Mid-day is awesome.  Took two last week 11:00 and 11:45. Pretty typical.

Though I have had many encounters in the evening, I have not harvested many at that time. I set-up within 50 yds of the roosting area and seek to call them in a bit.  Typically have lots of encounters but few "drawing-them-in" responses.  

Dan in KS

[Duckbutt]

Have called more in close at 5pm'ish than any other time of day.  Takes patience and many come in quiet that time of day.  Stake out in a good area and hit the call every fifteen minutes.  Be willing to sit for a few hours.  It works.

[leatherneck]

Ohio laws only let us hunt until 12:00pm.

[EricW]

Here in Nebraska sunup to sun down legal times. I shot mine last year right before dark. My dad got one this last Sat about 6 in the evening. I had a shot at one about the same time. Missed high. tom and 3 jakes.

[wtpops]

CalEfornia stops the hunting at 4:00 pm

[Don Stokes]

PM hunting is legal here in MS, but I don't have enough birds on my place to risk pushing them to roost in another area. I leave them alone after 3;00 or so, because I prefer to hunt the morning gobbling time.

[Talondale]

VA just recently instituted an all day hunt for the last half of the season.  I haven't had any success yet during that time because by that time I'm either tagged out or out of time.  But there's been a lot of times during the 12 noon cutoff time part of the season where an additional 45 minutes may have meant bagging a bird.  

[Jason Jelinek]

We got an 8" bearded tom yesterday at 1:30 pm.  There were 4 or 5 toms with 3 hens, the toms would gobble back to us periodically, but the hens were calling to us the whole time.  We snuck up to within 200 yards of the flock.  It took 1/2 hour of calling and eventually the hens were the ones that brought the flock to us.  I used 2 different calls (slate and diaphram).

I've had good luck in the morning if there are toms without hens.

[wollelybugger]

If you challenge the dominate hen she will get mad enough to come see who giving her a hard time. Agitated purrs and loud cuts will get her hoppin mad.

[Steel]

I bagged a tom this weekend with my centaur longbow about 5pm. He came running in to my decoys and calling.Intersting that alot of States shut down hunting in the afternoon I never heard that before.

[KentuckyTJ]

Yep find their favorite roost and set up there when they show up late in the day. Benefit is you don't have to get out of bed a 5 am.

[lone hunter]

Like the late afternoon hunt, around 5pm. Pretty vocal here around that time and seems a bit easier to slip up on them.

[Roy Steele]

Here in WV it's 12 also but I've had good luck in some other states in the evening.Pressured gobblers and hens make late morning alot better.

[GMMAT]

In '07 I took my only bow bird (compound) at 6:20PM.  I'd watched them go to roost the [revious 3 days and they'd skirted me each previous evening.  I kept moving 30-40yds each morning and evening, and they finally came in (or by) me.

I missed at 20yds (shot a hole in my blind....lol) and ended up taking him at 30yds.

I SEE more birds in the AM's........but my only success has been in the PM.

I'm hunting mid-day, tomorrow.  LB or nothing.

[2-BIG]

I have killed Toms that were roosted on property I could hunt but would fly down onto the neighbors property that I couldn't hunt. I just hunted near the roost trees with 1 lone hen and did a little soft calling and caught them comming back in the evening to roost.
I have also roosted a big Tom on public land and in the morning he flew down and went off with hens. I came back in the afternoon and set up next to his roost and got him.
Morning hunting is definitely more exciting and vocal but my best success from 11am-2pm and again an hour or so before dark.