Afternoon Gobblers

by: Gary Finch & Steve Layton, Finch Enterprises

Turkey hunters are definitely a different breed. They live for a spring season that has them up and standing in the woods well before the morning paper is delivered. The goal for these hunters is to first, be in a position to hear a turkey gobble, and second, make an attempt at calling the bird within gun range. It’s a niche of hunting that has experienced increasing exposure and popularity since I entered the sport well over thirty years ago.

I’m no different than the rest of these pre-dawn hunters. It doesn’t get any better than an early morning turkey hunt where all the sights and sounds come together for a successful conclusion. While the morning hunt is regarded as the ideal and most preferred method of turkey hunting, it certainly doesn’t mean that an afternoon attempt is without merit.

I know a handful of turkey hunters who are simply not able to hunt the early mornings due to the constraints of their work schedules. The good part is, their early morning arrival at work also has them off earlier in the afternoons than the rest of us. These guys have learned to approach turkey hunting a little differently, because they have to.

Hunting turkeys in the afternoons is a totally different game. In many ways it is more like deer hunting. Afternoon turkey hunting requires hunters to have a knowledge and understanding of where their turkeys are and what they are doing throughout the course of the day. It also requires a certain element of confidence and discipline to stick to the game plan.

Many traditional morning hunters might accuse afternoon hunters of “bushwacking” and that couldn’t be further from the afternoon hunter’s game plan. “Bushwacking” insinuates that the hunter simply hides next to a food source and takes the bird with no skill required. That is not the way a true afternoon hunter wants to experience his hunt.

Contrary to what many believe, turkeys will gobble throughout the day. It just happens that they are easier to locate and are more vocal during the early mornings. Afternoon hunting can take several approaches. Open fields, dusting areas, and fly-up zones are just a few locations for making an afternoon stand.

Calling turkeys in the afternoon is also performed much differently than in the morning. I tend to use my slate calls to produce more clucks, purrs, and feeding calls rather than issuing hard-blasting yelps. The idea is to create subtle curiosity in the gobbler without inviting his intense scrutiny. Since the afternoon gobbler doesn’t typically telegraph his position with continuous incoming gobbles, afternoon hunters have to be even more careful with their cover and movements. If a gobbler does answer to the slate, there’s nothing wrong with enticing him with a response from the mouth yelper. A smart gobbler may cover the final distance with drumming or total silence, so it pays to be ready.  

Later in the season, as hens begin to leave the gobblers and tend their nests, afternoon hunting will become even more productive. Cool spring mornings and evenings dictate that the hens must remain on the nest until the sun warms the ground. Gobblers quickly learn the schedule of when the hens will leave the nest to seek food and water. A frustrated gobbler wouldn’t dare miss a daily routine of meeting back with his hens. This is the period of the season when afternoon gobbling will begin to increase. Afternoon hunters are looking to fool the old gobbler into thinking their calls are being emitted by the hens strolling to and from the nesting area.

The use of decoys in open areas can make for an exciting afternoon. If turkeys haven’t already become wise to seeing decoys, a visual aid will reinforce your casual calling. The best part is a decoy does a great job of focusing the gobbler’s attention away from the hunter.

If early morning gobblers won’t play the game, or hunting is only possible for the later hours, consider trying your luck on the other side of the noon. Afternoon hunting might just be the ticket for a turkey this season.