Bag that late-season gobbler

Kill May longbeards with these tactics

Turkey hunting patterns and strategies continually evolve throughout the season. Much of it is a natural process. The turkeys go from active breeding activity during the early season to an ever-increasing number of hens sitting on nests late in the season. Also, the physical nature of the wood changes from almost barren to flush with greenery.

External forces play a role, as gobblers have been hunted hard for extended periods, and gobblers still living have learned a thing or two. Often, these hard-pressured birds have been hunted relentlessly and hammered with the same calls, creating a situation where they gobble less and become call-wary.

Turkey season dates differ between North and South Carolina, but both states allow hunting opportunities into May. Successful turkey hunters must adapt from mid-to-late April through the end of the season. 

Jason Peek owns and guides for turkeys (and deer and hogs) at Deep South Hunting Services in Ehrhardt, SC (803-707-7798). Peek said turkey hunting isn’t necessarily more challenging or easier in the late season. 

“The takeaway for turkey hunters is that it’s different,” he said. “Early season hunters must deal with henned birds, and in late season, more hens are on nests. But hunting pressure has greatly impacted turkey activity. We must adapt to tradeoffs.”

As owner and guide of a commercial hunting operation, Peek must ensure that clients have realistic opportunities to harvest longbeards in the season’s final days. 

He’s developed strategies throughout the season to offer quality hunts until closing day.

“To have quality late-season hunts, we’ve got to manage the potential problems that we can control and adapt to a vastly different hunting environment at the end of the season,” Peek said. “Late season hunting is different. It can be good or bad, but generally, hunters get out of it what they put into it.”

Peek said several factors are key to late-season success.

Know your land

“Scouting is an ongoing effort every day of the season,” Peek said. “It’s not a pre-season learning situation, and then you’re done. The physical nature of the woods changes, and turkey behavior evolves. I’d need to know the intricate details of turkey locations and activity status on my land in the late season. Natural conditions and turkey patterns change throughout the season. More leaves fill the trees, turkeys go from gobblers being henned to hens laying eggs and setting nests. As the woods change and the biological nature of the turkeys morphs, their location changes. As the woods green out, food choices are more diversified. 

“As a guide, I need to know where my turkeys are today, and where they’ll likely be tomorrow,” he said.

Peek said knowing where landmarks are located, like swamps, creeks, and ridges, isn’t enough information for late-season. Hunters must track the areas the gobblers are using daily. Relying on early-season turkey locations is a sure way to not kill a gobbler late in the season.

Positive mindset

Peek said some hunters get the impression that late-season hunting is challenging with low odds of success.

“I don’t see it that way,” he said. “Hunters must deal with multiple changes in nature, as well as with the dynamics of the turkey population,” he said. “But adapt to these changes properly, and you enhance your ability to kill a gobbler late in the season. I’ve found the last few days can provide excellent hunting.” 

Peek said he and the guides working for him are in the woods nearly every day, adapting to natural changes. They exchange new data daily in post-hunt debriefs. 

“Hunters not hunting regularly don’t realize the dramatic impact full vegetation in the woods has in carrying sound and vision,” he said. “Fully-leaved trees and shrubs dampen sounds substantially. Hearing a gobbler that’s 250 yards away in the early season may only be half that distance in the late season. Trying to close a few extra yards for a better setup is good in theory. But hunters often bust a gobbler in the late season trying to close a gap that doesn’t exist.” 

Peek said another issue is the lack of a good visual line of sight of an approaching gobbler. 

“Hearing a gobble and setting up quickly without doing due diligence on your line-of-sight ability has doomed many late-season hunts where the gobbler worked into the hunter, but no shot was available. I always look for a setup spot with reasonable line of sight before making a call all season,” he said.

Perseverance, patience  

“Patience is paramount to killing a late-season gobbler,” Peek said. 

He said that consistently killing gobblers requires a time commitment.

“A veteran turkey killer advised me long ago that patience is important throughout the season, but it’s mandatory during late season,” he said. “If he decided to hunt a specific gobbler, he’d commit at least 45 minutes to a spot. During early season, the ole bird would likely be dead in 10 minutes, but in late season, it may take the longbeard 30 to 45 minutes to cover the same distance. The bird may gobble, or he may approach in silent mode, and the first knowledge that he’s arrived is hearing the gobbler drumming.”

Peek said he’s killed many old, hook-spurred birds as the 45-minute time was about to expire. He’ll stay longer if he feels he’s still in the game.

“If I feel good about the setup and like my position, I’ll stay longer,” he said. “My clients have been rewarded with gobblers that showed up 90 minutes after contact. Sometimes I go with my gut feeling.”

Late-season truth

Peek said gobblers are wary, and telling a gobbler the “truth” means everything must be believable to a gobbler.

“It’s not just making realistic calls. That’s certainly crucial, but the location a hunter calls from must be an area a gobbler believes a hen should be in late-season. Generally, I want to be in the woods, not along the edge of a well-traveled road. I will call less and usually more subtle, which conveys the truth to a hard-hunted gobbler. Even hens feel hunter pressure. Sounds and action must be believable to turkeys, or it’s not the truth of late-season.”

Late season is the time to ensure the gobbler believes what you tell him, including your hunting patterns and the calls you use.

“Turkeys will still use roads, but by late season, much of their travel is through the woods, largely because hens are nesting in the woods,” he said. “What’s more truthful, a hen yelping steadily as she quickly walks down a road every morning at the same time, or soft and subtle sounds of a hen slowly slipping through the woods along the edge of a creek or swamp near her nest? In late-season, the turkey in the woods, with more subtle sounds, is the truth to a gobbler.”

Peek said he changes calls routinely throughout the season. He knows his guides have favorite calls, so he’ll often assign them to different areas to keep the sounds ever-changing. That ensures gobblers aren’t programmed to avoid specific calls.

Hunt prime time

Peek said he’s going to the woods to hunt roosted birds, hoping to get one off the tree and to the gun.

“But the fact is, even during the early season, that’s tough because gobblers are often with hens when they fly down,” he said. “Later in the season, hens nest, but gobblers are pressured and cautious.”

For Peek, the mid-morning hours from 9 a.m. until noon offer the best three hours of the day to get a bird to the gun.

“Even if a gobbler has a few hens available early, they’ll usually leave for the nest. And by 9 o’clock, the longbeard may be all alone,” he said. “If he’s been in the company of a few hens that morning, he’s more vulnerable than at any other time. The 9 a.m. to noon period is my prime late-season turkey killing time.” 

Think like a turkey for late-season success

Jason Peek summarizes his overall late-season philosophy into a simple thought process,

“Successful late-season turkey hunters can’t think like a hunter. Instead, they must think like a turkey and convey situational truths to a gobbler,” he said. 

Peek advises developing a fully evolved and involved end-of-season strategy that incorporates everything you’ve learned throughout the season.

“The natural environment is different, turkey behavior is different, and hunter pressure has forced turkeys to react differently,” he said. “Using the same strategies employed in the early season is not likely to give you the positive results you want.”

That’s how a hunter would think. Successful late-season hunters must think like a turkey.