# Anybody still hunting?



## Feather Mucker (Nov 9, 2007)

I have noticed a dramatic drop in the last 2 or 3 days in the number of bird sightings in the morning on my way to work. For those of you who routinely hunt the late season... any tips? Is early morning a waste of time, or should I prepare for a full day adventure?


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## d_rek (Nov 6, 2013)

Oh yah... 10 days left. Plenty of time to seal the deal. I've noticed birds still showing up in the AM, late morning/early afternoon, and then again late afternoon to dusk. They generally head into the woods after their AM strut/feeding, will come back out to feed a few hours later, wash rinse repeat until bedtime. Also noticed them hanging out in crop fields that haven't been tilled up yet that are going to seed with weeds. Particularly those with a lot of goldenrod. Definitely not responding to calling or even calling as much in my area. But they're still around. Keep after them!!


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## JPK (Aug 11, 2014)

Was up N.E. of Gaylord last week, Wed. through Sunday.You are right, Did not respond to calling. A flock of 7 came through the back yard every morning at 8:15 +/-. Then a different flock of 6 would come through at 3:30 ish.
And the one evening the flock of 7 came back through at 8:20 p.m.
The weather was pretty ugly while we were up there. Light rains, downpours,sleet snow flurries, etc. But enjoyed the time up there regardless.
Even found some morels and fried them up.YUM !


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## protectionisamust (Nov 9, 2010)

Headed out tomorrow AM to give it a go. Trying to fill my wifes tag still.

Last weekend - weather sucked.

Tomorrow looks much better!

The only hen I saw last weekend came by silent. never made a peep


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## Playin' Hooky (Aug 29, 2002)

d_rek do you mean yellow rocket/mustard? Too early for goldenrod. 

We had the birds chowing on shepherd's purse last week--until the fields got sprayed prior to the tillage that is coming....


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## d_rek (Nov 6, 2013)

Playin' Hooky said:


> d_rek do you mean yellow rocket/mustard? Too early for goldenrod.
> 
> We had the birds chowing on shepherd's purse last week--until the fields got sprayed prior to the tillage that is coming....


Yeah that's the stuff - yellow rocket. They've been hanging out in a soy been field that has gone completely to weeds and the whole field is bright yellow right now.


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## Playin' Hooky (Aug 29, 2002)

d_rek said:


> Yeah that's the stuff - yellow rocket. They've been hanging out in a soy been field that has gone completely to weeds and the whole field is bright yellow right now.


Must be quite a sight with a big black bird strutting against that background. Enjoy it til the disc comes! Good luck.


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## DEDGOOSE (Jan 19, 2007)

Ok this is what I believe about late season. Everyone talks about the "breeding cycle" with an early and a late peak.

I actually believe there is 3. And believe me there becomes a point where it is essentially over for a while and I believe we are at that point. Then with all of the nest rating predators we have now, but the hens that have had their nest raided begin to once again mingle with gobblers either know they do not need to breed again and thus gobblers testosterone once again begins to rise due to the interaction.

With that being said late may brings warm temperatures, thus lowering sperm count and reduced gobbling at the warmest parts of the day making mornings the best late late in the season.
If it's gonna be hot I only hunt for a few hours or until I see gobs with drab red heads. Most times when u see a drab re head your best bet is to crawl or ambush.

With that all being said if I had the choice, I would hunt the first week of season, the first week of may or the last week of may.

I have been pretty fortunate to spend essentially every day of season in the woods over the years with the birds and this is my observations


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## rightnow (Jun 12, 2010)

DEDGOOSE said:


> Ok this is what I believe about late season. Everyone talks about the "breeding cycle" with an early and a late peak.
> 
> I actually believe there is 3. And believe me there becomes a point where it is essentially over for a while and I believe we are at that point. Then with all of the nest rating predators we have now, but the hens that have had their nest raided begin to once again mingle with gobblers either know they do not need to breed again and thus gobblers testosterone once again begins to rise due to the interaction.
> 
> ...


I agree. I've been in a place that holds birds for the last 3 mornings and have heard one. There appears to be "darkness on the playground."


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## Wallis (Nov 10, 2015)

About a half dozen toms cutting each other off gobbling since 5:30. We will see what unfolds.


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## multibeard (Mar 3, 2002)

My experience is that once the sun comes upand starts beating dwon on the fields the birdshead for shade. The sun on a black body has to get hot in a hurry.


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## bowhunter426 (Oct 20, 2010)

Saw 2 hens and 2 jakes this morning. Hens were very vocal. Not a peep out of the Jakes. I have been hearing gobbling everymorning when i leave for work. This morning was quite. Did not see or hear the larger Toms I hanging around.


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## mihunte (Nov 23, 2014)

Heard very few gobbles during the past week, hunting early and late morning. This morning something turned on and had four gobbling hard and nonstop both on the roost and ground until I tagged out about 645. Def agree with three cycles as said above


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

Two gobbles Saturday morning and one yesterday. Didn't find any responsive birds.

About 11 am, 6 jakes were out behind the house and were soon joined buy a 2 year old. We got to within 120 yards of them and calling only spooked them off.


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## Yankee#1 (Jun 3, 2015)

Yes. My son still needs to fill his tag. He slept in yesterday and I tagged a dandy 3yo at 7:45. I was working 4 different toms and jakes off the roost, when a different tom and his merry men traveled a long way - his first gobble sounded at least 1/4 mile away. He ran the last 15 yds, I dropped him at 14 steps. Gobbling hit a lull about 6:30 and then picked back up quickly and aggressively at ~7am. The heckle and jeckle jokers definitely helped yesterday.

They are definitely more vocal now in SW MI than they were the weekend of May 15th...


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## TSS Caddis (Mar 15, 2002)

We killed one a couple days ago. For a couple weeks had gobbling on the roost and then they would go MIA and only had a couple shock gobbles throughout the day. Each day we were covered up in hens though. Finally a couple days ago headed out later in the morning and after a couple hours finally struck a hot bird. Gobbled his head off for 4 hours but wouldn't come. After repositioning a half dozen times closed the distance and killed him. He was in an old growth hinge cut woods and I think he just wasn't willing to work through all the logs. When I could finally see him he was pacing back and forth by a log. FWIW, dark red head so assuming he was getting frustrated with the logs. Like I said though, gobbled like crazy in response to us for 4 hours. Odd bird.


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## SWMbruiser (Jan 25, 2012)

Hit the woods Sat and Sunday. Quite a bit of gobbling both days. Saturday had a group going for a pretty good while, but no dice. Sealed the deal for dad Sunday morning. 1 Tom 2 Jake's and 2 hens. Dad took the Tom and the Jake's got a pass


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## slwayne (Aug 27, 2009)

Hunted SE MI state land Saturday and Sunday. Saturday morning sat for 2 hours in an area that has historically been a very popular roosting area. Didn't hear a peep. Very strange. First time I can ever remember not hearing tree talk and roost gobbling in this area. Spent about an hour slowly sneaking thru the area calling every 10 or 15 minutes and never struck a gobble. Moved to a different part of the Rec Area and spent another 3 hours running and gunning. Finally struck a gobble around 10:30 but he was so close that I nearly jumped out of my boots when he let loose. Never heard from him again so I'm guessing I was so close that he shock gobbled at my call and then beat feet out of there (note to self: stay in the shadows at the edge of openings when you call rather than walking right out into the opening to call). 

Had something to do early Sunday morning so I didn't make it out until around 7:30. Went to the same general area that I struck the gobble on Saturday morning and started slowly running and gunning. Finally at 9:30 I struck a double gobble close. This time I had listened to my own advice and stayed in the shadows at the edge of the opening. When the two gobbles rang out I immediately dropped to a knee and got my gun into position as I was sure that these two were going to enter the opening at any minute. Well, after 45 minutes of constant call and response they finally lost interest and wandered off without me ever seeing them. The kept working the periphery of the opening and gobbling like crazy every time I hit the call but just wouldn't come out of the thick stuff. Tried soft and sexy, tried aggressive and persistent, tried going quiet for 10 minutes but nothing would convince them to show themselves. Kept at it until 11:30 and called it a day. Very frustrating.

Weather report for the final weekend isn't very promising but I'll be back out there. This is my 7th season and I've never eaten tag soup so I'll be hitting it hard unless there's lightening.


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

Clucks are my go to in that situation.


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## d_rek (Nov 6, 2013)

Had a tom and a jake chasing a hen all morning today. Couldn't pull any of them over to us - completely ignored calls, weren't even remotely interested in decoys. Going to have to get crafty...


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