# Late May Turkey Hunting



## Locked and Nocked (Oct 30, 2010)

What has been everyone's experience with turkey hunting in Late May? In past years I have always hunted the early season so this is my first foray into it.

Do Toms not gobble as much? Are they easier to call because of hens nesting or are they less receptive to calling because they know hens aren't around? I am just trying to understand how to approach this new time of year (for me).


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

They will do the same things they do on the first day as they will the last. 
Stick with it and you might find a lonely one.


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## retired dundo (Jul 21, 2015)

I find you almost have to sit all day.Seems like the toms are moving around big area.You don’t know what time you will see them.I see more during middle of day


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## Liver and Onions (Nov 24, 2000)

Gobble less for sure. Less vision in woodlots. Sound is muffled by leaves. Daylight about an hour earlier than 6 weeks ago. Most hens are on nest or are taking short walks to find food and water. Just a guess, but close to 2/3 of the toms are now dead.

L & O


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## Lumberman (Sep 27, 2010)

Depends on what you are hunting. Public land pressured birds can be almost impossible to kill by now. Turkeys in my big chunk of private with little pressure can be more susceptible to calling because they are starting to get a little lonely.


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## wavie (Feb 2, 2004)

My favorite time, with a thermacell of course. Hunting private I find they gobble early on, then intermittent throughout the day. Calling periodically can entice a tom to come running in. This year we have seen way more hens out and about during the day compared to years before which can make it more challenging.


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## LabtechLewis (Nov 20, 2008)

I made a loop last night looking for fresh intel. Saw four strutters right before dark in three different locations. None on properties I can hunt. Didn't see hardly any lone hens, like I had been seeing the past few weeks. Gives me some hope, yet, for this week.

This one was late May. Came in slow and was hesitant to get into the decoys. Actually, he never did get into the decoys, I killed him as he started to leave.


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## Yankee#1 (Jun 3, 2015)

You need to change tactics a bit and really think like a hen. You’re either a dominant hen who lost her nest or a very young Jenny looking for her first BF. The vast majority of hens are no longer calling, they’re simply going from roost to food to nest and then back to the roost (unless sitting full time).

Most of my birds are killed after May 15th, here are my tips:

Use the leaves and vegetation to your advantage - it gets light earlier but you can move later because you have cover.

Use crow and pileated woodpecker locator calls to make them shock gobble then get as close as you can.

Use decoys sparingly - again, the vegetation is your friend, if interested they will get close looking for the hen. 

If you know where they roost don’t be afraid to get as close as 50 yards to them when they’re on the limb.

Most important to me - for morning hunts, if you don’t call them in off the roost, change setups often and call more often. As mentioned previously, the toms can move a lot right now, and this isn’t the time to sit in one place from 5am to noon and think you’re magically gonna flip their switch. Stay aggressive and get ahead of them, you really need to get in their ‘bubble’ to entice them in your direction. Hens at this time will not intentionally lead them away from you - most of the time they are merely headed to their nests. If you’re in the bubble when they lose the hen, you’re golden.

Pattern, pattern, pattern. I look at May 10-20 as scouting for the last 10 days of the season. For afternoon hunts you need to know their pattern as they head to the roost and set up accordingly. Calling may be counterproductive, ambush/bushwhack tactics can be boring but more successful.

If you find a strutter in a green field now is the time to stalk-crawl. You can get really close when the grass is 12+ inches tall, move when he faces away. Watch for the other eyes, if you stalk you’re more likely to get busted by the hens than the toms.

And most important - more times than not they will approach silently, eg they may cover 400 yards and only gobble when they reach the 50 yard mark. Even the dominant birds usually approach quietly - I suspect they’re tired after breeding for 2 months and don’t want to fight and/or attract other toms to the party. 

The bird in my avatar pic was shot at ~7:30am at 15 steps on Memorial Day weekend. He quietly covered a 1/4 mile in 15 mins and gobbled twice, once at ~50 and once at ~25 yards, both times he was over a rise and hidden from my view.


Sent from my iPhone using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


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## Namrock (Apr 12, 2016)

I've been lucky the past couple years with late season gobblers. These were private land hunts, & I had done quite a bit of scouting leading up to the hunts.
May 27 2018, May 26 2019. Also took my nephew when he got his bird the day after mine (May 27) last year. In all 3 of those cases the birds came in silent. Gobbled on the roost & went tight-lipped when they hit the ground in the am & the afternoon hunt, he never made a peep. 2 of those I set up just inside the edge of woods next to a freshly planted field. Set out a feeding hen decoy & a 3/4 strut jake. Both times (once in the am off the roost & once late afternoon) the hens slowly came to feed around the dekes & once they laid eyes on the set up, Ol boy's couldn't stand it & came to assault the jake. If you use one... MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A CLEAR SHOT TO THE JAKE. Nephews bird was late morning after an unsuccessful early am hunt. Went for a drive & found 2 long beards on the neighbors without a hen in sight. We hustled back & got set up inside our woods next to the field the birds were in. Set out an upright hen & that same jake on an old logging road walking away from where the toms came from. Let out some seriously loud cuts & angry yelps. 10 minutes later those 2 big toms from the field came running in & beat the crap out of my jake before my nephew could get a good shot without hitting both. Also would say it's been my experience that like with early season birds, don't expect them to act the same way from 1 day to the next. Pack a thermacell, a comfortable seat, cold water to drink, stay patient & remember if you do hear a gobble late in the year, he's closer than you think. Report what you see & Good luck!!


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## selectcut (Dec 19, 2007)

Way more good information on here already than I can give however I have killed a couple of them late May. Single hen decoy. Had one come 3/4 of mile across farm field gobbling whole time. Exciting hunt for sure it was about 4 pm hot memorial day.


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## Locked and Nocked (Oct 30, 2010)

Thanks for all the valuable input. The knowledge on this site is awesome. 

I have set up on the same bird the last two mornings (he was literally in the same tree) but both mornings he had hens fly down right in front of him and he went off with them. It seems there are some that aren't nesting quite yet.


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## Yankee#1 (Jun 3, 2015)

Locked and Nocked said:


> Thanks for all the valuable input. The knowledge on this site is awesome.
> 
> I have set up on the same bird the last two mornings (he was literally in the same tree) but both mornings he had hens fly down right in front of him and he went off with them. It seems there are some that aren't nesting quite yet.


Get closer. Sit so you can shoot him when he lands...


Sent from my iPhone using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


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## Ack (Oct 3, 2004)

Yankee#1 said:


> Get closer. Sit so you can shoot him when he lands...
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


....or, set up where the birds go after fly down. There’s no set in stone rule that you have to hunt a Tom right at the roost. Cut him off farther out if you have to.


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

Hens will lose their nest often. Predators (****, possums, skunk, etc.) and cold wet weather.
go to where the want to go. Sit longer, until the hens go to nest. Mid-day hunts, evening hunts. You can't kill them from the couch.


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## LabtechLewis (Nov 20, 2008)

FREEPOP said:


> ...Mid-day hunts, *evening hunts*. You can't kill them from the couch.


I tried an evening hunt yesterday. Learned two lessons:
1. I should have driven by and taken a good look at all the surrounding fields, but I didn't.
2. Turkeys really key in on other animals and respond immediately to the stimulus, no questions asked.

I parked the car, grabbed my stuff and walked directly away from the car down the fence line I planned to set up in with the gobbler chair and netting. I got halfway back and saw two turkeys in the neighbor's plowed field (pretty sure one was a tom) probably 75 yards away. I decided to back up in the direction I came from and then walk directly away from them, across the chopped corn field, loop way around and hug the shaded woods edge to get back to where I wanted to be. As I made that loop, I spooked a deer and then heard the dreaded "caw, caw" from a crow. I pressed on. When I got to my destination, no turkeys to be found.

I wish I would have driven around the block once to see if any turkeys were around. If I had done that, I could have had the foresight to start on the complete opposite end of the field and sneak in. Still would have spooked the deer, so maybe it wouldn't have helped.

Or, in hindsight, I wish I would have just sat down in the position from where I first saw them. Maybe I could have called them closer to me. Or, even walked all the way back to my car made a bigger loop. I never expected them to spook if they saw me moving in the next field over and walking _away_ from them. It was not direct line-of-sight, they would have just seen movement through scattered brush, for the most part.

They seem so easy to dupe with decoys and calls, but there are some things they just WILL NOT tolerate!

Score is going to settle this weekend...


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## LabtechLewis (Nov 20, 2008)

I forgot to mention right at dark, I saw this odd shape moving ever-so-slightly in the field. After a few minutes of watching intently, I realized I was looking at the head/ears of a fawn, body mostly obscured by corn stalks and topography. It must have been laying out there the whole time and just stood up at dusk. Maybe I scared its mother earlier in the day (it was not far from there)? I saw one other fawn standing next to a doe as I drove home. 'Tis the season.


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

LabtechLewis said:


> I tried an evening hunt yesterday. Learned two lessons:
> 1. I should have driven by and taken a good look at all the surrounding fields, but I didn't.
> 2. Turkeys really key in on other animals and respond immediately to the stimulus, no questions asked.
> 
> ...


It's difficult to determine if something distant is walking straight at you or straight away.


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

Seriously though LTL, good luck.


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## LabtechLewis (Nov 20, 2008)

FREEPOP said:


> Seriously though LTL, good luck.


Yeah, yeah, yeah. You got me on that last one! You're always good for a laugh. Actually, you're always good for a pointer or two, for that matter. I appreciate that.

I guess the benefit of season lasting more than an hour is that you come away with a lot better stories. Just no video...


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## Locked and Nocked (Oct 30, 2010)

Yankee#1 said:


> Get closer. Sit so you can shoot him when he lands...
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Michigan Sportsman mobile app





Ack said:


> ....or, set up where the birds go after fly down. There’s no set in stone rule that you have to hunt a Tom right at the roost. Cut him off farther out if you have to.


I would if I could. They roost right on the property line and fly down and go out into a neighbors field. If I keep after them they will eventually make a mistake.


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