The Day in the Life of a Late Season Turkey Hunter

The Day in the Life of a Late Season Turkey Hunter

By Earl Taylor

I have tried every season, but its fourth season in Iowa that I now hunt every year. I have been snowed on during the first season. I have had to compete with too many other hunters during the second season. It is a hit and miss proposition of finding a tom not henned up with his flock during the third season. But during those magical 20 days of the fourth season, I know I am going to have great weather, lonely toms, less mid-week hunting pressure, and plenty of time to fill my two fourth season tags.

There is no sure-fire approach to turkey hunting the late season that works better; each approach has its positives. For many hunters, they approach the season as if they were Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan as he charges onto the shores of Normandy. Others see themselves as a fortified battalion, just waiting and waiting, never leaving their domain of the blind/fort. I do both; I am more like General Grant who charged and then retreated to regain strength and strategy for the next encounter. Turkey hunters are not soldiers, but there is a needed strategy to come out victorious. It is no fun to have to admit that a turkey won the battle for the day.

During the last ten days in April, hens make their daily deposit of one egg per day. During the rest of the day, hens make themselves available to amorous toms while feeding alongside other hens; a tom likes having his harem of hens around him. If one hen is not in the mood, usually another one will be. During these days, the tom walks around with a proverbial smile on his face.
Around the first week of May, the hen leaves the tom’s side and begins to sit on her nest of 10 to 12 eggs. As her mothering instincts take over, she spends most of her day sitting on the clutch of eggs with only an occasional venture off the nest to eat and get a quick drink over the 26-28 incubation period. The tom’s fun shuts down quickly and yet; he is still in the mood.

There is no precise day when all the hens go to their nest. However, it does appear that by May 5th, most are brooding over their nests. With no hens available the tom is more vulnerable to chase after the hunter’s calls. The gobblers have been hunted hard for the last three weeks, so the birds are not a pushover, but just like with humans, a gobbler’s sexual drives gets him into big trouble.

Granted, by late season there are fewer birds available to hunt due to earlier hunters’ harvest, but with no hens making themselves available, the siren calls of the hunter proves to be too powerful for a gobbler to withstand. In ancient Greek mythology, Ulysses had his fellow sailors tie him to the mask and plug their ears with wax so that he would not give into the Siren’s seductive voices that beckoned the boat to come to their shores where the Sirens would crash their boat and destroy them. There are no restraints put on toms during the late season so often they get to feel the crash of the hunter’s gun.

May’s lushness in Iowa can be a challenge to navigate and to see, but it can work to a hunter’s advantage as well. Turkeys use their ears to pinpoint a call of the hen, but he uses his eyes to confirm what his ears have told him should be in the area. When early season birds respond to a call, they can see the hen from a distance; he knows it is safe or not safe to come on in. During the late season, gooseberry foliage prevents the bird from visually confirming what he heard and forces him to play a game of hide and seek. If the hunter has positioned himself in the right spot with open shooting lanes or an open meadow, the bird will eventually make his way into range.

The fullness of the underbrush also allows the hunter to reposition himself unseen. I have moved up on a wary bird during the late season as if I was the real hen moving closer to him. The foliage has allowed me to close the 100 yards without showing my face. The extra thickness of the underbrush also allows for a more effective run and call style. I have a favorite ridge that stretches over a half mile; during the late season, I have walked back and forth on this ridge throughout the late morning hours, setting up several times and calling. Eventually, I could get something to respond.

Old gobblers didn’t get old because being “eunuch-like”; they got old because they are smart and very nervous of anything out of place. The late-season hunter still has to take all the precautions of making his set-ups fool-proof. With the added underbrush, a hunter still has to be able to shoot out 40 yards; trying to position yourself into a too tight of a set-up will usually allow the gobbler to win. I want to be able to have at least a 280-degree shooting window around me. How I position my shoulders and legs will allow me the maximum amount of range around me. When my shoulders are not positioned correctly, the head and eye do not come down on the stock correctly; causing an overshot or undershot.

I usually have two or three blinds set up along the edge of crop ground during the fourth season. I want to see a long distance, so I seldom get too deep into the woods. By having different blinds set up, I can keep track of the tom’s morning routine. My loud calls can bring birds running from 500 yards away. There is nothing like being able to watch the beauty of a strutting bird as he gets closer and closer. You might get bumped by the farmer planting corn, but that is a risk I am willing to take.

There appears to be a magic time around the noon hour during the late season. As I have written before, I don’t go out early; I wait until around 9 a.m. I feel rested and ready to stay the day. As a tom moves throughout his day, feed becomes important for this late-season tom. Farm fields are the perfect place to set up around. By May, toms group back together in small bands of lonely brothers. A hierarchy is in place, but the birds appear to need each other’s company for fellowship and for protecting each other’s flank. Last year I called in a group of five mature gobblers around May 10th with the biggest one leading the way into my calls. I have called in as many as nine mature gobblers all together in mid-May. Expect seeing more than one bird responding to your calls during this late season.

Loud calling still works for me during the late season. My initial aggressive, loud calls appear to crank up the tom; I back down the volume once I know I have one moving in towards me.

I dress in layers so I can strip off any heavy clothes by noon. I freeze my bottles of water so I can enjoy cold water all day. I have shot birds wearing shorts; when it is hot, I want to be able to be down to the wearing minimum of clothing. The one negative about late season hunting is the warm temperatures by noon. Birds respond all day right up until they are ready to return to their roost for the night.

Fourth season hunting is the season to take a youth hunter. It will be warm, the wildflowers are abundant, and a youngster will be able to endure the day without getting cold. If the mushroom gods cooperate, there is an added bonus for spending your first three weeks in May in an Iowa timber.