Late season tips.

[34NY]

Looking for any tips you guys might have for late season turkey.

It seems like that they have quieted down quite a bit. Always coming in silent now, and there's a gaggle of jakes I've been spotting in the same spot at 6:30-7am the last two times I was out. They're about 60 yards into the timber where i will make sure i am at 5am tomorrow morning. Do they start to follow more of a "pattern" this time of year or just coincidence?

Last week I also noticed one tom keeps sounding off right at 9am. This time I went to him. I must have closed the gap to 75-80 yards and he was responding well to my box call. Got setup in a clearing but maybe he pegged me cause he disappeared. I don't know maybe I should have called less who knows.

If you guys have read any of my previous posts I have put the bow down. Went out on memorial day, got my veteran discount, and bought a Benelli supernova... Yes I'm that determined to get a bird in my rookie year! Patterned and ready to go.

I got Thursday-Saturday to make this happen!

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[turkeyfeathers]

IMO if you were calling at him when he was inside 75 yards with a box call he pegged you. I usually won't call when he's that close. Box calls are difficult for me to quiet down. I may soft purr  on my slate around the side of my leg if he's hanging up. or scratch in the leaves a bit

 

I've had birds ripping Sunday thru Tuesday. Just some run of bad luck and didn't connect. 

 

Your bird hammering at 9 o clock is probably looking for more hens as his may have gone back to nest. Perfect opportunity for you.

 

Congrats on the Benelli   What tube and loads worked the best after patterning it ?

Edited May 28, 2014 by turkeyfeathers

[MACHINIST]

Good advise,if you can find a area they are dusting in you may want to be a little proactive and post up there while taking a break eating a sandwich or what not.Other than that stay out all day and keep after that tom.He is loosing his woman and looking for another hard if he is gobbling that early!

[whaler]

 

Congrats on the Benelli   What tube and loads worked the best after patterning it ?

 

Id be surprised if he patterned it if he bought it memorial day.

 

Good work on putting a move on the bird but i agree, he spotted you. 34NY, do you use a mouth call? I dont think ive ever killed a bird without using one in conjuction with a box or slate. Good Luck Man!

[34NY]

Yea ill try playing hard to get tomorrow with that one. I'm counting on those other birds coming by at 7...we'll see. It was more of trial period vs. an actual patterning I guess. I went with 3" #6's with the full choke vs. the modified. Tried those and 4's & 5's with those two chokes. Just using the stock chokes till next season. Setup at 40 yards had plenty in the kill zone to get the job done.

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Edited May 28, 2014 by 34NY

[34NY]

Yea I use a mouth call. That bird was responding every time I hit a note on the box that's why I stuck with it.

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[Pygmy]

Id be surprised if he patterned it if he bought it memorial day.

 

Good work on putting a move on the bird but i agree, he spotted you. 34NY, do you use a mouth call? I dont think ive ever killed a bird without using one in conjuction with a box or slate. Good Luck Man!

 

You may have used a mouth call  on all of your birds, but that doesn't mean it is necessary to be proficient with a mouth call to kill turkeys.

 

I know a guy who bought a Lynch Foolproof box in the 60s .

 

He has used it exclusively and has killed well over 100 gobblers with it.

 

I also know guys who are deadly with pot type calls and mouth calls.

 

One thing they all have in common is that they have mastered whatever type of call they prefer and can make AUTHENTIC turkey sounds with it.

[whaler]

No doubt, Pygmy I agree. I was only suggesting he use a mouth call. Ive seen a lot of beginners fumble around with slates and boxes and push button calls only to spook birds off with movement. As long as you can call with the diaphragm, it eliminates some of the movement that can get you spotted. Thats all I was suggesting. 

[Pygmy]

Yeah..I agree that being able to call without movement is a definite advantage..

 

The best woods caller I know uses a box sometimes to locate birds, but switches to a diaphragm to work the bird, He is absolutely the  most authentic caller I have ever heard...He doesn't do anything fancy either, just yelps and clucks. He can do it all..He's a former NYS champion caller. He just doesn't feel the need for the fancy stuff. However he sounds more like a turkey than a TURKEY does...

 

He is one of the few people who can fool me in the woods with a diaphragm call, and I have been listening to him call for about 40 years.

 

I have heard a number of guys who fooled me with a box call...Not so many with the pot calls, although I  don't deny thier effectiveness.

[whaler]

I can't purr on a diaphragm call but yelps and clucks seem to work pretty good for me. 

 

Scratching in the leaves has probably brought the majority of gobblers in that last 20 yards... 

[turkeyfeathers]

Some of the worst calling I've ever heard has been by real hens. Cadence , amount of calling , giving Tom what he wants to hear and volume are key

I'm not very good on my Lynches foolproof 101 box call I've had for 35 years. Can't seem to quiet my calling down enough with it. Tried tissue stuffed in it, no go.

When people say call quiet: cut the volume in half of what you think quiet really is. I called at bird yesterday that was 300 yards out and thought no way he's hearing me. But pow he'd cut me off on my call. Volume is why windy days are tough. Call too soft in the wind and nobody hears you. Call to loud and bird is down wind and you blow him out of the woods. I can hear birds gobbling on other mountain from atop of the one I sit on. Guessing its a easy 1.5 miles . Earlier I had gobbler strutting in field 125 yards out right in front of us. Wind was blowing hard. Could see him but not hear him at all.

Concur on the scratching. If he's inside 100 yards. Put the call down, he's already looking for you. Three series scratch in the leaves should seal the deal.