Elevate your turkey hunting game with Cruise's expert strategies. Discover two essential insights that promise to transform your routine and boost your confidence, even when the gobblers go silent.
Transcription:
If you forced me to choose the time of day that I could hunt turkeys for the rest of my life, and the choices were daylight to say 9 AM or 9 AM to 1 PM, that'd be the easiest decision I've ever had to make. I'm taking the midday. The vast majority of birds I've killed in my life have been after 9 AM.
Here's the weird thing, though. The vast majority of hunters I've noticed, who I've hunted with over the years, tend to get disheartened in the middle of the day. The common thread is that many of them really aren't confident about what they should do once the turkey stops gobbling after fly down. Before we move to this hunt, here are some foundational truths I've learned on how to make the most of a midday hunt. I've learned these just over the years trying to put the pieces of the puzzle of turkey behavior together.
Post up in a central location if you can. If your property has several places where birds frequent, position yourself with a good book, some coffee, and a snack and relax. Sooner or later he's going to gobble and you can get on him fast. I frequently wait up to two hours in a location if I know that I'll hear a bird if I'll just be patient.
Frequent shaded strut zones. Strutters have a tendency to get in shady places, especially on road beds that are elevated. He will frequent places where he's seen hens, and he'll go there and he'll spit and he'll drum, and he'll just wait until the hen shows up. And here's a hunt to prove it. Now, I can tell you there's not a ton of footage and not a big storyline, but it is a textbook mid-day hunt. And as it often does in the midday, it can happen quick.
This is a map that shows a portion of the property, and we were working some high points that gave us the ability to call in between pastures and down off in some hollows. Cole and I were prospecting and working those high points when we finally got a bird to gobble around 12:30. Seven minutes later, we were looking at him.
