RE: early seasons versus late seasons
The best piece of advice I can give about later season hunting is get out in the woods and scout all the spare time you can in the earlier seasons, just don't carry a gun. Spend the earlier season times learning the birds' strut zones, roosting locations, feeding locations and daily travel patterns/routes. Then, when it is your turn, you can have a good plan, as you'll know where the birds are, where they're going and what they're doing. Finally, roost a bird the night before your opener, and you should have good success.