more questions for the pros
 

Hey, guys got a couple of questions for you:

1) Will a nesting hen still roost @ night or does she stay with the clutch 24/7?

2) I know some of you can' t hunt afternoons but do the birds quiet up some what after say 3 or 4pm? Or can you still call with some regularity up until they head to the roost? Thanks for your guys' help, yall are teachin this boy a lot.:D

RE: more questions for the pros
 

Trapper, A hen has to stay at the most part with the nest, only leveing the nest for water/food. Incubation period for turkey eggs are 28 days.

2/ The afternoon hunts slows as the day progress. Tempatures can be a good part of this problem. At some time birds can be worked but activity is stronger in the mornings. most afternoon hunts consist of setting up on travel routes and near roost areas...BT

RE: more questions for the pros
 

Yea...what BT said. I' ve found that most of our gobblers are really loud early on, then shut the heck up like a water faucett shutting off. However, that' s when we walk back to the truck, grab a bite, and a swig of water, then walk back out and call on our way. 2 years ago we did that, and I was showing my brother how to call, and all of a sudden we got gobbled at. It was 10:30. We ducked into the woods and ran toward him because he was a good 150-200 yards away. Next gobble we heard was.....right where we had called from 30 seconds ago!! Ended up missing on a 9 yard shot that I had to take left-handed. Long story longer...stick it out even to the afternoon!! :D

RE: more questions for the pros
 

Like has been said, stay out there until legal hunting time is over. If you can hunt in the afternoons, then do it. Don' t think there are no birds around just because you don' t hear them gobble.....they are probably following and strutting for hens. All you need is one bird to stray away and come check out your calling. At times, a gobbler may have lost his hens which have gone to sit on the nest. Late morning hunting can be awesome!![8D]

RE: more questions for the pros
 

my personal opinion is, some of the best huntin is after noon. true, they will gobble better in the mornin, but if you' ll get close to feedin places, dustin bowls, etc, and if you have the pateince to sit for about 3 hours, then you stand a good chance of callin in a turkey. most of the time, they' ll come in silent, but other times, they will gobble all the way in. I called one up at 3:00 one evenin, and he gobbled several times comin in. yesterday I was sittin in my blind, and got a gobble at 1:00. he didn' t gobble again for 45 minutes, that' s after I put in a mouth call, and he really liked that call. he gobbled all the way in. sad endin to the story, I missed him at 15yds, my arrow hit a limb. but, that goes to show, when those gobblers get to themselves later in the day, sometimes they' ll gobble just like they do when they come off the roost.;)

RE: more questions for the pros
 

Thanks, thats what I thought but yesterday I bumped a hen where I think she was nesting and further looking around I had found where a single turkey had roosted right above her.So I thought it might have been her roost.Maybe she' s bred but hasn' t laid yet? Any way on my other recent posts I wrote that the help you guys gave me culminated in a bird in the hand today so again thanks guys!