later season turkey tips

This season as before, I got an over-eager turkey on opening weekend and would have had a second the weekend after if I hadn't screwed up on concealment (he came around, didn't like what he saw, and ran before I could take a shot). However, as we get into mid-April, the turkeys are becoming less vocal and less likely to come charging into a call, so most years I more or less give up a couple of weeks before the season is over.

Those of you who are successful hunting quieter, shyer late-season turkeys, I'd appreciate your advice so that I can adjust my strategies for the later part of the month. For instance, do you call more aggressively to get a response from a quiet bird, or do you try to match the toms' behavior by calling less aggressively as things wind down?

Cover up good, and be patient, call sparingly in an area the turkeys frequent and be prepared for the silent tom.

Lone gobblers are lonely. Heard a gobble last night about 250 yds away. I did one call with my mouth. He came in on a rope before I could get positioned for a shot he was on me and I got busted!

Distances to a gobbling bird can be very deceiving, depending on terrain, weather, and which way he's facing when he gobbles. Been there and done that.

On windy days in particular, I've busted a lot of birds that I thought were 100+ yards away that were in fact nearly at my feet.

We always wait until the gobblers are not henned up, later in the season. They usually come right in then. Later also works for spot and stalk for us. Yes it can be done with the right terrain.We spotted these birds from the highway and a friend of ours has the permission to hunt them. They were with 4 hens so I'm waiting to hear if they had any success. They are either rios or merriam's /rio crosses.

Beautiful birds.

Birds are running late this year. Late season may just be the ideal time to catch that trophy gobbler all by himself...and vulnerable.