Different Turkey Season???

I put in for season “C” here in Minnesota but got season “H” …For 15 years I have always hunted “C” so what can I expect during season “H”? Am I calling less due to these Tom’s having already mated all the hen’s thus he’s not as excited? What are going to be the main differences? Thanks! RR

“H” is a great season, heck, anytime you can hunt turkeys it’s a great season!!!

One can only speak in generalities when talking about time periods and seasons, esp. with MN weather. Climate, hunting pressure, public/private, habitat quality, etc., are just a few variables that trump “typical” turkey behavior for a specific time of year and place.

That said, you should generally expect there to be less birds around, and the birds that are around, have maybe heard a call or two. However, you’ve got the perfect storm of ready/willing Toms, and reluctant hens. Even the latest hens will be going to sit on nests, making Toms esp. vulnerable after the 9 o’clock hour throughout the rest of the day.

Depending on pressure, many of the hard-charging two-year olds have been slung over someone else’s shoulder, so you’re facing older and smarter gobblers. This makes “taking their temperature” more important now than ever. Make sure your calling skills are polished, and/or simply call far less often and quieter.

The ideal situation is an array of larger tracts of lightly to not-hunted private land, in varying areas, allowing you to prospect for young/dumb birds from place to place until you find a vocal and willing one. Of course, we’d all like to have many tracts of private land where no-one has previously hunted, but by “H” season, unless you’ve got one super-“in”, this just isn’t possible. Turkeys allowed to carry-on business as usual throughout the breeding season are much easier to kill later into the May season.

See the next post on Case Studies – A late season hunt. I’ll let someone else have a turn now.

Joel

i wouldn’t be upset at all. i have hunted “G” or “H” every year the past 6 yrs and i find it best to just sit and wait them out. it’s a lot like hunting deer. just figure out where the hens are roosting and scratching for food and you will have a Tom walk by sooner or later.

Man… i can’t wait to hear that first “GOBBLE” of the season

The only season I have ever hunted is season G. I have shot a bird every year. I hunt land that has no other hunters on it until myself and my grandpa during season H. One thing that works for me is being out there one hour or more before sunrise. Where I hunt the birds are gobbling when it is still dark out, and if I do not respond that very minute they will not come in. I have also had birds take two or three hours of continuous calling to come in, even when I can see them the whole time. So they do get difficult sometimes, and some years I do have less options and less interested birds. But it always works out.