It’s the peak of the Mississippi spring turkey season. While we have been plagued with more than our fair share of bad and windy weather, we are now enjoying a few good weather days. Gobbling activity has picked up, and hunters are hearing more gobbling, more consistently. Depending on the area and what pressure it has, unpressured birds can be heard throughout the day.
Hunters can likely find mature gobblers roosting alone, and gobblers are very vocal at this phase of turkey season. At first light, they are hammering the woods.
Hens are spending more time on the nest, resulting in being separated from gobblers at fly-up times. Hens are quickly coming to vocal gobblers after fly-down. Once a mature tom flies down, he is headed to strut zones and waits on hens to assemble, and it’s happening quickly. Toms are holding tight, and the hens are coming to them. Some older gobblers are staying put on the roost, gobbling until they see a hen walk by, then they’ll pitch down to her.
When to hunt
Always try to make the hunt at daybreak as that’s the best time to locate a mature gobbler sounding off. Make notes of any you hear. Late morning and middle-of-the-day hunts will quickly become more productive when the morning hen harems head to nesting areas, leaving the gobblers alone and lovesick. If you cannot make the morning hunts, don’t hesitate to consider the late morning or afternoon hunts. Now is the time to hunt all day if possible.
Strategies
If you are hunting in an area and not hearing any gobbling activity for several mornings, it’s time to move to another location as gobbling is reaching its peak. Hunters are reporting that gobblers are responding to occasional late morning owl, crow, or hen calls. Hunters can get a shock gobble answer throughout the morning from locator calls. Intermittent gobbling can be heard throughout most of the day, with some brief, intense periods of ‘gobbling frenzy’ occurring.
Ditch the decoys for early morning hunts. It’s better to be mobile this time of the season and not spend time on decoys or take the chance of being spotted while setting them out. It’s better now to spend your time closing the gap on gobbling birds on the limb and getting as close as possible undetected. Run-and-gun tactics can work now.
The better choices for decoys now are late morning and evening setups in food plots and green fields. A half-strut or quarter-strut jake decoy paired with a laydown hen decoy appears to be the most effective combination lately.
Be aware as you sit; during this phase of the season, a silent satellite gobbler may slip into your calling. Move to the areas where you heard toms on the limb gobbling for a late morning strategy.
Public land note
If you’re a public land hunter, be aware that there will be a sharp decline in pressure on most public hunting lands. The Louisiana turkey season is now underway, and the Arkansas youth season takes place on April 12-13, with the open season starting on April 21. Alabama’s season is in full swing, and Tennessee’s season opens on April 12. There will be fewer of our neighboring out-of-state hunters in the woods during the peak season.
Experience the very best of prime-time Mississippi turkey hunting. If you’ve saved vacation time for this, it’s time to schedule it and get out in the turkey woods. It’s time to hunt and hunt hard till the end.
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