Afternoon Hunts - Spring Kansas Turkey Hunting
Traveling Turkey Hunter Prime Time
On many hunts the best spring season wild tom hunt is typically the first hour or two of the morning. During the morning gobbling period and peak hen receptiveness is true on our private land as elsewhere.
Typically, this is more a result of hunters from morning hunt only states rather than hunters from all day long spring season localities. The all day long hunter has much more opportunity to study his toms and develop additional success techniques. The beauty of Kansas spring season is you can turkey hunt all day. This gives one more spring turkey season option. The capability to learn turkey patterns far more thoroughly than those that just study morning activities.
Some criticize the less than ideal picture quality of this web site's pictures. To us they are very much ideal. Average hunters making their own hunts taking pictures with cell phones or pocket cameras hoping for them to turn out.
Prime Turkey Time Changes
Hunters with several seasons of afternoon Kansas spring turkey season under their belt have had consistent good luck with prime time between 12 and 2 pm.
The attractions are toms on the prowl. Typically not henned up and strutting areas are habitual even if for only a short string of days. Part of that habitual behavior is linked to the hens nesting. During the egg laying and pre nest sitting behavior of the days second feeding period starting as early as 11 AM and running through 3 PM.
Turkey Behavior
A classic example is a hen that gets serviced at first light. She moves off for a drink and some quick feed. later lays an egg and is back grazing a greening up wheat field. The toms have the hen timed to the wheat field and a strutting area is developed. A pattern repeated many times over during the Kansas spring turkey season.
Just like mature deer, turkey and specifically mature gobblers seem to know the best time of the day to move is the time of day the least amount of human activity occurs. We don’t know for sure if this is a primary reason for this turkey movement. However, it definitely makes sense. We all have seen how fast a turkey can run when we are spotted.
Another factor contributing to Kansas mid-afternoon turkey movement could be it’s the time of the day the hen sit on their eggs on the nest. This leaves the gobblers on the prowl. Any time the toms are not following a hen is always a plus for the hunter. A more frequent observation during Kansas afternoon turkey hunts than elsewhere.
Lonnie
One the hard way.
Turkey Blinds
All day long wild turkey hunting can be extremely difficult if not using a blind.
The majority of the Kansas turkey hunters we have talked to that do turkey hunt all day do hunt from of a blind. They have reported seeing as many turkeys on the move mid-day as they do the first couple hours of the morning.
Those that do not hunt from manmade blinds are split between those that erect natural cover blinds and those that set up in thicker than the surrounding brush. The few that purely stalk without any more camouflage than what they are wearing are rare. When digging into how these hunters developed their skills they all to a man started chasing turkeys long before they could get driver's licenses.
The biggest distinguishing aspect of the blind over the non-blind hunters seems to be largely based on where the hunter grew up leaning their turkey hunting skills.
Local hunters are far more likely to hunt from a blind. Those from the south, southwest and northern and eastern big woods are not. One hunter distinguished this observation that Kansas hunters learn quicker the roost, feed fields and water source all work towards keeping all day long flock movement to a predictable pattern in a relatively small area discernable by the hunter. This observation is frequently compared to some other heavy cover states where regular near and long distance observation of flock movement is rare. The effect is Kansas hunters find through adapting their observations to local terrain is simply more eyes on all turkeys. Not just toms from the flock. Eyes on is repeatedly so during the day. Those blind hunters that do move during the day further describe the move as from one concealed position to another simply as a reaction to short-term changes to the daily flock routine.
To further support the collective comments from a good many spring turkey season hunters through the years is our seemingly casual conversation with those hunters making the most reservations before tagging out. The bulk of the group fall in two categories. The first, is the relatively new turkey hunter and the second is one that describes how he is more in the run & gun category of hunter. Yes, this turkey hunter is more likely to travel from hilly/wooded or thicker scrub country.
Scouting
If having a couple of days for turkey scouting/hunting it is very helpful to watch the turkeys all day the first day. Become more familiar with patterns and determine their primary food and water source as well as nesting area. Pinning down an unknown roost for the next morning's hunt is a bonus.
Not All Kansas Turkey Hunting Terrain Is The Same
Southern Kansas turkey hunters find a regional difference and likewise spring tactics change.
Kansas green wheat and fresh green sprouts seem to be a primary turkey food source both early morning and mid-day throughout the season. When the wheat fields grow past a foot tall the flocks tend to shy away from them early in the morning. Some say the reason is the dew on the tall grass makes their feathers wet. They do not like being wet the first hour or two in the morning, especially if the temperature is cool.
When the sun dries the wheat In the middle of the day we've heard the turkeys use the tall wheat, but decoys are not visible. This is just a thought that we would like to pass on to those interested in the feedback we've heard from our Kansas hunters over the years.
While at this point it may appear we speak of wheat fields a lot for Kansas turkey, it is that Kansas has a lot of wheat. Turkeys do use the wheat for much grazing during the early half of the spring season. No experienced Kansas turkey hunter will pass a wheat field without at least a glance to see what is there.
Another observation from our all day long self guided Kansas turkey hunters is if the turkeys are not pressured. They tend to fly down to the open fields in the morning and move to the timber and tops of the ridges mid-morning. Then slowly work their way back to the open fields mid-day. With this in mind connecting the dots with aerials before the hunt may work. Anticipating the turkey movement of hens to nest areas, water, forage, strutting and roost as well as a day spent scouting may payoff with a quick harvest. Or, the chance at being selective on a big tom. Rarely while on a turkey hunt does a hunter just stumble into a flock or individual turkeys.
"...a chance to hunt one weekend..." Nick
Strong Observation Capability
Turkeys have nothing but time and are constantly looking for something to run from. With this in mind, sitting all day is a turkey hunter advantage. It may be foreign to many ridge runners or public land hunters. This turkey hunt advantage is largely made possible though non-pressured private lease land. This leaves it to the MAHA hunter to run the turkeys off the farm they are on. One hunter told us a tom's biggest fear is a human on foot. If they don't ever see a human they are much easier to work.
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Mid-America Hunting Association
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