Well the season has reached the second half as I call it. Now we here in VA can hunt till dusk. I went out last year with Freddy, and did not hear a thing, but had fun. I went a few times after that but no luck. I need advise on how to hunt if anyone is willing to give it. Afternoon hunting is all new to me. I plan on going as much as I can in the last few weeks of the season. Thanks for any information you can muster. Hope all are doing well

Jon

I'll be happy to offer up my $.02. First of all, you're gonna put in a whole lot of time. 1st technique...walk ridges and cackle real LOUD from 11am till 7pm. When you do this, call every 400yds or so depending on the terrain, always call when going over a hump. Rationale...shock gobble response to a real horny hen. 2nd technique...go back to an area where you heard alot of gobbling, set up in a blind and call every 20-30 minutes or so. Gobblers may not gobble but may strutt their way to you. You'll pick up movement...don't call too much, he already knows where you are once you've picked up his movemennt. 3rd technique...if a gobbler does answer you, set up and call sparingly as usual, cut some and cackle some if needed. Once he gobbles its just like in the a.m. 4th technique...try to hoot one up just before dark. If he gobbles you know where he is for the morning hunt, or, depending on your level of frustration and decency, leave for the a.m. hunt or blast him off the roost after dark(illegal and unethical). 4th technique sub-chapter...if a bunch of gobbles happen this means probably theres some jakes or combination longbeards/jakes there. Wait till they hit the roost and bust em up good. Be there bright and early a.m. cause longbeards don't like to be alone either and you'll get a fall hunt and a spring hunt workin for you at the same time.
That's about it. Try not to get locked up cause 5:30 a.m. till8:30 p.m. is a long time.

Well i agree with alot of the things that kwiac added, but disagree with stealing one of the roost! While i know how frustrating it is to not be having any luck, it's just plain down-right wrong to do that, not to mention unethical (as kwiac mentioned)! In my opinion it's cheating! -Plus, you could quite possibly be cheating yourself out of having a great hunt! No offense to kwiac, cause i know he wasn't suggesting for anyone to do that, he was just giving some options! So rather than taking one off the roost, spend alot of time in the woods and cover LOTS and LOTS of ground! -Cutting and cackling with loud yelping may do the trick, also use different types of locator calls, i've noticed alot of turkeys that have heard it all when it comes to hen talk, will respond to a locator call, especially later in the season, and sometimes it's ALL they'll respond to, just be patient, stay optimistic, and call loudly until you get a response! -If your unable to strike a gobble during the midday, use the late evening to try and put one to sleep on the roost, and slip back in close the next morning in the direction you think he may go using decoys and soft contentment-type calls! If this doesn't work once they are roosted, then slip in as close as possible and bust 'em up real good! Cause chances are the 'ol boy will be ready to go if he's all alone, plus turkeys tend to get use to an almost daily routine (especially older one's)! -If you get him out of that routine, your chances greatly increase! Lastly, try different tactics than what you normally would, cause chances are they've more than likely heard it all by now and you never know when you may strike one up! -what can it hurt right? PERSISTENCE is the key my friend

Oh yeah, I forgot about the crow calls and such, but that's another chapter. Don't get the name LIMUEL. (Need to spell that out)

kwiac - "LIMUEL" ??? ...care to elaborate on that? haha!

'nator,

Limuel...derived from the latin word "limb-uel"...one who takes turkeys off limbs.
(the above cited from the West Virginia unabridged dictionary of hunting terms, derisive comments and vulgar aspersions).

kw

When it gets warm in the afternoon go to an area that you have seen or heard birds and dig in. Stay there until legal hunting is up or you get a bird gobbling and need to go to it.
We have had great success in the afternoon by staying put and calling every 20-30 min's. Two of the afternoon birds killed were silent and came in very slowly looking for the hen they heard. We have also seen several that came in and stayed out of shooting range.
I would reccomend putting one Hen decoy out. It has worked great for us.
We use a pop up blind but mainly because there is normally two of us and we can talk quietly while waiting them out. When i'm hunting solo i have been sitting as still as possible backed up to a field edge.

I can attest to the fact that even in Virginia you can kill a good bird in the afternoon. Last Spring, 6PM, With Freddy, 20.50 lbs 9 3/4" beard (rope) 1 1/4" spur 1 3/8" spur. I hope to pick the mount up and have him at the cookout!