It pays to keep hunting late in the morning and, in those states where such is permitted, well into the afternoon.

BUSTING BIRDS ON THE ROOST
As a rule, the closer a turkey hunter can get to roosted birds without being detected the more likely it is that he'll have a good shot when those birds fly down. But there's such a thing as too close. Tiptoeing through the dim woods, a blur of dark shapes rocketing every which way says you're too close, and a sound like sheets flapping on a clothesline tells the tale: Busted again!

The hunter who inadvertently flushes a flock of birds from the roost may be in for a long day, as the commotion alerts other turkeys for hundreds of yards around. Luckily, there's preventive medicine for such a disaster. By pinpointing roosting areas in advance of the actual hunt, one can also select an unobtrusive calling location.

Whenever possible, try to roost a tom or two the evening before you plan to go afield. Look for likely roosting areas, such as a grove of evergreens amid a much larger stand of hardwoods, or a cluster of tall trees at the head of a steep gully. Sneak to within a couple hundred yards of such areas at twilight and offer two or three loud owl hoots or crow calls, pausing to listen for a gobble between riffs. When you get a response (and this may take two or three tries spaced out over several minutes), mark the spot and mentally prepare a route that will get you close -- but not too close -- to that spot in the dark of the next morning.

What if you fail to detect a gobble from the roost in the evening? The fallback strategy is to try again just before dawn, with an owl hoot or a coyote howl. Roosted toms are used to hearing such sounds in the wee hours and often respond to them with nervous shock gobbles.

CALLING TOO LONG
Some turkey hunters like the sound of their own calling so much that they are reluctant to stop the tom-talk until an approaching bird has stepped into the cross hairs.

A guide pal of mine, however, rarely makes a peep once he observes a gobbler approaching his setup.

"By the time you can see them, they know exactly where you are -- they just don't know what you are," the guide said. "So, they'll be looking hard and trying to spot you."

Every hunter knows that the slightest movement when a tom is looking right at him can bring the game to an abrupt end, but a turkey's hearing is arguably as remarkable as its eyesight. Think of how many times gobblers have heard your calling at a distance of several hundred yards, then walked on a more-or-less straight line to the spot where you were sitting. When a bird hears a loud yelp or purr at close range but can't see its source, that tom is inclined to vacate the premises, pronto. For this reason, it's wise to stop calling when a gobbler (or jake, if that's what you're after) is coming into range. The more exposed you are, the sooner you should put down the call.