Upgrade monkey is on me....

[Doug Lewis]

Smoked a good one the other day after a grueling morning hunt.
The bird I set up on on the roost didn't fly down until 11:30!!! He'd gobble every 45 minutes or so. Drove me bat  crazy! He actually called up a hen, she flew back up in the tree with him around 7:30, then flew back out at 9. He didn't fly down until 2.5hrs after that. My butt was so numb y'all don't have a clue! He pitched down right in front of me about 60-70yds and I couldn't shoot through the burnt stubble. He fed away another 10yds maybe and flew right back over the tree and bottom he rooster in. Stupid bird!!!! I left there scratching my head. Ended up killing a bird in a field 30min later. He would have been a small up grade, had his left spur not been filed down a 1/4". His other spur was 1 1/4"....

[Dr Juice]

That's amazing. That's rare that a gobbler stays roosted for that long. Thx for sharing your story ... And congrats by the way.

[Doug Lewis]

It is rare, for what ever reason. Predators, hunting pressure, etc... Who knows. He can be a total retard for all I know. I do know that I'm not fooling with him anymore.
I had a bird do the same thing about six years ago. He did it three days in a row! I'm not wasting time on a bird like that. There's others out there to kill, and I don't have a lot of time left.

[derek]

Wow, I'm not sure I'd have been able to sit there that long waiting for him.  Very interesting.  Congrats!

[chcltlabz]

I've heard that areas with a lot of predators, especially hunters, birds will stay roosted a lot longer than normal.  Theory I heard was they're waiting to see the hen walk under them so they can fly down to her.

Had a pair of very late season birds do this to me in Georgia, only much later.  I think I moved on them 3 times before I spooked them, and only then did I realize they were still in the tree.  If memory serves me, it was around 8 when they flew. 

[DMP]

Good job big guy....