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"....
That's amazing. That's rare that a gobbler stays roosted for that long. Thx for sharing your story ... And congrats by the way.
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.
Wow, I'm not sure I'd have been able to sit there that long waiting for him. Very interesting. Congrats!
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.
Good job big guy....