In all my years of hunting Turkeys, I can honestly say I have harvested most of my birds between 7:30 am and 9:00 am. I have shot some at daybreak, fly down, call, connect, but no where near as many as later on in the morning. A lot of it could be my style of hunting. I scout around 20 days per season, no calling, no owl hooting, just listening. I mark my birds, and move on checking them 2-3 times before the opener. I don't get hung up as to their exact tree location, just their vicinity. Most of my key, go-to spots just are better between 7 and 9am for reasons I'm trying to figure out. When I do hear a gobbler on the roost at daybreak, the closest I'll set up is 150 yards. I know the woods from scouting, so I'm comfortable judging and staying further away from the roost than most hunters. Early on, I bumped birds out of the tree walking in, thus I just don't get in tight. I have found that if they gobble back on the limb, there's a good chance he will show up. What do you all prefer, tucking in tight to a roosted bird, or do you stay back and try to get him to eventually come? Do you harvest most at daybreak, or later on in the am? Im sure there will be a variety of answers here...
I'll get in tight if I have a good location, 75 yards in the pitch dark. If I'm not sure, I hang back and see what I got, 150 yards is about where I want to be if it's not a known roosted bird. Right off the roost is the best opportunity, but most of my birds are after the hens leave them in the morning, approximately 8-11 am around here.Z
Hey Tom, I definitely do not prefer to get in tight on the roost. The chances of bumping the gobbler or other birds that may be around him is too great. I usually stay back and let the bird make the first move, too many variables involved in getting in tight. As far as the time of day kills are made, most of my kills are made after the birds have flown down and started their daily routine. Understanding the current situation is key to making a plan that will determine whether you succeed or not.
I like to be 80 to 150 yards from the roost. I have taken the most around 9:30 to 2:00. Next is evening followed by shortly after flydown, however the numbers for mid day and evening are closer to eachother than they are at fly down.
I love a classic roost hunt.
I'll get tight as I can. My favorite spot puts me about 80-90 yards up a slope from the roost tree. It involves a 200 yard walk across an open field, then another 125 through the timber to get to my set-up. I have no problem getting in position and sleeping for an hour til the birds wake up. It's my most favorite hunt to do and, as yet, has been 100% effective IF the bird is roosted there.
But, I've no problem with the chess match of getting on a bird later in the morning and playing that game. Both my birds at home this year were started 1 1/2 and 3 hours after flydown time......and from considerable distance.
But, I'd say 75% of all the spring birds I've ever killed have perished before 9:30 AM. I don't really even care to hunt afternoons. Don't even do it at home. I will if I'm travelling.
I prefer to stay back and tend to have success later in the morning. Usually have 1 or 2 kills every year right after flydown.
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Over the years, the pattern I (and I think a lot of others) have noticed is that I will either kill a roosted gobbler right after fly-down or, if I don't, there will be a period of time where they are unresponsive...mostly due, I think, to them being involved with other turkeys in their morning breeding rituals. Then, a bit later in the morning, they seem to be more willing to come to a call.
In answer to your question about which has occurred more often, I would say the split is about 50/50. It is a rarity anymore that I kill a gobbler past about 9:30 to 10:00 in the morning. Admittedly, some of that is due to a lack of effort on my part beyond that point...just don't have the drive anymore to push myself that hard at it. Also, I just prefer those early morning hunts.
As for setting up on roosted birds, I let the "cover" dictate how close I will get. That is, I will get as close as I dare, within reason, based on the visual barriers between me and the turkeys. In the country I mostly hunt, that distance tends to be around 100 yards, give or take. In addition, I almost never hunt turkeys where I know exactly where they are roosted, so the theory of getting in tight in the dark rarely applies in my case. In addition, for me personally, there is a fine line between trying to get in tight to a gobbler to achieve a good calling set-up and getting tight to just try to ambush a gobbler when he flies down.
Finally, Tom, I personally have found that your comment about "if they gobble back on the limb, there is a good chance he will show up" often does not apply with the vocal Merriam's gobblers I most often hunt. Quite honestly, they will very often gobble at every call you throw at them...and then just go the other way like they never even heard you in the first place... ;D :D
Great/Interesting answers so far....
Quote from: GobbleNut on June 07, 2024, 09:07:06 AMOver the years, the pattern I (and I think a lot of others) have noticed is that I will either kill a roosted gobbler right after fly-down or, if I don't, there will be a period of time where they are unresponsive...mostly due, I think, to them being involved with other turkeys in their morning breeding rituals. Then, a bit later in the morning, they seem to be more willing to come to a call.
In answer to your question about which has occurred more often, I would say the split is about 50/50. It is a rarity anymore that I kill a gobbler past about 9:30 to 10:00 in the morning. Admittedly, some of that is due to a lack of effort on my part beyond that point...just don't have the drive anymore to push myself that hard at it. Also, I just prefer those early morning hunts.
As for setting up on roosted birds, I let the "cover" dictate how close I will get. That is, I will get as close as I dare, within reason, based on the visual barriers between me and the turkeys. In the country I mostly hunt, that distance tends to be around 100 yards, give or take. In addition, I almost never hunt turkeys where I know exactly where they are roosted, so the theory of getting in tight in the dark rarely applies in my case. In addition, for me personally, there is a fine line between trying to get in tight to a gobbler to achieve a good calling set-up and getting tight to just try to ambush a gobbler when he flies down.
Finally, Tom, I personally have found that your comment about "if they gobble back on the limb, there is a good chance he will show up" often does not apply with the vocal Merriam's gobblers I most often hunt. Quite honestly, they will very often gobble at every call you throw at them...and then just go the other way like they never even heard you in the first place... ;D :D
Never hunted Merriams Jim, they sound like the could be tough quarry to get.....they tease ya.. :turkey2:
For myself, I never hunt the roost or want to take the chance with bumping other birds. I've had gobblers and hens roost year after year in the same roost areas. I contribute to them coming back year after year because of the roost area not being disturbed. I've only killed a few just after daylight and i'm sure it because I don't chase the roosted birds. I don't do all that Owl hooting from the ground either,I just let mother nature wake them up. I like to get into my setup a good hour before daylight / fly down with as little light as possible. As fly down time is approaching and everything starts talking in the woods,I start soft calling to the gobbler / gobblers, because I want to let him know, hey we have a new hen in town.
I kill most of my gobblers between 7:30 in the morning until 3 in the afternoon.
Everyone has their own style of hunting and chasing gobblers in my opinion.
I scout before the season from a distance so as not to disturb the birds as best I can.
Quote from: Tom007 on June 07, 2024, 09:30:56 AMNever hunted Merriams Jim, they sound like the could be tough quarry to get.....they tease ya.. :turkey2:
Tom, just like turkeys anywhere, they can be tough, but they can also be laughably easy to kill. It all depends on which one a guy happens to run into. Their Achilles Heel is that they are much too willing to gobble and let hunters know where they are at.
On the other hand, their "saving grace" is that, just because they will gobble at your calling, they very often have no intention of approaching it. They will definitely "tease ya" into believing they are going to come when they ain't gonna.
Nonetheless, those Merriam's gobblers that don't learn to shut their mouths, over time, will die just due to hunters getting in front of where they are headed by tracking them with their incessant gobbling. ...That gobbling sure does make them fun to hunt, though! :D
I tend to have the most luck between 10 and noon. The area I hunt is pretty thick so I stay back a couple hundred yards. Don't want to bump them. I get setup at least an hour before daylight so I can hear all that goes on in the woods. I'll do my tree yelps followed by a fly down cackle. Then I sparingly soft call. This is usually enough to bring in some curious birds after they are done with their morning business. I would love to get one off the roost, it sounds fun. Just don't think my terrain would allow for it.
Quote from: GobbleNut on June 07, 2024, 10:23:49 AM......their "saving grace" is that, just because they will gobble at your calling, they very often have no intention of approaching it. They will definitely "tease ya" into believing they are going to come when they ain't gonna.
LOL !!!
Nail on the head !!!
Merriam's are GORGEOUS birds !!! But, they definitely DO suck in that regard.
Tucking in too tight is a risky move that has little benefit. By tight I mean under 75 yds. He's probably not going to drop straight down unless he sees a hen. So he's going to glide at least 40 yds. Which means if you're a turkey hunter you can be 75 yds away and still take him when he touches down. Get too close and he might glide past you and put you out of position. Get too close and he's how far you were + the 40yd glide if he flies away from you. Usually for me 100 yds or so is plenty. Have killed a whole lot more a little too far than a little too close. If he wants to come to my call that is plenty close enough. Just my opinion, but there is past mistakes and experiences punctuating that opinion.
Quote from: Prospector on June 07, 2024, 12:01:53 PMTucking in too tight is a risky move that has little benefit. By tight I mean under 75 yds. He's probably not going to drop straight down unless he sees a hen. So he's going to glide at least 40 yds. Which means if you're a turkey hunter you can be 75 yds away and still take him when he touches down. Get too close and he might glide past you and put you out of position. Get too close and he's how far you were + the 40yd glide if he flies away from you. Usually for me 100 yds or so is plenty. Have killed a whole lot more a little too far than a little too close. If he wants to come to my call that is plenty close enough. Just my opinion, but there is past mistakes and experiences punctuating that opinion.
Lotta truths in here.
But what a bird does from the limb is HIGHLY dictated by terrain.
In the instance I laid out in a previous post........ the gobbler(s) are only 80-90 yards. (There could be hens within a tree or two of where I set up). But the gobblers are roosted WELL down slope from my position. They drop nearly straight down.......and well out of sight down over the brow of the hill. This particular area has about a 2-3 acre "corridor" to set up in. There are 50 places or more to choose from. Took me 20 years to figure out only ONE of those places was the right one.
Other places I set up, a roosted bird will sometimes hit the ground 400 yards from the limb. THOSE ones are IGNORANT.
Quote from: Yoder409 on June 07, 2024, 12:25:31 PMQuote from: Prospector on June 07, 2024, 12:01:53 PMTucking in too tight is a risky move that has little benefit. By tight I mean under 75 yds. He's probably not going to drop straight down unless he sees a hen. So he's going to glide at least 40 yds. Which means if you're a turkey hunter you can be 75 yds away and still take him when he touches down. Get too close and he might glide past you and put you out of position. Get too close and he's how far you were + the 40yd glide if he flies away from you. Usually for me 100 yds or so is plenty. Have killed a whole lot more a little too far than a little too close. If he wants to come to my call that is plenty close enough. Just my opinion, but there is past mistakes and experiences punctuating that opinion.
Lotta truths in here.
But what a bird does from the limb is HIGHLY dictated by terrain.
In the instance I laid out in a previous post........ the gobbler(s) are only 80-90 yards. (There could be hens within a tree or two of where I set up). But the gobblers are roosted WELL down slope from my position. They drop nearly straight down.......and well out of sight down over the brow of the hill. This particular area has about a 2-3 acre "corridor" to set up in. There are 50 places or more to choose from. Took me 20 years to figure out only ONE of those places was the right one.
Other places I set up, a roosted bird will sometimes hit the ground 400 yards from the limb. THOSE ones are IGNORANT.
You are right. Terrain can change that "how close" number. I maintain though that 100 yd is a nice rule of thumb. If you push too close and bump him you are done most times. Stay back and you can move and reposition after fly down if he don't trot right in. Thanks
Real good thoughts here.....
Quote from: Yoder409 on June 07, 2024, 09:02:25 AMBut, I'd say 75% of all the spring birds I've ever killed have perished before 9:30 AM.
Something I'd like to add as an aside, here......
There's a discussion going on somewhere else here on OG about jake/gobbler vocalizations and how they may "up" a guy's game on birds over 3 years old. I don't use male turkey vocalizations of any sort when hunting in the spring. So, I can't speak to that. But, I will say that a VERY large percentage of my oldest gobblers came from that 25% that perished AFTER 9:30 AM
Off the roost is the most fun, dead bird or not. The sunrise, the woods coming to life. Midmoring is the most efficient and deadly if you are strictly looking for flopping gobblers.
I always try to get in tight to birds, have killed most of mine within a few hours of flydown, many within a few minutes. Of course one can get too close, and that depends on the terrain you are hunting.....open mountains like I hunt now, got to be careful and stay back a bit....cypress swamps where I grew up, I can get much tighter on birds. I think success on hunting birds off the roost is understanding tree talk and knowing how to deliver it, very easy to spook birds if the calling isn't just right for the situation at hand. On public mountain birds, I have to be extra super soft, but also bare minimum calling(varies depending on response, if any, from roosted birds) just to let them know where you are. Also, timing of the calling is critical on roosted birds, too early you may spook them, too late you miss your window of opportunity. I love watching birds pitch down to me at flydown, that is some kind of adrenaline rush. When I was younger, I used to roost birds and that enabled me to get tight safely, now I tend to not be able to get as close because I am too lazy to go out in the afternoon/evening.
Quote from: Prospector on June 07, 2024, 12:01:53 PMTucking in too tight is a risky move that has little benefit. By tight I mean under 75 yds. He's probably not going to drop straight down unless he sees a hen. So he's going to glide at least 40 yds. Which means if you're a turkey hunter you can be 75 yds away and still take him when he touches down. Get too close and he might glide past you and put you out of position. Get too close and he's how far you were + the 40yd glide if he flies away from you. Usually for me 100 yds or so is plenty. Have killed a whole lot more a little too far than a little too close. If he wants to come to my call that is plenty close enough. Just my opinion, but there is past mistakes and experiences punctuating that opinion.
This pretty much my opinion also. I've probably killed half of my birds within the first hour of fly down.
I love a roost hunt myself. I will let the cover and/or the terrain dictate the distance. I like staying back a safe distance so he doesn't get bumped or doesn't pitch out and land in my lap. I would say I kill an equal amount right after fly down vs later in the morning and even afternoons in states that you can hunt all day.
Another consideration in the discussion about how close to get to a roosted bird is the uncertainty of whether or not there are more turkeys in the vicinity. There are lots of potential risks involved in assuming there are not other turkeys roosted in the same area as any gobbler one might be hearing.
If I don't know for sure, which is most often the case, I am going to fudge on the side of staying a bit further away from a roosted gobbler. Of course, in cases where I have roosted that gobbler the evening before, the solution to that issue is usually simply a matter of being there at 0-dark-thirty. However, in cases where a guy is strictly relying on those early-morning gobbles at first light to locate a bird to hunt, it is wise to take a more conservative approach about how close to move in on a roost.
Quote from: GobbleNut on June 07, 2024, 06:04:17 PMAnother consideration in the discussion about how close to get to a roosted bird is the uncertainty of whether or not there are more turkeys in the vicinity. There are lots of potential risks involved in assuming there are not other turkeys roosted in the same area as any gobbler one might be hearing.
If I don't know for sure, which is most often the case, I am going to fudge on the side of staying a bit further away from a roosted gobbler. Of course, in cases where I have roosted that gobbler the evening before, the solution to that issue is usually simply a matter of being there at 0-dark-thirty. However, in cases where a guy is strictly relying on those early-morning gobbles at first light to locate a bird to hunt, it is wise to take a more conservative approach about how close to move in on a roost.
Good point Jim, if you spook the girls around him, it's probably game over....
Quote from: Prospector on June 07, 2024, 12:01:53 PMTucking in too tight is a risky move that has little benefit. By tight I mean under 75 yds. He's probably not going to drop straight down unless he sees a hen. So he's going to glide at least 40 yds. Which means if you're a turkey hunter you can be 75 yds away and still take him when he touches down. Get too close and he might glide past you and put you out of position. Get too close and he's how far you were + the 40yd glide if he flies away from you. Usually for me 100 yds or so is plenty. Have killed a whole lot more a little too far than a little too close. If he wants to come to my call that is plenty close enough. Just my opinion, but there is past mistakes and experiences punctuating that opinion.
I agree with this.
The terrain on my private property at one roost site, dictates about an 80 yard set up.
At the other roost site on that property, they fly down landing within 30 yards of the neighbors property, of which I do not have permission to hunt, and disappear in the thick stuff at the property line. I have had trouble figuring out how to get them from going to that property. They fly down and are on the other property in less that 2 minutes. So, this year I got as close as I could at 54 yards. When he landed at 35 yards away, he disappeared behind a small bush and continued on directly behind that bush. I did my calling and it turned him around and brought him back my way. 35 yard shot did the trick as he kind of hung up at that distance.
On the public land where I killed the other two, I was over 100 yards away, which is pretty much ideal for that situation.
Quote from: Tom007 on June 07, 2024, 06:08:02 PMQuote from: GobbleNut on June 07, 2024, 06:04:17 PMAnother consideration in the discussion about how close to get to a roosted bird is the uncertainty of whether or not there are more turkeys in the vicinity. There are lots of potential risks involved in assuming there are not other turkeys roosted in the same area as any gobbler one might be hearing.
If I don't know for sure, which is most often the case, I am going to fudge on the side of staying a bit further away from a roosted gobbler. Of course, in cases where I have roosted that gobbler the evening before, the solution to that issue is usually simply a matter of being there at 0-dark-thirty. However, in cases where a guy is strictly relying on those early-morning gobbles at first light to locate a bird to hunt, it is wise to take a more conservative approach about how close to move in on a roost.
Good point Jim, if you spook the girls around him, it's probably game over....
Agree 100 % ... Well said ....
On returning to the roost tree after killing one there.
In 2021 on my private property, I killed one there Saturday and then another one the next day, then tagged out the next evening.
In 2022 on my private property, I killed one there on opening day. The same set up the next weekend, I called one in for my buddy. The next weekend I killed one at that setup and the next weekend, I tagged out at the same set up.
last year, I killed one one on opening day and one the next day at the the same setup on the private property and tagged out later on one in the evening on public land.
This year, I killed one on opening day on public and the next weekend I killed one that was with the other toms from that same tree that I killed the one the weekend before.
So, I haven't experienced spooking them away from a roost after killing one, but then there are a lot of turkeys in my area, which might have an effect on that.
This year, after twelve years of great success on my private property, something changed and I only saw 2 turkeys there all season and I shot one. Usually I see hens and toms all over. I suspect that neighbors called the fish and game and they came out and trapped the area and did their "culling" routine and gave the meat to the homeless. They won't relocate them.
Interesting read from all that replied. Lots of variables, from different regions for sure.
Personally I kill a lot of turkeys off the roost or within a half an hour of fly down.
I do not like crowding roosted turkeys for reasons already stated. Spooking others in my approach and mainly being to tight at fly down to maneuver.
I am happy to be within 125 yards or slightly more of a roosted turkeys to start my hunt. I like to give them room to fly down and make a move. At this distance I can usually hear them and track their movements if they are free with vocalizing.
Traditionally my state is a nooner state. I have killed many turkeys late in the morning, some right at the cut off time. Just because I don't succeed at daylight doesn't mean I am not 100% until noon.
Traveling to different states with different laws I do go longer when necessary. I have killed turkeys later, that have acted great. Never late in the evening when coming back to a roost, just not my style.
Turkeys are active all day. Get them when you can.
If I sleep in and miss a sunrise, I feel I screwed up!
Just not right to me.
I kill most of my birds at flydown or within 30 minutes of it.
On my first hunt this year, when I got my first bird of the season, it was lightly raining. Sitting there in the dark with cool misty rain coming down felt relaxing. Then, when I started hearing the gobbles, it felt good to know that chose a good place hoping that they would be there, but not knowing, until those gobbles came booming out. Then to have them fly down and start coming my direction felt even more like I chose well. Then calling the hens to me with the gobblers in tow. When they were in shotgun range and my gun went boom and the tom was flopping, it just seemed like it doesn't get any better than that. I let the rest of the hens and toms leave the area before I went to pick up my bird. When I was half way to the dead tom, all the turkeys came running back at me at full speed and flew over me with two canines that looked like coydogs hot on their heels. they ran right past me as if I wasn't there.
That was a pleasant morning.
While I have taken my share of birds right after fly down, the majority of my gobblers have been taken between 9 & 11, along with some in the afternoon.
Very rare for me to get on a bird on the roost. Where I hunt terrain dictates you take your time getting to him if you do. In the mountains you'll bugger a whole bunch of things up if you just go taking off fast as you can toward one on the roost, plus it's just big, big country. Best to take your time. Add to that, we just don't have the birds we used to have, so the days of hearing three or four and having to decide which one to go to are long behind us. Past few seasons it's seemed I've averaged hearing a bird once every three days, and that's usually walking 8-10 miles a day. You get in a good gap before daylight and listen to as much country as you can. If you hear one, great. But if you don't, you just get to walking. Big country and every little cove is like a bowl of sound. You can have a tiny ridge separating you and until you hit that lip you can't hear that other side. All that to say, most times I'm finding birds 8-10, 9-11, somewhere in there.
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Quote from: ChesterCopperpot on June 09, 2024, 07:46:08 AMVery rare for me to get on a bird on the roost. Where I hunt terrain dictates you take your time getting to him if you do. In the mountains you'll bugger a whole bunch of things up if you just go taking off fast as you can toward one on the roost, plus it's just big, big country. Best to take your time. Add to that, we just don't have the birds we used to have, so the days of hearing three or four and having to decide which one to go to are long behind us. Past few seasons it's seemed I've averaged hearing a bird once every three days, and that's usually walking 8-10 miles a day. You get in a good gap before daylight and listen to as much country as you can. If you hear one, great. But if you don't, you just get to walking. Big country and every little cove is like a bowl of sound. You can have a tiny ridge separating you and until you hit that lip you can't hear that other side. All that to say, most times I'm finding birds 8-10, 9-11, somewhere in there.
Although it is a rarity that I don't hear a gobbler on the roost, my strategy is similar. I am going to cover as much ground as I can attempting to find a gobbling bird and/or getting one to gobble at my calling. Admittedly, I hunt "big country" on public ground where it is feasible, as well as advisable, to take that approach.
On the other hand, I have seen numerous comments from folks that express "discontent" with guys like us that do that. There are certainly circumstances where the "cover ground" strategy is going to get a guy into hot water with other hunters that may be hunting the same area. ...I get it. Point being, all of us should be aware of how our approach to hunting a given location may, or may not, impact others hunting there.
Another comment: You guys that are forced to hunt places where you "average hearing a bird every three days" are most certainly more dedicated to this endeavor than I would be. I tip my hat to you. As my screen name implies, I hunt turkeys for the gobble. If they ain't gonna, I ain't gonna...simple as that. For me personally, if there aren't turkeys out there in the woods gobbling once in a while to my calling, the entire "thing" loses its appeal to this guy pretty quickly.
The majority of gobbling on my private and public areas are on the limb in the morning and for about 20 minutes after fly down and about an hour before they fly up to the evening roost limb and for a little while on the limb. Every now and then one can get one to gobble to the call during the day, but it is rare. Scouting is extremely important when you hunt turkeys that are not all that willing to gobble to your calls.
Quote from: Dougas on June 07, 2024, 06:56:15 PMOn returning to the roost tree after killing one there.
This year, after twelve years of great success on my private property, something changed and I only saw 2 turkeys there all season and I shot one. Usually I see hens and toms all over. I suspect that neighbors called the fish and game and they came out and trapped the area and did their "culling" routine and gave the meat to the homeless. They won't relocate them.
It sounds like you had a decent cell of birds in your area. I've never heard of a culling of the flock. What state if you don't mind me asking?
I never liked being to close to the roost area as well. I always liked within 80/100 yard range. I've taken many at all times. However, I'd say 10/12 is my most action.
I'm in Western Oregon. Turkeys are more of a nuisance than a game animal here. In a 20 mile circumference on any given day, in any part of the year, I will see between 20 and 100. I will have 5 to 20 in my yard on any given day. Huge toms, several bearded hens, huge toms that are spurless as well. I live about a quarter of a mile from the city limits in town.
Quote from: Dougas on June 17, 2024, 08:53:02 PMI'm in Western Oregon. Turkeys are more of a nuisance than a game animal here. In a 20 mile circumference on any given day, in any part of the year, I will see between 20 and 100. I will have 5 to 20 in my yard on any given day. Huge toms, several bearded hens, huge toms that are spurless as well. I live about a quarter of a mile from the city limits in town.
Sounds like Heaven, LOL
Quote from: b wilt on June 17, 2024, 09:36:59 PMQuote from: Dougas on June 17, 2024, 08:53:02 PMI'm in Western Oregon. Turkeys are more of a nuisance than a game animal here. In a 20 mile circumference on any given day, in any part of the year, I will see between 20 and 100. I will have 5 to 20 in my yard on any given day. Huge toms, several bearded hens, huge toms that are spurless as well. I live about a quarter of a mile from the city limits in town.
Sounds like Heaven, LOL
It does sound like heaven, however, it really isn't, because, in my area, the majority are found on private property with no chance of access. I have knocked on hundreds of doors and received permission on only 3 properties over the years. One lasted 2 years until he sold it and the main one didn't have turkeys on it except one morning this year, when it usually has a lot and the other one, is by advance appointment, so, I only get a couple of times a year when the owner has windows of time. There are public land with some turkey activity, very little, and I found one piece of public land that is a good producer, though. Clear across the state, however, does have quite a bit of public land turkeys.
I killed 3 of the 7 I killed this year off the roost One was only 45 yards from my setup when he was on the limb. The other 4 were killed between 10:00-1:00.
Now 2 of those 3 were roosted the evening before and I was in those birds in the dark before dawn.
I think a fitting secondary question to ask regarding this subject is how many birds any of us may have killed as a result of HEARING those gobblers when they were on the roost, whether we killed them right at fly-down or perhaps a bit later?
Of the seven gobblers I was involved in the harvest of this year, all but one of those was a result of me locating them on the roost and then either calling them in immediately or maneuvering on them and killing them a little later.
The point being that, for me at least, the importance of being out there in the woods when that early morning roost-gobbling is occurring can't be overstated...whether I kill them right away or not.
Off the roost
Two of my 3 this year, I heard on the roost in the dark. The other had been off the roost a short while when I got there.
Last year,1 of my 3 I heard on the roost. One, I got there shortly after fly down and the other was killed in the evening.
2022, the first one and the last one was heard in the dark on the roost.
The middle one remained silent from the time he woke up to the time he flew down. I watched him through my 10 power binos. I watched him go from a stooped vulture stance to lifting his head and shaking himself awake until he flew down. Not a peep. He had the second longest beard of any turkey I have killed.
Quote from: Dougas on June 17, 2024, 08:53:02 PMI'm in Western Oregon. Turkeys are more of a nuisance than a game animal here. In a 20 mile circumference on any given day, in any part of the year, I will see between 20 and 100. I will have 5 to 20 in my yard on any given day. Huge toms, several bearded hens, huge toms that are spurless as well. I live about a quarter of a mile from the city limits in town.
There goes the turkey population in western OR. Internet claims another another state.
Quote from: GobbleNut on June 21, 2024, 05:29:42 PMI think a fitting secondary question to ask regarding this subject is how many birds any of us may have killed as a result of HEARING those gobblers when they were on the roost, whether we killed them right at fly-down or perhaps a bit later?
Of the seven gobblers I was involved in the harvest of this year, all but one of those was a result of me locating them on the roost and then either calling them in immediately or maneuvering on them and killing them a little later.
The point being that, for me at least, the importance of being out there in the woods when that early morning roost-gobbling is occurring can't be overstated...whether I kill them right away or not.
Agree here my friend. I am out there an hour before daybreak regardless. I hear many distant gobbles at times, I set up and many times these distant birds come in. It may take time, sometimes an hour or so. In my experience, if a bird answers, even from a far, he "might" come in. My favorite spot is "clock work" productive between 7:00 and 9:00 am. It is very rare that I don't' have action here during this time in the morning....
Gooserbat made me research...
I hunted multiple states this spring. 63% of my turkeys were killed within 30 minutes of them flying down. 36% after.
One of those "after" was in ND, I over slept by 2 hours. All of the after 30 minutes were in states I hadn't hunted before "*". Except one.
"*" I called in 4 Jakes @ daylight in WV and let them go. Went a hundred yards and got into a Tom. Obviously he was already coming but had never vocalized until well after fly down.
Reading Gobblenut's post got me thinking, I watched 10 get shot this spring, only 3 were roost hunts!
I'd say that's slanted more than usual but I do know it's common in the mountains to not hear a bird from the roost and kill one later.
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The vast majority of my birds have come later in the morning. Not many right off the roost.
I don't pressure the roosts real hard unless I got one pegged so more come later in the morning and early afternoon but I get my fair share off the roost just not usually right of the roost. They usually have to come more than 100yds to get to me. Only shot one right after his feet hit the ground.
You will find that some years are different than others.
Guys hunting big tracts out west with low density populations...very understandable they are harvesting birds later in the day.
In areas that you are hearing multiple birds before daylight is a different story. Again, seasons are different year to year in the same woodlots.
I will and do hunt all day. I have killed most of the birds early morning for sure. Maybe I am just a wee bit more aggressive?
But when that fails, I'll hunt til time runs out or my belly is empty.
I would say 75% of my birds have been killed after 9 am. I hunt almost all public land. Birds change roost spots regularly it seems. So knowing where they like to go later in the morning has really helped my success rate on mid morning hunts
I love a good roost hunt getting within 100-125 yards if the terrain allows it according to how open the woods are. Giving a soft tree yelp and he answers you, I usually just put my call down and wait to see what he does. If hens don't get involved the chances are good, I've had mixed results with bumping hens off the roost trying to get in tight. A lot of times it can help you but of course it's all situational. I would have to say that my best gobblers and the most probably 75% came between 9am-12, after he realizes he's by himself.
I love a roost hunt, but I've killed most of my birds between 11 and 2pm - once the birds split into gender groups I find the bachelors become more receptive to looking for a hen they didn't see that morning, especially in the densely populated flocks I hunt around. I've never been around a turkey that didn't have others within sight or earshot, so it's a waiting game if you don't get him off the roost. Go for breakfast and hit the next spot!