Do any of you try to get them coming right from the trees in the morning and is this very effective. Do you actually call almost before legal shooting time to get them thinking of coming your way so they do come at daylight?
How important is that first hour to you?
Have you logged what the average time of day you shot most of your birds?
It's a good a time as any to kill one, especially if you can grab his attention before he gets to his hens. Every bird I have called up this season has been within an hour of fly down, which is not typical for me.
Get in early! I walked into the roost of the best bird I killed this year at 5:15. Sunrise was a little after 6. I ran a pile of deer all under them but it was so early it didn't matter. He started gobbling in the moonlight at 5:35. He flew down around 6, strutted down the woods road, and was dead by 6:10. Being in the woods at fly down generally gives you the most gobbling you will hear all day and the most information as to the gobbler's location, even if you don't kill him straight off the limb.
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5 out of my 6 birds this year were 15 or less after flydown. After you locate him, get set up early and quietly. Then do a few tree yelps and clucks. When it gets light enough, I do a couple fly downs with a wing or my cap. Then cluck and purr and shut up and start looking for him.
Quote from: MickT on April 27, 2017, 11:20:24 PM
It's a good a time as any to kill one, especially if you can grab his attention before he gets to his hens. Every bird I have called up this season has been within an hour of fly down, which is not typical for me.
Get in early! I walked into the roost of the best bird I killed this year at 5:15. Sunrise was a little after 6. I ran a pile of deer all under them but it was so early it didn't matter. He started gobbling in the moonlight at 5:35. He flew down around 6, strutted down the woods road, and was dead by 6:10. Being in the woods at fly down generally gives you the most gobbling you will hear all day and the most information as to the gobbler's location, even if you don't kill him straight off the limb.
Is it normal for Tom's to start gobbling when it is still dark out. I could see how you could get them all excited for the day?
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Getting close to the roost before the gobbler wakes up and then convincing him there's a hen near his tree and getting him to come close enough for a shot is Spring turkey hunting IMO.I've killed quite a few late morning a few in late afternoon but right off the roost is the most satisfying hunt especially on hard hunted public land easterns were one mistake will end the hunt.
You'll normally hear more gobbling in that 20 mins than you will the rest of the day. Roosting birds is so you can be close enough to see em wake up, hit the ground and relatively often fall over. It's very successful and may be one of the more successful/highest percentage shots imo. There's no guarantees but the odds are higher than normal imo
When you hunt in a state that hunting hours close at 1:00 it's important to me to get tight and call em in. Also I hunt public so between the idiots and the mushroom hunters it's important to get er done fast. I've heard hens that were roosted near me call so aggressive it was fun to listen to. So I call as my mood dictates.
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It can be very effective when it all comes together. Sunday my 15 yr old son shot his bird that flew down right into the decoys after we set up 70 yards away from his roost in green field 1/2 hr before daylight. Monday I had another fly down from 80 yds away into a single decoy to 40 yds out but it was so dark I couldn't be sure it wasn't a jake. A minute later a hen flew down and led him away and it was a good bird. The key is too get in real early and be as quiet as a mouse. That first 45 minutes of daylight can be wild but after that they hook up and it's 3 hours of dead time that I dread. These are known roosting white pines with lots of droppings beneath them that they use year after year but not every day.
I have tipped a bunch maybe half my birds first thing in the morning in the roost zone.. I have probably 8 that have died less than 1min after being on the ground by being in gun range of where he lands
Sometimes the gobblers wont roost right with the hens later in the season and you can get in tight and be between them, other times the gobbler is the first bird on the ground and being the first (hen) on the ground can be advantageous. I do try to not over call the bird on the limb, mostly sit back and observe listen. I often will only seek 1-3 gobbles to my calls while they are in the tree but will call to him the moment he hits the ground or even is still in the air.
This year its 50/50 I have 8am, 10am, 6:08am, and 6:04am kills and a 5:55am miss.
I love getting in close to a bird on the roost. It's the "classic" turkey hunt. But, I've killed a much better percentage of my birds after 7 am. I've killed most of longbeards after 8 am. Most birds will gobble on the roost even if they have hens. Hear one gobbling after 8 and there's a good chance he's lonely
If I'm close enough to the roost, I won't call at all.
If you put them to bed the night before, you will see from which direction they will fly up, they more often than not will fly down towards that same spot. Be there and be quiet, be reading for him to hit the ground and run.
I've killed over a 100 and probably 85 of those have died within 10 minutes of flying down. Heck, probably 50 have died when they hit the ground and stretched their head out.
Quote from: BrowningGuy88 on April 05, 2018, 12:58:04 PM
I've killed over a 100 and probably 85 of those have died within 10 minutes of flying down. Heck, probably 50 have died when they hit the ground and stretched their head out.
Are you hunting farm country with lots of fields?
Have killed a few as they were coming off the roost right to me. I like to be the first hen that he hears as well. If he answers me with preliminary soft calling I will go quiet until flydown time. One unorthodox thing I like to do sometimes is a flydown either with or without a cackle late in the season. Have killed several just imitating wing beats after tree calling. I wonder sometime if the dominant bird sometimes thinks that is a sub trying to get his hen.
Quote from: RemingtonRules on April 05, 2018, 01:27:45 PM
Quote from: BrowningGuy88 on April 05, 2018, 12:58:04 PM
I've killed over a 100 and probably 85 of those have died within 10 minutes of flying down. Heck, probably 50 have died when they hit the ground and stretched their head out.
Are you hunting farm country with lots of fields?
Some fields, some pine plantations, some creek bottoms.
As I've gotten older and more experienced, I've called more birds off the roost.
I also used to try harder at flydown. What I've done for over a decade now is I stay further back from the roost and don't expect anything spectacular coming my way before mid-morning.
My average bird is shot before 9 AM.
What that probably means is that I was too eager and it was telegraphing itself into my calling. Once I let go, and only called enough to let the gobs know I was there did I have an increase in success at flydown.
Probably 25% of the birds I have killed have been within 15- 20 min of flydown. I like to stay back from the roost a bit if I can help it. I like to call them in and shooting one as soon as his feet hit the dirt just doesn't do it for me unless he is gobbling and strutting because of me. Sure my odds would go up if would get tighter to them but it's what I enjoy. The odds definitely get better for me around mid morning.
I've probably killed about half of my birds within a few minutes of them hitting the ground. My success actually went up as I started staying back a bit from the roost. I don't like to get within 100 yards of a rooster bird now. I used to set up closer, and most of the time they went the opposite way. 100 to 150 yards is about perfect for me, but i have had them come running straight in from much further
Quote from: Aurora Wild on April 07, 2018, 11:23:11 AM
I've probably killed about half of my birds within a few minutes of them hitting the ground. My success actually went up as I started staying back a bit from the roost. I don't like to get within 100 yards of a rooster bird now. I used to set up closer, and most of the time they went the opposite way. 100 to 150 yards is about perfect for me, but i have had them come running straight in from much further
I quite agree. I have a favorite spot, the Honey Hole, where I hang out a lot during season. It often has birds roosted within 80 yards. The funny thing is that very few of the gobs that roost there ever come to my calls at flydown. They may honor my calls, but nobody plops down and comes to me. Instead, those gobblers are more likely to hop down, do their thing and circle back around in the 0900 hour on their way to feeding. All of the gobblers that have come to me at flydown over the past decade have all been birds that heard me from 200-400 yards off and come running.
There's one roost in particular over on the next finger ridge that has produced gobblers that will hear me calling, pitch down and instead of taking the direct line across the intervening holler (maybe 150 yards), will travel the long way along the old logging road, take a right at the fork and follow the main N/S track right to my blind. That total distance is well over a quarter mile. The ravine is not all that steep, but the long way affords them a nice stroll on top of the ridge.
Id say its about 50/50 with me. I always try to get as close to them on the roost as I can. I want to be the first hen he hears when his feet hit the ground. Half of the birds I have killed hare been within the first 30 minutes of him hitting the ground. The other half have been after 10. If my calls dont seduce him and he runs off with hens I give him an hour or two then hit him with a loud call and when he gobbles back close the distance and prepare for him to die,or thats the plan anyway.
Early in the season, I feel if I do not get them quick, it is going to be a long day...
Later in the season, when the hens are still breeding the toms, but heading to the nest mid-morning, later in the morning is far, far more productive. It seems to me that somewhere between 9-10 am is when the hens leave the toms lonely, and they become vocal and far more easy to call in...
Early in the season, I am generally competing with live hens, and am more likely to call aggressively, and call to the hens.... Later in the season, if I get a response, I try to work the birds into a bit of a frenzy, and then shut the heck up for a period (maybe giving some quiet clucks and purrs occasionally)...
4 out of the 8 birds I have shot have been in the morning and right off the roost (within 10-15 minutes of fly down).
My first real opportunity at killing an eastern bird, I boogered up a little by calling too much to him while he was on the roost.
Since then, I wait until the first hen makes a sound. Then I do only one set of soft yelps just to let him know I'm there. Once he pitches down, I yelp to him again to let him pinpoint me. After that I take his temperature and make casual natural sounds. I have been lucky enough that every time I've set up correctly, they have come in straight to me after pitching down off the roost.
Last Saturday I had my son parked 75 yards from 2 Toms. They were gobbling plenty on their own so no problems getting set up on them. Long story short I let them gobble on their own for 15 minutes. Then I heard a hen yelping further down the ridge from us. I let a few soft tree yelps out which they promptly answered so I shut up. Right at flydown time I did a flydown cackle and a few seconds later some soft purring and clucking. The Tom's pitched down immediately to our hard right and I opened up on them. Cutting and fighting purrs while making my boy scoot back to me so I could get him swung around on the birds. Long story short the Tom's were on us in within 2 minutes of touching down and he should have killed one but he wasn't on them when they crested the ridge and got busted swinging the gun on them. This was an old school hunt without decoys and he is still learning. Anyways to sum it up I prefere not to call to a roosted tom but when he has hens nearby I try and get him on the ground and dead pretty quickly. Timing is everything in my experience, call to soon and you will hang him up until the real hens show up. Call too late and he is already with the competition. This is just my mode of operation. I am sure some other more experienced hunters will have other input
Happy, I think your theory is sound.
I've killed a good portion of my birds mid day and afternoons. I've still have yet to kill one off the limb. I made a lot of rookie mistakes and should have killed a truck load of birds off the roost. I even sat directly under a roosted bird when I was a kid. I didn't notice him until it broke daylight and the limbs were shaking. The birds on the farm I hunt don't gobble much at all, but occasionally I do find a bird roosted. When I get setup within 50-75 yards from them they always fly the opposite way. The farms are mostly woods which makes it very difficult.
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Quote from: silvestris on April 20, 2018, 10:04:46 PM
Happy, I think your theory is sound.
Good to hear silvestris. I hope you are having a good season.