Do the birds you hunt roost in the same general area or just anywhere they see fit at dark? In the places I hunt over GA, the birds never seem to roost in the same spot 2 days in a row. I went to TX a couple years back and the birds roosted in the same row of trees every night.
Here is an example of a bird I hunted several years ago. The reason that I know it was the same bird is that he had something wrong with his gobble, the initial note was right but from then on, his gobble had a rattle sound to it, he actually got a nick name of rattler. The first year we hunted him, I thought it was a jake trying to gobble until I had a close call with him and realized it wasn't a jake. This bird would roost primarily in a hardwood draw over a branch, then the next day, you could slip in close and he would be roosted a half mile away in an old cemetery mixed with hardwoods and pines. The next day, he might be roosted on the edge of a clearcut. Wherever he was when it got dark is where he roosted. He was a smart old bird and the other curious thing was he was almost always first to gobble but would never gobble before really good light, so slipping in on him gobbling was about impossible.I ended up killing him one afternoon early in the season in big group of hens and gobblers when the hens were feeding in a planted gas line and I got him to gobble and recognized him. This was after we had heard his unique gobble for the previous 3 years. I actually miss hunting this bird. Not sure why, but I think it is because I knew for sure it was the same opponent.
I was just curious if some of yall have places where the birds roost almost daily. Sure wish our birds would roost in the same area.
Thats one difference between Eastern and Rio.
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Public land in southern Missouri almost always different spots. It's a safe bet on stormy evenings they will be in hollers but no guarantee on which one.
I can usually find a bird in the same general area in SW MS, but I think it's more to do with suitable habitat then a favorite tree. If I can walk thru it without a machete, probably going to have a bird in there.
I had one like that....always a swamp full of cottonmouths between me and him. Never roosted in the same place twice and seldom gobbled. I hunted him two years before I killed him and he was a mature tom when we met.
Same problem for me in the Central Public Forrest in Wisconsin. They may gobble like crazy one day and dead silent the next day from the roost. Either they're tight lipped or they're not there. My guess is they are not there because if we roost them, we will hunt them at the same location in the evening hunt. Too many trees for them to roost in.