Early bird gets the Turkey-calling them from the roost

[shaman]

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.

[Happy]

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.

[Aurora Wild]

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

[shaman]

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.   

[ilbucksndux]

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.

[Marc]

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)...

[kjnengr]

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. 

[Happy]

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

[silvestris]

Happy, I think your theory is sound.

[KYHeadhunter02]

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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[Happy]

Happy, I think your theory is sound.

Good to hear silvestris. I hope you are having a good season.