Roosting?

[Clif Owen]

Guys, I'd like your opinion. Do turkeys seem to roost in the same spots in your areas? I've noticed that in my area; you very seldom hear a bird in same spot 2 mornings in a row. To me, this suggests that he flies up where he is when it gets late. I understand that he won't gobble every morning and that he gobbles better on some mornings but it seems odd that if he was supposed to be near the same spot that I would notice this. Yesterday for example, I heard one on the north side of a road. This morning, the only bird I hears was 3/4 of a mile the other side of road.

[RutnNStrutn]

I can't say yes or no. Some places I've hunted I would say yes, other places definitely not. Beats me.

Sent from deep in the woods where the critters roam.

[Happy]

Most places i hunt that is a no. But I hunt big woods birds that have to travel a lot to forage. They can cover some ground around here. However if habitat is ideal I would say that the odds of cutting down on their movement would be a distinct possibility.

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[Ctrize]

My experience is on big woods no.They are  constantly on a search for food and will move to find it.If they are in winter flocks or on a food source they will roost in the same general area then move on as they or the hens disperse.

[Turkeytaker203]

  My two main hunting areas are completely different and I see completely different roosting habits. One area is a huge wooded area that has no open fields. Here the turkeys rarely roost in the same spots. They will be on one ridge today and two ridges over tomorrow. The other area I hunt is open crop fields with small patches of timber, with a river running through the center. They roost on the bluff above the river almost every night and drop down into the crop field. I've killed more gobblers in the field below that bluff than any other place I hunt. So I think the topography and type of habitat, like others have said, make a big difference.

[ChesterCopperpot]

I've seen them roost in the same place every night, especially in areas with few adequate roosting trees. Some places they seem to do it more than others. Like said above, in the big woods and mountains where I live and hunt, food is more scattered and there's plenty of places to roost so they tend to be all over the place, a lot of times seeming to work a big circle over the course of maybe a month. I do think they usually prefer trees they've used in the past, and I think there are many committed to memory across the range. BUT that typically goes out the window during breeding. They hone in on an area, often decided by hens, and the gobbler sets up on a strut zone in that area. Most times he doesn't eat at all during peak breeding, so the strut site seems to dictate the roost. In that case, I think they're usually in the same tree or same general area every night. A good example is the ridge above my house. I can go there every morning right now and hear gobbles from three different areas where they've set up, and they don't move much if at all from morning to morning. Now once the hens are on the nests and the gobbler starts to strike out again I think that goes out the window and they become a lot more nomadic again. Then late season it's getting back up with the boys and there's no telling what they might get into (my personal favorite time to hunt, as I'm not very roost driven). All that to say, like all things, it depends on the time and the place and the bird.


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[trkehunr93]

The places I hunt have "areas" they roost in but that can change from day to day and more than likely if a bird gobbles in that same area the next day its a different gobbler all together. 

[GobbleNut]

I am certain roosting habits vary from place to place based on specific localized conditions.  From my own experience, if having to make a statement one way or the other, I would say that most places I have hunted,...and especially in the places I am very familiar with,...the turkeys are pretty loyal to their traditional roost sites. 

Yes, their roosting habits can be altered by too much disruption around the roost site, but for the most part, if I find roosted turkeys in one location on any given night, I suspect that if I go back to that location again, I am likely to hear birds in that general vicinity pretty regularly after that.  ...And quite often, they will be in the same group of trees. 

[Dtrkyman]

Every day rarely, same spots are sued though but no time line. Turkeys seem to cycle through an area and maybe use the roost every few days or so.

Also more consistent in winter when they are concentrated on a food source.

There was a tree in Nebraska they liked to roost in, big cottonwood out in the wide open, you could check it with Bino's from a mile out, looked like ornaments on a Christmas tree!  They were there once or twice a week and not always the same flock.

[gergg]

The area I hunt is a public, big woods mountain area....I know a specific block very well, they like certain ridges, but seldom roost in the exact same section of those ridges. I listen at 4 ridges over a 3/4 mile section and they almost always are in 1 or more every day. Each ridge is steep, has food, some very thick areas, and has water, that seems to be the draw for these crazy turkeys.

[silvestris]

The biggest factor is their personality, and they all have one or sometimes several.

[stinkpickle]

It's random.  Right about the time I think have a roosting pattern figured out, they change.

[Crghss]

In PA I think the weather determined where they roosted more then anything.

In Florida it seems they don't travel to far and can be in the same cypress head from day to day. Or not to far away.

[MK M GOBL]

Where I hunt there are some definite roosting spots, even after a bird has been killed it seems another bird will take over that area. Now I have a few spots where I can see them roost from ridge top to ridge ridge. And during season they use the area but not always same tree, some seems to be weather related too. I hunt some mixed hardwoods and farm field/pasture. Definite difference in winter sites to spring sites.


MK M GOBL