Fly down

[zelmo1]

What is your success rate at fly down? I figured it out for this past year and it was 3/20 or 15%. I figure that my lifetime is less than 10%. I kill more birds from 9-12 than I do any other time frame. Just curious. Z

[Brinkcalls]

5 for 6. It was a quick year for us


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[GobbleNut]

I haven't really kept tabs on the percentage (if I did, I would probably give up roost hunting...    ), but looking back over the years, I would say 10% would be in the ballpark.  Now, I qualify that by saying that I am talking about actually "calling" gobblers in off of the roost.  I have often killed gobblers at or around the roost site just by being in the right spot, or by good fortune,...or by continuing to move and "work them" after they left the roost.  Including that in the equation, I would speculate my success rate to be considerably higher.

For me, roost hunting is more about the anticipation as to "what might be" as it is about actual killing a gobbler in those situations.  More importantly, a guy will learn more about such things as how many turkeys are in the area, where they are roosting, and patterning the birds that are around...and how to approach hunting them...more-so than actually calling them in and killing them immediately when they come off of the roost. 

...Not to mention the joys found in sitting in the pre-dawn darkness watching the world wake up...all the while listening to (or for) gobbles ringing out in the distance.  That in itself is well worth the effort, regardless of the outcome...

[Greg Massey]

I agree, very very low percentage for myself and roost hunting over all my years. I had rather try and work the bird than take a chance of him seeing me or bumping him off the roost.  I don't want to risk running him off into the next county...  9 am till 3 is my happy hour for killing birds after 3 clock i usually head back to rest and let them rest from hearing me all morning... LOL... You just have to love chasing these gobblers ...

[btodd00]

never really added it up in the past, wrote down what I can remember from this past season. The kills were shared between me and my oldest son

Off the roost killed the bird:4 days
Off the roost missed the bird: 1 day
heard bird on roost, had interaction but no kill: 6 days
blank, no birds heard: 4 days

I think if I kept going back the data would be pretty consistent for me, majority of birds we have killed were within 2hr of first light and I heard them on the roost.
I would say that's my preferred style of hunting so I focus most of my efforts right off roost and spend the remaining time I have for that day scouting or being distracted by deer sign. My data is skewed to my preferred way of getting a bird

[Turkeyman]

Never really kept track but I do know one thing. The closer I can get...undetected of course...the higher my percentages over the years.

[Farmboy27]

If I had to guess I'd say less than 10% success on roosted birds. My success rate keeps rising as the morning goes. My best success rate is probably on birds that I've located from 11:00 till quitting time.

[WV Flopper]

 I didn't keep track this year as well as in the past but it was pretty good.

Overall with amount of days hunted I had a 52.3% harvest on days hunted. Of those, sometimes I got on turkeys on the roost, about half the time I made a harvest. One particular turkey really hurt that as I missed him twice off the roost before finally harvesting him on the third attempt.

I can not miss the dawn wake up of the woods!

[Dougas]

I started hunting roosted birds in the morning three years ago on my last tag for that year. I had already killed two on evening hunts. I set up and missed my shot. I did some maneuvers and finally got him later that day.
I killed 3 for 3 last year and my buddy who I brought in got another. So 4 for 4 off the roost. This year, I got my first one of the roost. He almost landed on me. The next one I killed about one hour after fly down. I was late getting there and they were flying down when I was about 200 yards away. I got in on them and sealed the deal, so I don't think that counts. Afternoons and evenings work great for me.

[mcw3734]

My percentage is pretty low, about in line with the OP. No matter how good things feel the night before, or at first light, they seem to have other plans. I don't know what my kills are by the hour, but I also agree that most of my success is 3-6 hours after sunrise. My state allows all day hunting and I've killed several birds after 1:00 and into the late afternoon. Come to think about it, I've killed more birds between noon and 6 PM than I have right off the roost.

The morning is the most exciting, though, I'll give it that. I've gotten use to it 'not happening' and the bird go in a different direction, but I've learned not to let it get me down. But when I was a beginning turkey hunter, it sure would.

[Yoder409]

I haven't keep track in a notebook or anything.  But my percentage, as of late, on birds I set up on from the roost is pretty solid. 

2023....... 200% (1 roost hunt......2 birds killed....doubled with my cousin)
2022....... 100% (2 roost hunts.....2 birds killed)
2021....... 100% (3 roost hunts.....3 birds killed)
2020....... 100% (2 roost hunts.....2 birds killed)
2019........50%   (4 roost hunts.....2 birds killed)
2018........100% (3 roost hunts.....3 birds killed)

That's as far back as the pics on my current phone go.  But, I do know that somewhere a few years deeper back, my percentage would drop. Kind of a "live & learn" thing.......figuring out that an old dog CAN learn new tricks.

[Tom007]

Good thread Z. I don't really get many chances to set up on a roosted bird, but the ones I did get under, I had a fairly good success rate. Conservative success rate around 20-25%  I'm guessing. I harvest most of my birds between 7:30 and 10:30 am. I do not move in close on a roosted bird with fear I will bump his surrounding ladies. 150-200 yards is what I like to stay at. The "roost" hunts I did experience were exciting I will say. Nothing like that early morning harvest for sure.

[Hook hanger]

Ok so if I'm hunting my home farms I would have to guess  90% success rate over last 30 years. If I'm out of state and roost one the night before its probably  close to 40% success  rate. If not roosted the night before  then a 5% success rate of a fly down and boom.

[GobbleNut]

Ok so if I'm hunting my home farms I would have to guess  90% success rate over last 30 years. If I'm out of state and roost one the night before its probably  close to 40% success  rate. If not roosted the night before  then a 5% success rate of a fly down and boom.

Yes, familiarity with the area you are hunting makes a world of difference in success rates.  That is also generally compounded by whether or not someone is hunting private land where they can control the factors that can't be controlled in a public-land hunting situation...such as other hunters hunting, disturbing, and calling the turkeys you might be hunting.  In my experience, success rates tend to decrease in direct proportion to how much pressure is being put on a roost site. 

Give me a roost hunt where the turkeys haven't been disturbed by other hunters much and even I can kill one once in a while!   

[Yoder409]

Yes, familiarity with the area you are hunting makes a world of difference in success rates. 

You ain't wrong.