Distance from Roosting tree

[Hooks' n' Beards']

i try and stay approx 100-150 yards from the roost,i try and setup where i have watched them travel when i was scouting the birds..

[J Hook Max]

 All good advice. basically as close as you can.

[Mike Honcho]

I hunt agricultural fields along wooded creeks mostly.  I set up twice last season on a "dogleg" in the creek ie I was sitting at the corner of the dogleg....toms roosted 20 yds behind me.  I used a lone jake decoy and killed two toms within a two week period...got in early and quiet in the dark...helps to be walking across field coming in...not crunching thru the woods.

I typically like to get close....maybe 50 yds if I can in my hunting situation.

Honcho

[jims]

To put a twist on the roosting tree scenerio how many guys set up in the evening near a roost?  Do turkeys generally head back to the same exact trees every evening to roost?  I found a tree last spring that had all kinds of turkey droppings and feathers below it and set up....sure enough towards dark here they came.  I was set up around 30 yards from the tree and it worked like a charm.  I'm wondering if others have had the same experience?

[Mike Honcho]

I've thought of it but never tried it....maybe this season!

[bamagtrdude]

I know guys that get to were they see him on the limb and it usually backfires on them myself 100 yards max

Right on here!  I took a newbie buddy of mine hunting on his uncle's land one time, and the evening before, he called me all excited, "Man, I've just seen a monster fly up into one of the trees along the bob-wire fence @ my uncle's place - right off the pasture!"  I knew this piece of land, so I got a "zero" on exactly where the bird flew up, and he & I "set a plan" in place that night as to what we were gonna do.

The next morning, we get there while it's still pitch-black dark, and start easing across the pasture; we get to the bob-wire fence, WELL away from the bird, and start slipping down the hill, towards a creek...  The bird was roosted half-way up the ridge, on the other side of the creek (bottom), so as we crossed the creek, we took a few more steps - and I stopped him.  Whispering, I said, "This is where we need to set out the dekes & hunker in, there's some good trees right here to sit against", and he was like, "Nah man, let's get closer!".  I was like, "No no, we need to setup here; he'll be able to see our dekes & will fly down right on top of us & we'll kill him right off; we talked about this last night!".  Needless to say, a "whispering argument" broke out & I lost...    As my buddy turned around to go on up the hill, he took about 10 more steps & it sounded like a flippin' BlackHawk Helicopter Lifted Off!!!!  Monster bird pitched out of the tree & flew to the opposite side of the pasture, up into a pine tree where he could watch us some more...

  What we ended up doing was going & setting up right underneath the tree he was in, set out the decoys, and called - trying to get him to come back to us by "tricking" him into thinking it was just one of his hens.  He didn't bite on the bait, but he DID gobble at us every time we called.  Needless to say, I was fairly fit to be tied at this point -- but, it got better when a subordinate bird ran underneath the bob-wire fence suddenly & my buddy decked him.  I was happy & mad all at the same time; glad my buddy got a bird that day, but man ...  The big'un was a big'un.

After a while, you start to develop "instincts" with your setup, and can have a pretty good idea about how close you need to get to a roosted bird.

[brittman]

Amount of light or lack there of (natural and yours) is key to closing the distance. 

As noted above quiet is key, but I have moved deer (they get loud) and they do not seem to spook roosted birds.

You do not need to get closer than about 75 yards.

I have walked in and set up on a roosted bird only to have birds right above me.  Some times they don't care.  Other times they see me move and put, put, put ...

[turkeyfoot]

No closer than 100 yards one reason is there are usually more than one bird there and not in same tree so if you try to get to close you'll bump a hen before you get close to gobbling Tom. The more important thing to know is where birds are heading so you can be in travel pattern often doesn't matter how close you are when they fly down they are going toward food/strutting areas Toms following hens so if your not in their way you'll be listening to them gobble as they walk away

[turkey_slayer]

As close as I can get without being busted or seeing him in the tree. If I can get within 80 yards or so there's a good chance he want get to go to roost that evening