Do You Usually Roost Them?

[CMBOSTC]

I live in MD now, but when I lived and hunted in NC there was less hunting pressure where I hunted which would allow you to get closer to the roost. In MD, the hunting pressure is higher which is why I have adapted my hunting strategy to trying to catch them on their travels. The guys that I've talked to this week who were hunting the roost tree said that the birds always went away from them off the roost. I haven't shot anything this year yet, but I have gotten very close. I have noticed that each gobbler that I was on was with a hen and every time that I called she led him away from me even though they were heading my direction before I started calling. I may have to adapt my strategy even further.

[nosaj]

Work on challenging the hen so that she wants to kick the interloper hen's rear
and he just may follow. 

[VaTuRkStOmPeR]

I live in MD now, but when I lived and hunted in NC there was less hunting pressure where I hunted which would allow you to get closer to the roost. In MD, the hunting pressure is higher which is why I have adapted my hunting strategy to trying to catch them on their travels. The guys that I've talked to this week who were hunting the roost tree said that the birds always went away from them off the roost. I haven't shot anything this year yet, but I have gotten very close. I have noticed that each gobbler that I was on was with a hen and every time that I called she led him away from me even though they were heading my direction before I started calling. I may have to adapt my strategy even further.

Roost hunting doesn't always mean calling.  It sometimes means being so tight to them in the tree that they fly down in gun range and you shoot them within 5 seconds of being on the ground.

Being tight on the roost is NEVER a position of strategic disadvantage.  If you kill right at fly down, you've beaten everyone else to the bird and you're on your way to breakfast before 630, if you don't and the bird flies in a different direction, he has now told you where to go to kill him.

In the last week, my brother and I have only killed 5 gobblers (several on public out west, KY and VA). The reason I say this is because you say you haven't converted since Maryland opened on Monday and the hens are taking them away from you.

It's not the roost that is your problem.  The issue is you're not tight enough to it to put yourself in the game.  Now, I'm not sure if you're hunting western Maryland, the eastern shore around talbot/chestertown or down towards Cambridge or Salisbury but I've hunted all of those areas and still do. 100 yards is 50 yards too far right now and you should strongly be considering gobbling at the gobblers and jake yelping.

Flocks with multiple gobblers and lots of hens are abundant throughout Maryland, Virginia and Kentucky at the moment and you aren't going to call flocks like that long distances under most circumstances.

Either get in tight and be in their back pocket at fly down or wait for them to flydown and then crawl within 55-60 yards and present them with a situation that they can't refuse to investigate.

[CMBOSTC]

Thanks for the advice. I've tried challenging the hens and that didn't work either. I haven't tried gobbling at them yet, I'll see if that makes them come in.

[Farmboy27]

I live in MD now, but when I lived and hunted in NC there was less hunting pressure where I hunted which would allow you to get closer to the roost. In MD, the hunting pressure is higher which is why I have adapted my hunting strategy to trying to catch them on their travels. The guys that I've talked to this week who were hunting the roost tree said that the birds always went away from them off the roost. I haven't shot anything this year yet, but I have gotten very close. I have noticed that each gobbler that I was on was with a hen and every time that I called she led him away from me even though they were heading my direction before I started calling. I may have to adapt my strategy even further.

Roost hunting doesn't always mean calling.  It sometimes means being so tight to them in the tree that they fly down in gun range and you shoot them within 5 seconds of being on the ground.

Being tight on the roost is NEVER a position of strategic disadvantage.  If you kill right at fly down, you've beaten everyone else to the bird and you're on your way to breakfast before 630, if you don't and the bird flies in a different direction, he has now told you where to go to kill him.

In the last week, my brother and I have only killed 5 gobblers (several on public out west, KY and VA). The reason I say this is because you say you haven't converted since Maryland opened on Monday and the hens are taking them away from you.

It's not the roost that is your problem.  The issue is you're not tight enough to it to put yourself in the game.  Now, I'm not sure if you're hunting western Maryland, the eastern shore around talbot/chestertown or down towards Cambridge or Salisbury but I've hunted all of those areas and still do. 100 yards is 50 yards too far right now and you should strongly be considering gobbling at the gobblers and jake yelping.

Flocks with multiple gobblers and lots of hens are abundant throughout Maryland, Virginia and Kentucky at the moment and you aren't going to call flocks like that long distances under most circumstances.

Either get in tight and be in their back pocket at fly down or wait for them to flydown and then crawl within 55-60 yards and present them with a situation that they can't refuse to investigate.

There are situations where setting up tight to the roost can be a wrong move. What if a bird is roosted on a ridge top and flys straight to a field at the base of the ridge. You just made a long walk up hill in the dark for nothing. How about a bird that flys off the tree and across a creek 75 yards away. By being in tight you just took yourself out of the game. Or a bird that flys from one ridge point to another across a hollow and suddenly he's 300 yards away?  The more I think about, there are plenty of times where it pays to not be set up tight. Scouting will help determine whether a tight setup will be to your advantage. But being in his bedroom isn't always the best option!

[CMBOSTC]

I've had them fly straight from the roost across the river. I know that most are a big fan of roost hunting and that I maybe going against the grain, but I can think of more reasons not to hunt the roost. That's just me though.

[Dr Juice]

I go roosting most of the time and at times I can not put one to sleep if my life depended on it. However, I can return to same spot the next morning and walah - he fires off. Go figure.

[VaTuRkStOmPeR]

I live in MD now, but when I lived and hunted in NC there was less hunting pressure where I hunted which would allow you to get closer to the roost. In MD, the hunting pressure is higher which is why I have adapted my hunting strategy to trying to catch them on their travels. The guys that I've talked to this week who were hunting the roost tree said that the birds always went away from them off the roost. I haven't shot anything this year yet, but I have gotten very close. I have noticed that each gobbler that I was on was with a hen and every time that I called she led him away from me even though they were heading my direction before I started calling. I may have to adapt my strategy even further.

Roost hunting doesn't always mean calling.  It sometimes means being so tight to them in the tree that they fly down in gun range and you shoot them within 5 seconds of being on the ground.

Being tight on the roost is NEVER a position of strategic disadvantage.  If you kill right at fly down, you've beaten everyone else to the bird and you're on your way to breakfast before 630, if you don't and the bird flies in a different direction, he has now told you where to go to kill him.

In the last week, my brother and I have only killed 5 gobblers (several on public out west, KY and VA). The reason I say this is because you say you haven't converted since Maryland opened on Monday and the hens are taking them away from you.

It's not the roost that is your problem.  The issue is you're not tight enough to it to put yourself in the game.  Now, I'm not sure if you're hunting western Maryland, the eastern shore around talbot/chestertown or down towards Cambridge or Salisbury but I've hunted all of those areas and still do. 100 yards is 50 yards too far right now and you should strongly be considering gobbling at the gobblers and jake yelping.

Flocks with multiple gobblers and lots of hens are abundant throughout Maryland, Virginia and Kentucky at the moment and you aren't going to call flocks like that long distances under most circumstances.

Either get in tight and be in their back pocket at fly down or wait for them to flydown and then crawl within 55-60 yards and present them with a situation that they can't refuse to investigate.

There are situations where setting up tight to the roost can be a wrong move. What if a bird is roosted on a ridge top and flys straight to a field at the base of the ridge. You just made a long walk up hill in the dark for nothing. How about a bird that flys off the tree and across a creek 75 yards away. By being in tight you just took yourself out of the game. Or a bird that flys from one ridge point to another across a hollow and suddenly he's 300 yards away?  The more I think about, there are plenty of times where it pays to not be set up tight. Scouting will help determine whether a tight setup will be to your advantage. But being in his bedroom isn't always the best option!

Guiding this morning and the gun went off at 634.  Gunner was 60 from the roost and I was 45 behind him.

That makes #6 for the week. Being close to the roost is a dynamic thing.  If you're ultralight you don't call until after the bird is on the ground and that's only if he didn't pitch down in gun range.

If he flies away at distance, that's fine, reposition.  But this time of the year, the birds have lots of hens and long flights off the roost are the anomaly instead of the norm.

There are far more ups than downs to being tight and being tight to henned up gobblers is the most essential element for success.

[CMBOSTC]

I'm not disagreeing that roosting is effective because it is. I'm not saying that I haven't done it because I have. I'm not saying that I won't do it again because I will. But, when there are 10 dudes hunting the same roosted bird, I will get creative and find other means. Now that the first week is over and less hunters will be in the field, I'll give it a shot.

[TRG3]

From years of bow hunting for deer in the late afternoon when turkeys fly up, I can only hear them if are within a couple of hundred yards of me and often within seeing distance; therefore, I don't try to roost them since my presence might spook them. Instead, if it's an area which I've hunted before, I basically have a good idea where they will be roosted. If it's an area unfamiliar to me, I try to get to a good listening spot and then head for the gobbler when he sounds off, hopefully while it's still plenty dark. I also know that the first to gobble is not necessarily the only one or the closest, so I may wait for a couple of gobbles to see if another one responds. This happened twice to me this spring and saved me from bumping gobblers that I eventually took after fly down.