Roost Shooting

[Farmboy27]

I gotta tell a story on this one. I know a fella that was quite proud of his prowess in the woods. He was never a turkey hunter per se but he wouldn't pass up a good opportunity at one. When I was a youngster one spring day we were chatting and I mentioned I was going turkey hunting the next day. "Turkey hunting huh?" was his reponse. "I guess you like to run around with a call trying to call one in and shoot it dontcha?" I admitted that was kinda the general strategy and he just chuckled. " boy if you ever really wanna get serious bout killing turkeys you gotta throw all that nonsense out. If I wanted a turkey bad enough well I would just go shoot one tomorrow." I told him something to the fact that I guessed I just wasn't that good at it yet. He chuckled. " tell you what, you go hunt them your way and I will go hunt them my way. Call me in the evening and will see who has a turkey."
Well I went out and hunted my heart out, unsuccessfully and that even I called the fellow to see how things turned out on his end. He answered the phone and I said "well, how big was it?" "I don't wanna talk about it" was the only response I got. We made some small talk and finally he couldn't hold back. "Well I went out last night behind the house cause I wanted to find out where those ol turkey gobblers was a roosted." "Every year there's at least one gobbler that likes to roost under the hill back there." I sat back there and right about dark I hard what I wanted to hear. Two old turkeys a' floppin round in that big oak down below me. I didn't get closer cause I knew exactly where they were.  Well I went home and spent some time picking out what gun I was gonna use. So I settled on my 20 guage automatic. I really wanted to kill'em both to really show you how it's done. Well I went down and was standing under that old oak way before daylight. As soon as I got enough light I picked out the first one. I got to lookin round and finally found the second one. I shifted around a little and practice my swing. When I could finally see my bead I up and shot that first bird, swinging the shotgun as son as I shot to bust that second one. I shot him too and about that time the first bird hit the ground. I knew it sounded kinda funny. I walked over and wouldn'tcha know it I had done shot me a big ol turkey buzzard. I was so mad I never even walked over to the second one cause I knew what it was too."

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Lol!  Now that's funny! 

[catman529]

Ha I had a bird shot right in front of me and I watched him fall out of the tree on day 2 of this season. Two guys from Arkansas walked past my truck and snuck on this bird that "they roosted" from a couple hundred yards away across the creek the night before. I had watched him fly up that evening and set up perfect that morning. Knew they were gonna do it when the one guy didn't stop getting closer to the tree.


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[HookedonHooks]

Ha I had a bird shot right in front of me and I watched him fall out of the tree on day 2 of this season. Two guys from Arkansas walked past my truck and snuck on this bird that "they roosted" from a couple hundred yards away across the creek the night before. I had watched him fly up that evening and set up perfect that morning. Knew they were gonna do it when the one guy didn't stop getting closer to the tree.

Had this happened to me, I likely would've busted the bird on purpose. If they're only method of killing birds is roost shooting them then you'd probably have a lot better chance than them once the birds on the ground.

[S.C.C]

Ha I had a bird shot right in front of me and I watched him fall out of the tree on day 2 of this season. Two guys from Arkansas walked past my truck and snuck on this bird that "they roosted" from a couple hundred yards away across the creek the night before. I had watched him fly up that evening and set up perfect that morning. Knew they were gonna do it when the one guy didn't stop getting closer to the tree.


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I sure hope you called the GW and turned them in?

[catman529]

I sure hope you called the GW and turned them in?

Nope they didn't do anything illegal. But it's on Youtube now so if they see it they'll see what fools they looked like.

[FL-Boss]

Catman does some good youtube videos....

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[catman529]

Catman does some good youtube videos....

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thanks! For every 5 minutes of good footage another 30 are deleted. Lol


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[Captain Hooks]

I gotta tell a story on this one. I know a fella that was quite proud of his prowess in the woods. He was never a turkey hunter per se but he wouldn't pass up a good opportunity at one. When I was a youngster one spring day we were chatting and I mentioned I was going turkey hunting the next day. "Turkey hunting huh?" was his reponse. "I guess you like to run around with a call trying to call one in and shoot it dontcha?" I admitted that was kinda the general strategy and he just chuckled. " boy if you ever really wanna get serious bout killing turkeys you gotta throw all that nonsense out. If I wanted a turkey bad enough well I would just go shoot one tomorrow." I told him something to the fact that I guessed I just wasn't that good at it yet. He chuckled. " tell you what, you go hunt them your way and I will go hunt them my way. Call me in the evening and will see who has a turkey."
Well I went out and hunted my heart out, unsuccessfully and that even I called the fellow to see how things turned out on his end. He answered the phone and I said "well, how big was it?" "I don't wanna talk about it" was the only response I got. We made some small talk and finally he couldn't hold back. "Well I went out last night behind the house cause I wanted to find out where those ol turkey gobblers was a roosted." "Every year there's at least one gobbler that likes to roost under the hill back there." I sat back there and right about dark I hard what I wanted to hear. Two old turkeys a' floppin round in that big oak down below me. I didn't get closer cause I knew exactly where they were.  Well I went home and spent some time picking out what gun I was gonna use. So I settled on my 20 guage automatic. I really wanted to kill'em both to really show you how it's done. Well I went down and was standing under that old oak way before daylight. As soon as I got enough light I picked out the first one. I got to lookin round and finally found the second one. I shifted around a little and practice my swing. When I could finally see my bead I up and shot that first bird, swinging the shotgun as son as I shot to bust that second one. I shot him too and about that time the first bird hit the ground. I knew it sounded kinda funny. I walked over and wouldn'tcha know it I had done shot me a big ol turkey buzzard. I was so mad I never even walked over to the second one cause I knew what it was too."

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[greencop01]

It makes me sad that they miss out on the real hunt when they bust one on the roost. If they want one that bad why don't they buy one at the supermarket. My  worth.

[Happy]

It makes me sad that they miss out on the real hunt when they bust one on the roost. If they want one that bad why don't they buy one at the supermarket. My  worth.

I agree completely. I am grateful I was raised differently by my mother. Please Keep in mind though that the area I grew up in has been doning things this way for years and still is. It has always been about success not sport. I was happy to see someone get a little comeuppance for their actions in this case.

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[Bowhunter123224]

Here in PA I've seen it only a couple times, and that was years ago on a piece of private land that was pretty much open to any and all and that year the turkey were extremely vocal and very visible to any joker. I can't remember hearing or seeing it happen in PA in more recent times, and I hunt public land 99% of the time. Now in WV every year I've hunted there and much more recently several times a season I hear those dudes busting them off the roost. The first year i hunted WV I heard an "owl" hooting and getting closer and closer to the gobblers shock gobbling untill BANG!! I was so angry I took off in thier direction to detain them while I got a hold of a game warden. Yes, at the time I was a Federal Law Enforcement Officer with my credentials and legally could do that. I wouldn't recommend doing that unless you are a LEO carrying your credentials.

[maddog3355]

Here in PA I've seen it only a couple times, and that was years ago on a piece of private land that was pretty much open to any and all and that year the turkey were extremely vocal and very visible to any joker. I can't remember hearing or seeing it happen in PA in more recent times, and I hunt public land 99% of the time. Now in WV every year I've hunted there and much more recently several times a season I hear those dudes busting them off the roost. The first year i hunted WV I heard an "owl" hooting and getting closer and closer to the gobblers shock gobbling untill BANG!! I was so angry I took off in thier direction to detain them while I got a hold of a game warden. Yes, at the time I was a Federal Law Enforcement Officer with my credentials and legally could do that. I wouldn't recommend doing that unless you are a LEO carrying your credentials.

IMO that would not be the smart thing to do . Charging guys with guns while in the woods might get you shot. And it will be their words against yours.

[Bowhunter123224]

When your a LEO your used to risk they had a gun or 2 I had a gun or 2. And when you think about it when the ole Trooper hits ya with the red and blue lights and says you were doing 65 in that 45 it's his word against yours. No difference with me in this situation; except I never found the guy.

[Number17]

A shot at 5:55am does not necessarily mean they shot the bird off the roost.

The bird I killed the other day was dead at 6:04 am. I can't say I looked at the time when he flew down, but he put on a solid 20 minute spittin' and drummin' rendition before I pulled the trigger.
Two days later my brother killed one at 6:02 am.

I shot one years ago about as soon as his toes touched the ground when he flew down. That was the last week of the season and it was well before 6:00 am.

[bigbird]

While I was in Oklahoma this spring hunting a group of hunters lost $700 a piece for roost shooting. It is prohibited in Oklahoma. The rest of the time I was there the local conservation officer was there checking.