Turkey on roost until 9:00

[paturkeyhntr]

I had a turkey stay on the roost until 9am today.  I would wait for 30 minutes between calls and he wouldn't call.  When I did call after waiting 30 or so minutes, he would gobble back to me.  What would you suggest to do when a gobbler stays on the roost that long?  Move in on him, stop calling and wait even more than 30 minutes?

[chipper]

Go roost him the evening before you plan to hunt, try to get him to gobble on the roost and figure out exactly where he is at then slip in there the next morning as close as you dare and stake a decoy where he can see it and wait till he gobbles , give him a few soft yelps to get his attention when its light enough for him to see the decoy he should leave the limb and you should be able to drop the hammer. He's just doing what he's programed to do, wait on a hen to come to him.

[Spellnj3]

The gobbler we set up on this morning flew down at 5:30!!

[devin4484]

Might have seen something that he didn't like.

[GC]

Might have seen something that he didn't like.

That'd be my bet.  Could have had a coyote or bobcat come through early and that kept him on the limb.  Especially so if it is a bit foggy or heavy dark cloudy at daylight.

[hookedspur]

Might have seen something that he didn't like.

That'd be my bet.  Could have had a coyote or bobcat come through early and that kept him on the limb.  Especially so if it is a bit foggy or heavy dark cloudy at daylight.

[Ky strutt n bust n]

anything can play into factor when a bird stays on roost later than normal. this weekend hunted the same bird, same tree, only thing was different was sunday morning there was some heavy fog. saturday morning the birds flew down at 535.. sunday morning, he waited till after 615 to fly down. so i was 99.9% sure he opted to stay in tree little longer because of the fog

[njdevilsb]

I agree that he may not have liked something.  Weather and things like fog could make them stay a little longer, but to me, 9am doesn't seem normal.

The gobbler we set up on this morning flew down at 5:30!!

The bird my dad killed on Sunday flew down at that exact time 2 days in a row.  I've killed a couple of birds before 6 am.

[Bigsho69]

I have seen birds do this.  He may have seen you set up or it could have been a predator like the other guys said.  Weather can also be a cause.  I would just not call to him and wait him out. 

[TRKYHTR]

I was hunting MS a couple years ago and got a turkey to gobble. I proceeded to call this turkey in until he hit a mark about 100 yards out or less. We had a stand off for awhile and I decided it was time for Joey to make a move on this turkey. I was going to stay and get the turkey to gobble and Joey would sneak in close and call him the rest of the way. A tactic we have used several times to perfection. While Joey was sneaking towards the turkey I spotted that turkey fly up into a tree to get a better look at the situation and to see if he could see the hen that was calling to him for so long. Bad part was Joey didn't see the turkey fly up into the tree so he kept sneaking in on the turkey. I saw the turkey fly off to never be seen again by us. So yes I have seen turkey do this. I also hunted a turkey in AL in the boot eating creek area that would stay in the tree until 9 or 10 strutting and gobbling his fool head off. He never flew down the whole morning. Then when he would fly down he would fly 500 yards away across the Hwy. We finally figured out what that turkey was doing and it was time to come home. The guy we were hunting with killed that turkey at 10 am 2 days after we left on the other side of the Hwy. Good luck with that turkey he is a smart one.

TRKYHTR

[TrophyTracker]

I set up on one like this on opening day here in Fl. He would gobble at everything from calls to crows, to hawks, yet wouldn't come down. I couldn't see him, but I was certain of his position in the swamp. When he did fly down, he went the other way.

I made a plan to get into the area he flew down into on the next day. I got up super early and made the hike down to his neck of the woods. The moon was full, and lit the woods up like it was daylight, and to top it off, the swamp floor was dry as a bone and covered in dead palmetto leaves making it sound like walking on empty potato chip bags. I realized that getting behind him was not going to happen. I decided to get in front of him by going straight off of the trail towards him, and get in close. I slowly inched my way to within 60yds of the tree that I heard him in the day before and set up. This wouldn't work in most areas of the North, but I was fortunate to have low hanging palmettos near me that would block me from his view.

The key factor to my plan, was to be as realistic as possible(Soft yelps, clucks,purrs, and leaf scratching). He gobbled to one of my crow checks, and was in the exact tree I hoped he would be in. I went into my planned light calling routine, and he showed his interest with robust gobbles. The only problem was that somewhere in the mix, another hunter came in after daylight and snapped and crunched his way into the woods off to my right and was wailing away on a box call. The bird had no interest in him, but stayed on the limb for an hr and a half after sunrise gobbling at my soft stuff. Eventially, I started to crawl a bit closer to him, and shut down my calling completely. This proved to be more than he could stand, and he dropped straight down out of the limb, and came creeping through the cypress head looking for me.

He found me waiting for him with an 870 and some #6's.  So the main thing I would take from this is to be patient, and only give him enough to know you're there, and hope his curiosity gets the best of him. Good luck and go get him!

[clarksvalley]

did this bird recieve any hunting pressure?afew years back i ran into a bird on some state land that was hunted pretty hard but gobbled good considering that amount of pressure he had.he would anwswer a call and fly from tree to tree to get closer,i watched him up in the tree until 9:30 until he flew out and i tried to stretch the shot when he hit the ground and missed.that turkey probably died of old age.

[mp875]

Do not call to him at ALL until he flies down. Not so much as a cluck! Sounds like he has been pressured.

[chipper]

I have dealt with a few birds like this before, sometimes you get them and sometimes you don't, a lot of things could make him sit on the limb but I've had success using the method I posted, last week I took a new hunter hunting to one of his spots and we had a bird do the same thing, he finally left the limb at 7:30 when a hen come from our direction and got to where he could see her. Try the method I suggestedn Get in on him really early and I believe it will work but DO Not call to him till it is light enough for him to see the decoy and fly down, Good Luck and I Hope you shoot his head off.

[paturkeyhntr]

did this bird recieve any hunting pressure?afew years back i ran into a bird on some state land that was hunted pretty hard but gobbled good considering that amount of pressure he had.he would anwswer a call and fly from tree to tree to get closer,i watched him up in the tree until 9:30 until he flew out and i tried to stretch the shot when he hit the ground and missed.that turkey probably died of old age.

I think one other hunter has been hunting this bird....