When to start calling? Call on roost?

[Bobby5]

 Imj ust starting to get serious about turkey hunting and can use your guys advice.  I live in southern Indiana and our season just opened the 22nd.  I went hunting the last 2 days and right at daylight the birds were gobbling like crazy, had one to my left and one to my right gobbling.  My question is should i call back to these birds at this time? if so what call should i use? I assume they were on the roost but it was visible daylight. after about 30 minutes of daylight i didnt hear a gobble the rest of the morning. It was like this the last 2 mornings.  I set up a blind on the edge of a field  so i just stayed put. I cant go out and find where there roosted the night before do to my work schedule. Where do you guys go once you leave the truck? Do you guys just listen for that first gobble and go in that direction or do you guys call back to him once he gobbles first thing in the morning?

[SCGobbler]

Depends on the situation.

I typically listen for more than one gobble trying to find the closest bird based on the terrain and where I hear the gobble.

After I make my decision how far I am going to go to the bird I choose, I may do a tree yelp as I close to where I think he may be roosted to gauge his temperature.  That's the only time I call to them on the roost to get their temperature after I decide which turkey to go after.

Hope that makes sense.


The S.C.Gobbler
IG: @scgobbler
James 1:2-4

"Some men are mere hunters; others are turkey hunters."
           —Archibald Rutledge

[silvestris]

As you have probably surmised, I won't use blinds or decoys, but I use soft clucks and tree yelps very sparingly, just enough so he knows where I am and hopefully flies down in my direction.  If performed correctly, the time doesn't matter as long as it is immediately after or on top of his gobble.  You just want him to think he heard you, i.e.. softly.

[Plush]

I always feel the more I talk to them while they are roosted the more they expect the hen to come to them and they camp out in the tree. Can't count how many birds I have had end up dropping down and going to opposite direction gobbling like crazy. They always expect the hen to come to them, but when roosted I think that expectation exponentially grows. I don't think a gobbler loves anything more than chilling in the tree at dawn gobbling in some hens. I will call once or twice. Once he knows where I am, great.

Make sure you are to your spot before you start calling. I do not call and then decide to make up some distance. If you get his attention and start moving around he A) thinks you are coming to him and B) he has great eyesight and is up in the top of a tree...great way to get busted.

[g8rvet]

As you have probably surmised, I won't use blinds or decoys, but I use soft clucks and tree yelps very sparingly, just enough so he knows where I am and hopefully flies down in my direction.  If performed correctly, the time doesn't matter as long as it is immediately after or on top of his gobble.  You just want to think he heard you, i.e.. softly.

This is exactly what I do.

If I know he answers me, I am done calling until he is on the ground, and if he is coming I may not call again.  Scratch the leaves too (I think of that as a call though).

WHEN he heads somewhere else (it will happen, it happens to all of us), depending on terrain, one old time hunter that killed a pile of them, legally and for supporting his family as much as the fun of the hunt, told me if a bird answered you at a spot, sit tight, he will be back at some point in the day. I admit, I don't have the patience to wait 4 hours for a bird to come back, but he said he did it successfully many many times.  Another trick he said was to wait until you were sure he had moved off and get right under the tree you think he was in and try to call him back.  makes sense that he would think the hen came to him there. A strategy that makes sense especially if he is in a place you can't get ahead of him.  I have done that with some success.

[MK M GOBL]

Very little calling to birds on a roost, I let him know I'm there but that's about it unless there are hens talking and then will depend on what the hen(s) are doing. I hit them toms when they are on the ground, or need to work a hen and let her drag him in.

I do a lot of scouting before season to know where birds are, are going or going to be at different times. I scout through my whole season always keeping tabs on birds. From there it's boots on the ground so I know where I will need to be. From this I am figuring out field hunts, timber hunts, roosts, feeding and traveling areas as well. I hunt some farm country with broken timber and fields/pastures, a lot of road time, binoculars and listening spots all go in to this as well. Going to guess just need to apply tactics to your hunt area, once you have some of this down you look for "same" in other areas. It's what works for me, and of course more to it than just this but it's a start.


MK M GOBL

[Paulmyr]

I agree with the call sparingly or not until he's on the ground strategy. I'm starting to rethink this when it comes to calling to group of Tom's roosted together. Generally I  find the hens quite close. Within eyesight of the Tom's. There's no waiting for the hens to show up because they are already there. When the hens fly down the Tom's go with them.
I have Cutt and cackled to birds on the roost from a distance to get their attention with success. I've even had success when cackling up close. I don't see why playing on the competetive nature of a group of Tom's by beating the local girls to the punch wouldn't work. Letting them know I'm the 1st hen on the ground and I'm ready. Not sure how it would work with birds insight. Might draw to much attention to myself and get picked off. I suppose ground cover would be a big factor in this strategy working or not. I guess there's only one way to find out.

[wchadw]

I agree. I do one or two tree yelps. Just to let him know I'm there until I feel pretty sure he's on ground. Otherwise he will just gobble in tree


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[GobbleNut]

I think the general consensus of most folks that have hunted turkeys a lot is that, for early-morning, roosted gobblers, less calling is better than more calling.  In addition, for new hunters especially, there is the tendency to believe that, because a gobbler is answering their calling by gobbling, that doing more calling (and getting more gobbles) is a good thing.  Not so, my friend.

The best thing a hunter can do is to understand the dynamic of what takes place at the roost site in the morning,...and then try to fit naturally into that dynamic.  Imagine what sounds you hear,...and when you hear them,...and try to fit in as naturally as you can with them.  Vary too far away from that roost dynamic in the morning and you can/will put the real turkeys there on the alert. 

Even if you fit right in naturally, however, there is a pretty good chance that those turkeys are going to go about their daily business in the same manner they do every day.  If you happen to have put yourself in a position that you end up being where they regularly do their business, and do not do something "unnatural", you have a good chance for success.  Conversely, be in the right place,...and do something unnatural, and you have most likely "screwed the pooch", as they say. 

The "saving grace" for everybody on occasion is that there are those relatively rare gobblers that are just wanting to get themselves killed,...and will come to pretty poorly executed roost hunting tactics because their breeding instincts just overcome their "common sense", so to speak. 

...Those are the gobblers all of us look to stumble onto as often as possible.... 

[Marc]

In general (roost or not), as little as possible, as much as needed...  Sometimes (especially when other hens are involved) as little as possible is pretty aggressive....  Most times on the roost, as much as needed is not very much....

[rifleman]

Once more I agree with MARC.  On the roost I will let him know I am there with a soft cluck or two to see if he is interested.  If he gobbles I shut up until I am pretty sure he is down.  Once on the ground I do the clucks again maybe 6-8 and wait until he gobbles closer and then I purr on my "secret call" and soft cluck and don't say anything else.  Just look for him.  I do very few yelps anymore.

[Greg Massey]

Very little calling to birds on a roost, I let him know I'm there but that's about it unless there are hens talking and then will depend on what the hen(s) are doing. I hit them toms when they are on the ground, or need to work a hen and let her drag him in.

I do a lot of scouting before season to know where birds are, are going or going to be at different times. I scout through my whole season always keeping tabs on birds. From there it's boots on the ground so I know where I will need to be. From this I am figuring out field hunts, timber hunts, roosts, feeding and traveling areas as well. I hunt some farm country with broken timber and fields/pastures, a lot of road time, binoculars and listening spots all go in to this as well. Going to guess just need to apply tactics to your hunt area, once you have some of this down you look for "same" in other areas. It's what works for me, and of course more to it than just this but it's a start.


MK M GOBL

X2 so agree , it's about putting in the time ...persistence

[huntineveryday]

I will echo what mist have said, sneak in close, give a few soft tree yelps, then shut up until fly down...most of the time.

However, if there are hens nearby and they start talking, I'll match them. They typically start with some soft yelps and clucks, but if they get louder, into full yelps, then I'll match that. In that case the toms are usually gobbling, but I ignore that and call just to the hens, calling over the top of them. I had one hen get fired up in the tree last week, ended up cutting back and forth with her for 15 minutes before fly down, and she flew right to me. Kept her in the decoys for 25 minutes until the largely silent tom came in and filled my 2nd tag for the season. The week before that in a similar set up the dominant tom pitched down first, right to me, after calling back to hens on the roost.

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[howl]

Gobbler stands on one end of limb. Gobbles. You yelp. Gobbler walks to other end. You cluck. Gobbles letting you know it has triangulated your position.

Flies down and circles you to high ground and gobbles "get up here." You call. Gobbles "still here." "Waiting." You call. Gobbles "come on dummy." You call. This goes on a while. Gobbles "bye, headed this way." Personally I feel the last gobble is more like laughing as it walks away, but that's probably just in my head. Anyhow, I don't let them do it.

You didn't have good odds on the roost hunt, to begin with. Now you have zero odds. Despite the amazing experience you can have pulling one down off the limb, it hardly ever works. Let the sonofagun fly down first. Then employ a higher odds tactic.

[TauntoHawk]

Just before I anticipate him flying down I lightly call to him, if he responds I respond to him then I'm done. If I'm not sure if he heard me or if he responded I will call again with a bit more into it.

If I hear him fly down I call to him as soon as he hits the ground as well.

Sometimes like this morning that all goes exactly how I'd script it and he still walks off the other direction but that's the whole reason I'll be back tomorrow.

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