Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

putting them to bed ???

Gladiator

Gladiator

PMA Member
Had a quick question; maybe a couple could give a little direction as to how they put turkey's to roost/bed without scaring them or driving them off? They are so spooky, and I've only hunted mornings and never put them to bed. I've always just came in with a locator call and set up that way...

Does anyone swear by that way of scouting? Or do you just get in there in the morning and start calling?

Thanks!
 
I like to roost them just to get a particular location on a bird or two so that I can plan on how I will slip into the woods the next morning. However, usually only a few birds are vocal and not all of them so no telling what you might get yourself into in the morning
grin.gif
. I usually stay well away from their beds and get a general feel for where they are at.
 
Great topic! I went to a ridge just the other night to get a feel for things. I made sure to stay one ridge over from where the birds had been roosting. Wouldn't you know, they walked up the far ridge where they normally roost, but when they flew up they glided across the valley and lit in the trees not 40 yds from me!
confused.gif
Fourteen birds all together. Needless to say I was a little under dressed and it was starting to rain but I stuck it out until it was dark enough to slip down into the creek. Out of four toms, not one gobbled before flying up or on the roost. I'm only hearing gobbles in the morning out my way. Just when you think you have them figured out they need a change of scenery.
grin.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Great topic! I went to a ridge just the other night to get a feel for things. I made sure to stay one ridge over from where the birds had been roosting. Wouldn't you know, they walked up the far ridge where they normally roost, but when they flew up they glided across the valley and lit in the trees not 40 yds from me!
confused.gif
Fourteen birds all together. Needless to say I was a little under dressed and it was starting to rain but I stuck it out until it was dark enough to slip down into the creek. Out of four toms, not one gobbled before flying up or on the roost. I'm only hearing gobbles in the morning out my way. Just when you think you have them figured out they need a change of scenery.
grin.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

Have only been hearing the morning screams also, Pretty sure the wind and cold may have them pretty quiet right now in my neck of the woods.
 
Can I add a question to a question?
shrug[1].gif


For those of you who bowhunt in a blind, do you typically set your blind up the same evening as you roost them or do you try to sneak in even closer in morning darkness to set up?
 
[ QUOTE ]
Can I add a question to a question?
shrug[1].gif


For those of you who bowhunt in a blind, do you typically set your blind up the same evening as you roost them or do you try to sneak in even closer in morning darkness to set up?

[/ QUOTE ]

I try to get closer, unless I'm already to a point where I know I can't get any closer.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Can I add a question to a question?
shrug[1].gif


For those of you who bowhunt in a blind, do you typically set your blind up the same evening as you roost them or do you try to sneak in even closer in morning darkness to set up?

[/ QUOTE ]

Willie,

I know a lot of people pack in and set up in the morning, which I also have done before. I like to be where they are going to fly down to, instead of where they are roosting.

And, if you are hunting the same ground year in and year out you can get a pretty good feel for where the Toms consistently like to strutt.

I like to go in at mid-day to these strutt ridges when most of the birds are off feeding. Set up the blind, place all the decoys, chairs, all your gear inside the blind and plan out a good quiet approach for the morning.

At daylight, you may or may not be set up right on a roosting Tom, but with a little patience you could be right in his strutt zone for the kill.

Goes back to the old saying, it's easy to call in a Tom where he wants to go.
waytogo.gif


How many times do you set up "just perfect" on a roosted bird only to have them fly down a couple ridges over and gobble their butt off going away from you?


Lots of ways to "skin a turkey"!
 
I have been noticing over the past three or four years that at night they will not sound off at all. I know where they will be come morning (general vicinity)but I would like to have the heads up where they will be for sure.
What do you guys use besides the owl hoot,coyote or other calls to get them to sound off.
 
Great post topic...

I always try to roost birds the evening before a hunt. Many times it involves sneeking to a location several hundred yards from where I suspect the birds will fly up. I love to lay on terraces above wooded draws and big timber and listen for gobbles. I let them gobble on their own, and then if they don't I'll give them a few hoots on an owl call. Coyote howlers work wonders as well. All I need now is a high-powered train whistle and I would have the ultimate locater call. Has anyone else noticed how crazy they go over those?

To tell you the truth, my scouting sessions are more for finding where the birds are entering the woodlots/wooded ravines, more than they are to listen for gobbles. I like to be in areas where I can see and use binos. Of course not all hunting areas are going to have open areas that provide good viewing.
I like to know exactly what tree I will sit by or what spot I will pitch my blind before I go to sleep that night.

On more than one occasion I have waited til the birds have been to roost for several hours, then snuck in and set up my blind and stashed the decoys inside. It makes for a much more "covert" operation in the morning. All you have to do is bring your bow or gun and set up decoys....much more relaxing.

Good roosting has led me to hunts where all I had to do was pull the trigger when big boy plopped down out of the tree......of course it doesn't always work that way!
 
Thanks for all the great replies. This will be the third season for me on this property so I'm getting everything fine tuned. Each time I'm out I learn something new. Again, thanks for the advice....
waytogo.gif
 
As good as a human's. (of course some humans can see better at night than others...and I am sure the same holds true for turkeys)

A good rule of thumb I have learned over the years...if you can see them, they can certainly see you.
 
When I tried roosting some birds Sat. night, I bumped 10 or so off the roost right at dark. I definitely didn't see them until I heard em leaving. I was only 40 yards away.
frown.gif
One of them that I watched flew out and slammed another tree on his way down...hit it pretty hard from what I could tell. It was definitely getting dark and I wondered if he was having trouble seeing his way through the woods. I will wait until pitch dark to set up the blind from now on.

Would my green headlamp or a flashlight going through the woods after dark or before dawn spook them?
 
[ QUOTE ]
What do you guys use besides the owl hoot,coyote or other calls to get them to sound off.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have a machined aluminum coon squaller that is very,very loud. I discovered some time back that if the crows and owls weren't getting the gobblers wound up, this coon call would! Give one a try.
grin.gif
 
I think the darkness and objects they see in the dark confuses turkeys more than anything. I have seen my fair share of turkeys smacking into trees and fences...both in the dark and during the day.
I would wait til pitch dark to set up a blind. Let them go to bed for a while. Heck, I have waited til 11pm or so just to go back out and pop up the blind. I have spooked far more turkeys on moon-lit nights than pitch black ones.

On the other hand, the sight of a predator (you) may not have been what freaked them out. The sound of you sneeking around could have been what made them booger out of there. And when they freak out of the roost...they smack into everything trying to get away.

Green lights are not supposed to spook critters as much as normal light. Just to be safe....I always try to give the birds plenty of time to go to sleep and try to be absolutely quiet.
 
thanks for all the great replies...

And to add another question to the list...is it possible to shoot a turkey with a bow on the ground without a blind...I mean, how likely is it? Would it be beneficial to set up decoys facing away from you to go for the "Texas Bullseye?" Thanks again!
 
[ QUOTE ]
thanks for all the great replies...

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree...a great website this is.

I think you would want your deeks facing you so the tom would be between you and the deeks facing them if you wanted to send one up the old corn hole
 
Skully, I have a buddy that uses the coon squawler......I think they just gobble cause the call is obnoxious. Unreal response tho.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom