RE: Roost Shooting in PA
Yep...I just don't know how someone could be proud of shooting an old longbeard out of the roost. It happens quite a bit in my neck of the woods in western NY too. I know several people around here who would't hesitate to do it if given the chance. However, you can't just assume that every shot that you hear prior to 6:00 is a result of somebody shooting birds off of a limb. I've been on a number of hunts over the past several years that have been over before 6:00 and a lot more that could have been (including a couple of close calls this spring). A couple of years ago I called in a nice longbeard for a buddy of mine on opening morning that came right in off of the roost and he whacked him at 5:45. We got back to school and found out that a buddy of ours had also called in and killed a gobbler that morning at a little past 5:30. Over the past week or so with it getting lighter earlier and all...alot of the birds seem to be on the ground by 5:30-5:40.
This season has been really tough and it sure is starting to wear on me. Things started off great here in the NY...we killed 8 gobblers in the family during opening week/youth season this season...6 longbeards/2 jakes. Since then, things have taken a serious nose dive. The birds just aren't talking much at all due to the army of hunters that have been fooling with them over the past couple of weeks. We've still been seeing a good number of longbeards in the area...but man, those suckers just won't commit to the calls. I sure hope that things get a little better over the next couple of weeks. Good luck in PA.