how to find where they roost?
 

What is the easiest way to find where they roost when your scouting befre the season starts? Sit and watch them before they fly up or what?

RE: how to find where they roost?
 

yeah i just go to where i think they are the night before. and if i see them, i just leave and dont spook them. they should be in that general area in the morning

RE: how to find where they roost?
 

Listen at daylight.

RE: how to find where they roost?
 

go in early find a good listening spot and wait to hear them gobbling up in the trees.

RE: how to find where they roost?
 

Go to the general area you expect them to be. They normaly will do some calling of an evening. Take an owl hooter and a crow call. Many-a-birds I've killed after roosting them the night before. The trick is not screwing it up once you roost them:D

RE: how to find where they roost?
 

if i can add something i would say that some turkeys get down out of the trees in the morningthe same way they went up in the evening but other turkeys get down going one way in the morning and enter a different way in the evening. it just takes a little scouting to see if they have a routine like this. when hunting hened up toms right off the roost it is good to know this as you may not get a chance at them even thoughyou are set up on the roost tree.

RE: how to find where they roost?
 

Like TNHagies said go to the general area where you believe the birds to be and and use an owl hooter around the dusk/dawn times and a crow call during the day.I have beaver pond near where I hunt and in the spring we have geese coming in and out all the time so I also carry a goose call with me as well. The birds gooble like crazy to the geese, and sometimes when nothing else can get them to gobble a few honks will get them.

RE: how to find where they roost?
 

Vocal birds are always the best sign, but if you're hunting an unfamiliar area, there are a few rules of thumb...

First, look for physical sign. Scout the area as hard as you can during the middle of the day. Look for high traffic areas, and then look for evidence of the roosting area.

Second, try to determine what types of trees the turkeys in your area prefer for roosts, and then go directly to the base of those trees and look for feathers and/or droppings. A good roost area will be littered with sign.

Third, a good roost area typically has at least 2 of the following characteristics:

1) a nearby water source
2) a nearby food source
3) a nearby dusting area
4) the trees are situated either on a bluff or 1/4 down the leeward side (i.e. they will often fly up from the summit, and then pitch down onto the summit in the morning)
5) a nearby green area (Notice I did not say field. Green strut zones are sometimes only 10 yd square).
6) a nearby briar patch or blowdown (i.e. a "thick" area that can accomodate nesting hens...)

Although it often depends on the turkey population and the hunter density in your area, good roost trees are used by several generations of turkeys. Actually, good roost trees are seldom abandoned (if ever) unless something (typically man-made) encroaches on the turkey's perceived sense of safety. Roost areas will often change due to season (i.e. summer vs. winter ranges), but stay quite consistent in most areas of the US...

Hope this helps...

S&R

RE: how to find where they roost?
 

One of the best ways to scout is when you're hunting other game. For example, when you hunt for deer always be on the look out for signs of other game and vice versa. Strut&rut gave you some good advise. Just always be on the look out though.


Spudrow from Mo

RE: how to find where they roost?
 

Hearing birds is great but sometimes they don't talk much and you are limited to thier shcedule. I like to actually get out like Strut&RUT says. The evidence of roost trees most valuable is usally obvious when you find it. Wing feathers! The knock those out getting to roost. If you have an annual roost location like R&S described you should find lots of eveidence with droppings and wing feathers. Once you find trees they roost in get to know what it is they like. Sometimes I'll hear birds on the limb in an area. After walking into that area you come across a tree or group of trees that jumps out at you. They are on the side of a ridge, over water or a creek, and just have the limbs and structure that looks right. That helps in confirming what's going on and where to set up in future I find.

RE: how to find where they roost?
 

Strut:

Consider this:

Years ago I would spend a lot of time doing all that stuff you mentioned and enjoyed it. However, I have found that I can be much more productive, save a lot of time, and not give away my presents to the birds by going to high open areas and listening at daylight and just before dark. This can be done preseason. At these quite times of the day gobblers can be heard at very long distances.

They often call at fly up and fly down time from their roosting areas and these are the most vocal gobblers...the ones easiest to get set up while they are in the roost.

I have about ten of these prime locations to listen from.

This year I went to two of them one morning and heard 7 gobblers from the first location and 9 from the second location. This works best in mountain and hilly country. The higher the better with long ridges and valleys and before the leaves are on.

I can pinpoint the location of the gobbling and sometimes glass the gobbler. I no longer go into the woods until opening day and I know just where to go...

RE: how to find where they roost?
 

Born 2:

I absolutely understand, and back East, I would always listen for birds during preseason scouting and then during the season.

However, I now live in Oregon. The closest hunting from my home is 2 hours away. The best hunting is 5-7 hours away (either south or east). Out here in the West, because of the vast expanse of open lands, many times it is just not possible to simply rely on listening for birds. You need to be able to use woodsman's skills to find birds, or else you may have one long uneventful hunt 600 miles from home.


Topo maps, satelite images and information from the locals is a great place to start. However, if you don't hear anything at all during the first morning of a 3 day hunt, you better know how to physically locate a roost area in the absence of gobbling...

RE: how to find where they roost?
 

When I first started turkey hunting,I was a real go getter.I would scout,scout,and scout again.I realized that I was doing more harm than good.Bumping birds before season is the worst thing you can do.I start about 2 weeks before season listening and Glassing at daylight and have figured out that this is best.Plus Im getting old and lazy.Ha!