Who Roosts and Who Don' t.....
 

I like to take a drive in the evening to see whats around, what about you, do you Locate or Chance for the next day...BT

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I like bein out there the night before I hunt.I just seem to sleep better if I know what limb he' s sittin on.

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I try to roost every time I go out. The only problem I have is I live in New Jersey and hunt in NY and PA.

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i like to at least have an idea of where he is.. I usually go out and listen to them gobble before i head to the house..

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IF GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY YOU SHOULD ALWAYS ROOST A TURKEY IF YOU CAN. IF NOTHING ELSE IT GIVES YOU MORE OPTIONS FOR THE EARLY MORNING HUNT. EVEN IF YOU DON' T GET THE BIRD THAT MORNING IT WILL ALLOW YOU TO GET AN IDEA WHERE THE GOBB WANTS TO GO AS THE MORNING GOES ALONG, THIS WILL HELP YOU IN LATER HUNTS FOR GETTING IN HIS PATH. HEY G-DOG WHERE YOU BEEN.

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I like to roost them the night before when they are jumping around from place to place each night and I' m not sure where they' ll be. Also the weather plays a factor in roosting for me (no rain or high wind). But if the birds are roosting within a couple hundred yards or so each night, I don' t go out sometimes unless I just want to get out of the house and try to get one to gobble. If they get predictable enough by roosting in the same place long enough, one of ' em is gonna be hanging over my shoulder headed for the truck one morning soon! ;):D

MTT

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Jav,you' ve done it again buddy!Dont it put you in a better mood too!!:DThe two main reasons I like to roost among others is 1.The roost on most hunts is as close that we know for sure that we may be able to get to a gobbler all day and the opportunity to get in close under the cover of darkness should be taken advantage of!2.Not all gobblers especially pressured or henned up gobblers talk alot on the roost and if your able to put one of these quiet birds to bed at least your close come sun-up!I' ve actually seen on alot more than one occasion a gobbler sound-off more in the evening than at day-break!I truly believe a gobbler like this has patterned those turkey callers who hammer him at every angle come morning!!;)

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I like to but usually work afternoon shift so I can hunt everyday.

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I' m going to put some more effort into roosting this year. Looks like more sleepless nights, tossing and turning in the back seat of " big red" awaiting my early morning gobbler greeting.[&o]

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I' m most definately a ROOSTER, You got to be if your huntin public land- Its about the only chance your gonna get at catchin a bird when he' s still got sleep in his eyes Some of them yahoos (ROAD RUNNERS, I call em) run up and down the road like a bunch of wild animals calling every 50 ft. I' ve actually seen birds on the roost gobblin like crazy until they hear a truck out on the gravel and doors slam, crow callin, yelpin and a Hootin get PLUM LIPP LOCKED. They just sit up there for 20-30 minutes and never say another word. Dont ever think they dont get wise to that stuff. I watched a about a two year old bird strutin, druming, spittin and gobblin every breath with 4 hens by his side at about 60 yds for 15 minutes, a truck drove up on the road which was a pretty good distance from us and somebody got out and started calliing and hootin and all 5 of them birds stopped everything and started heading off in the opposited direction . That bird didnt gobble for another hour after that. Maybe the fellas callin was just that impressive ??? COMEON !

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I guess I should spend more time roosting.......birds, that is. [&:] Thing is, I almost always know where they' ll be, give or take a few yards. It' s just a matter of wheather or not they feel like dying that day. ;)

Ok, I' ll make a promise to roost a bird the night before my first hunt this year. [&o]

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I do, and I don' t both. Huh??? I hunt northern, and southern tier regions of NY. I' ve tried like crazy in the past to roost a gobbler the night before in the Northern tier, and have yet to roost 1 darn tom. Not a one in several yrs of effort, they just don' t seem to talk much before sunset here. Now if I head south to my camp those toms talk like crazy to crow, owl, bobcat, coyotes, car doors, guns. Its so easy down around that area to roost them, so I do it whenever I go down. Now you may think hey more birds down south then north right, nope! I actually have taken more toms up north, and seen more in the north in last couple yrs. I asked a chapter president of the NWTF why this is, he told me he finds the same exact thing. So he never bothers roosting in the northern tier, but he can get them to gobble before dawn with an owl hooter. He takes that route. On why do they do it, he believes its becasue of hawks, coyotes, and predators that can use the darkening hour or turkey in a tree for the kill of a meal. becasue of that he believes the toms keep quiet up north at dusk. I just thought I' d share that bit of possibility!

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I try to roost even if I can' t make it out in the am. I start work early.
I agree with Buckalley. I hunt NH-VT and in both states their are certain areas
I thought could hold large numbers of predators. Some places are easy top roost and others you know they are there but thet are plum tight lipped.

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The only time I make an effort to roost a gobbler is if I' m taking people that don' t get to hunt much or are just learning the sport. I hunt only public land and hunt in many different locations. Most mornings I don' t even know where I' m going to try for a bird, I just head down the road and go with my gut feeling. Sometimes I stop at good listening spots and hang around ' till I hear one gobble and sometimes I hike into an area. I generally go after the first mature tom that I hear. The first 10 years I hunted I roosted alot but the last 25 years I' ve found it more fun to just wing it.

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:( Well due to the fact that I do not finish work till 7:30pm [:@] & the are I usually hunt is an hour away, I am unable to roost....even so, the property I hunt on is private with me been the only hunter allowed on it:D, and there are quite a few birds there, I chance it....last year I was able to harvest 2 birds on 2 consecutive Saturday mornings within 15 minutes of setting up....roosting is good if you have the time....Brampton Mike [8D]

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i roost the gobbler i want the night before, but it never seems to work out too well for me. it seems that the gobbler' s are influenced more by the hens than my call. i don' t really think it' s my ability to call because i have no problem later on in the morning getting a bird to come in. but i always try to increase my chances by roosting a bird.

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I love to have a roosed bird to set up on in the morning, unfortunatlyI
hunt about 1.5 hours from home plus another 20 minute walk to where
I listen so it is almost impossible if I want more that 2 hours sleep! I have managed to kill a couple right off the roost but more times than not they
hen up & I have to wait till later in the morning....

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I like to go out a couple hours before dark and cruise the back roads. Many times I will see a gobbler strutting in the road somewhere and you know they won' t be far away in the morning.I will walk in somewhere just before dark and try to get one to gobble.I never had much luck roosting birds until I started using a canister type owl hooter.

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to roost a bird is just as exciting to me as the next days hunt.:D[8D]

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I have tried roosting birds here in maine, but have never had success. They just do not seem to gobble at night. I have gone back to a spot I stood in the night before and gotten a tom to sound off an hour before sunrise. I knew he liked to roost in the area, which is why I was there the night before. He never made a peep at dusk.

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I am hot and cold about roosting. It is exciting going to bed knowing where you will greet a long beard in the morning. But I have learned that a roosted turkey is not a roasted turkey.

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To me, roosting is the ideal setup - it is what I hope for, but not always get... I walk up and down the roads with a crow call, trying to shock one that is tryin' to doze off, and I' ll set up on him before light and hope for the best, and hope someone else doesn' t set-up on him as well.

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I haven' t but may try this year. We found a roost AREA last year that had like 15 birds in it, got them to answer on the roost, but with that big a flock there....they went walking away. Gotta find some other spots this year.

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It depends. If I' m hunting where I can glass and not have to worry about busting birds I' ll roost them. But usually I don' t. I' ve roosted one and then turned around and busted one on the roost as I head back to the vehicle. That' s just not good for the heart.;)

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I usually go listen in the evenins, but very seldom here any gobbles till mornin.
these turkeys just don' t like to gobble on the fly up.

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I always like to have a bird located. I just feel better going to bed with a set up in mind.

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turkeysrule - if you come across this kind of scenario again this year try bustin' em' off the roost - I don' t mean shootin' I mean go in there about an hour before sunup, start shining your lights in the trees screamin' scatter em' as far as you can then start calling about sun-up... If they are still flocked like that, they may want to flock back up - Lost yelp, scratch, cluck, purr... Also, you scatter the hens that are roosted with em' and the toms will want to get back with his women;) Something to think about

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I usually know the area enough to find the roosts in the morning. I havent had alot
of luck roosting birds in the evening. Most of them seem to have severe lockjaw.
Most of my gobblers have been taken later in the morning when the hens abandon them. If I do roost one in the evening, I will find a good setup location and flap a turkey wing for about 15 seconds then leave the area. The next morning I will sit at my setup location and not call at all. Ive had gobblers land within 30 ft. of me like this. Why they do this, I dont know. My grandfather taught me this. It works especially good on the older birds.

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When is the best time to go roosting?[&:]

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I always roost. An example, this year my buddy and I are going to meet up in NY and camp for 3 days before the season opens. We' ll be sitting somewhere every night and morning for 3 days with our Talk-a-bout radios trying to pin as many birds down as possible. We then try to set up opening morning in a spot that' ll give us the quickest access to the most birds in the shortest time in case something buggers the first set up/s. Something is always happening as we' re hunting public State lands. I called these two birds in at 2 set ups within 400 yards of each other on opening morning and were back at camp before 7:00. Our first set up was a bust as I also called in a Coyote who spooked our bird off the roost 100 yards from us but caught a load of 6' s for his sins. We moved quickly set up and had the first bird by 6:00. He had yet to make a sound that morning but we knew where he was. We killed the next one about 6:45.

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Someone mentioned hard to find a bird that hasn' t been messed with. We camp in NY right on a road just inside some state land. You can' t see our vehicles if you' re driving down the road until you' re at our camp site. This is a very country rural no traffic road. One night while sitting by our fire we had no less than 7 cars come down the road and mess with birds. We' d hear them stop. They' d get out, slam the doors, wait, start slamming on a box call for all they were worth. Some would start with a crow but when they got no response they' d start whacking a box call. It happened every morning and every night. There were more people stopping and calling to those birds. Far more traffic than the road gets on the opener of gun season. Sometimes they' d pull ahead another 200 yards and do it again and again until they got to us. Then they' d drive on by a couple hundred yards and do it again.

One night we were sitting at our fire having a drink and laugh. It was 10:00 when I told a joke which set my buddy off. His laughter was drowned out by a bird roosted across the road not 150 yards from us. He had never made a sound to the nightly callers that drove by but he appreciated my joke at 10PM. I' d like to report a happy ending to the story, but we busted him setting up in the dark. Well, we busted a bird ... we thought it was him as we got no reply to our calls at first light. After about 30-45 minutes of waiting we stood up to move. He was 60 yards away still on the roost.

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I like to " tuck" them in bed before I hunt them...;)

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bogobble, we must have the same strain of turket you have. i hunt in bradley county, and for 13 years have only heard one turkey gobble in the evening. out of 8-12 hunters on our lease only one roosts- he has no better average than the rest od us

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Bennie, I hunt just across the river in Union county. perty close to strong.
I also hunt felsenthall down at jones lake and shallow lake.
you ever bowhunt down in felsenthall?

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our lease is about three miles up the creek from moro bay. i never really got into bow hunting. so much other i like to do could' nt put the time in needed for bow. my refuge hunting (squirrel) mostly on saline river.

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I live about 7 miles from moro bay. between moro and strong.
I know you' ve hunted or fished perrogeeth lake right?
I' ve fished and bowhunted over there. where bouts you live
over there?

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actually i live in crossett. i just try to spend as much time in God' s country as i can

(so much that my wife wonders what i' m doing over there). have' nt fished perogeethe or green yet, but planning to. have fished moro creek a lot. made alot of trips down your road.

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definately like to roost[8D]