Birds on the Roost...
 

My son and I had some Gobblers on the Roost at about 70 yards, they flew down in the woods and stayed there for a while, then went in the other direction. We want to set up even closer to the roost trees, how close is too close and any tips would be appreciated! Thanks!

RE: Birds on the Roost...
 

70 yards is about as close as I want to get. You could always go set up where the bird is headed and wait him out, let the hens bring him to you. It's not as exciting as the typical flydown BOOM hunt, but it can be effective. Good luck to the boy!

RE: Birds on the Roost...
 

Thanks, we had them spotted in the tree, watched them for a bit then the fly down. There was a vocal hen for about 20 minutes then nothing for a while! I'm thinking of going in closer in the dark but this is not sounding like a good idea! We had a Hen and a Jake Decoy, one jake came into the decoy set up but the boy wants to shoot a tom, making my job a bit harder! :D

RE: Birds on the Roost...
 

70 yards is pretty darn good if you ask me.

RE: Birds on the Roost...
 

I was scouting this past Sunday and got a little to close to the roost. The birds had actually moved down the ridge a good 100 yards from where they typically roost. I got set up before daylight and that first gobble scared the crap out of me. Once it was light enough to see, I could see that they were about45 yards away in the tree. Don't know how they never saw me coming in, but I think I was WAY to close for a hunting situation. I would say no closer than 75 yards to avoid scaring them off the roost.

RE: Birds on the Roost...
 

My dad and I were hunting on the youth hunt and we actually put up a tent right under the roost for the night hunt. To our amazement we hadtwo come about 2 yards from the tent.So I don'tknow about in the morning, but at nightI don't knowif there is such a thing as to close.

RE: Birds on the Roost...
 

70 yards is a good distance. but there was a reason they flew into the woods. figure it out and it will help greatly. there maybe a food source there or a hen you didnt know about. Maybe they fly down there for the morning strut.
If ya wanted you could probably move a little closer but dont get to close. what a little while after he wakes up and give a couple soft tree yelps. then use your hat and flap it to sound like a turkey coming down off the roost. dont flap it to much, only a couple times cause the less flaps the closer he will think the hen flew down to him. dont give up. if he does have hens they will soon go on the nest and will have nothing to do with him so he will come looking for a new girl.

RE: Birds on the Roost...
 

If you get in early enough, under a dark moon, and quiet, you certainly can set up right under the roost. We've done it on many occasions, and have had turkeys land in our decoys.

RE: Birds on the Roost...
 

You can definately get under them, but closer isn't always better. We set up under birds all week in Kansas and never killed a bird off the roost. We finally learned our lessons and started setting up where they spent the mid morning hours and started killing birds.