I hear so much about roosting a bird and returning in the morning in pure darkness. The key is to set up fairly close.

Excuse my ignorance but do you use a flashlight?

Bill
wanna-be turkey hunter

I am pretty familiar with the areas that I hunt so, I do not use a flashlight. It probably wouldn' t spook the birds if you keep the beam out of the trees (why would you do that anyway?)

I have seen a product on the Outdoor Channel that is a LED light. It' s primary purpose is to alert other people that may be in the area (stumbling around with loaded guns[&:]). I am not sure if it' s bright enough to " see" where you' re going! I would guess though that if you' re nervous about it, get a penlight and keep the beam on the ground where you' re walking.

I was asking myself the very same question a few weeks ago, but I opted not to use one. Didn' t want to chance it! I found that even though it seemed to be pitch-black out, I still could see where I was going. Of course, I had scouted the area before-hand and pretty much knew the way anyway.

Well, I am new to this hunting club as well new to turkey hunting.
I will definately have to get familiar with the land.

Bill

some mornings we walk in early, i use my Stylus green LED penlight, pretty bright, and it doesnt spook the birds. We know our way around 99.9% of the time and dont use a light.

slayer

I have one if I need it, but I use it on very rare occassions like crossing a obstacle that I do not know very well.

Rarely do I use one , when I do a penlight and I shroud the beam with my fingers to create a small lit area.

I have never felt using a light was or was not an issue, and have always used a headlamp when I needed to see to get in in the morning to my setup/roosted birds. I always figured the turkeys were asleep, and even if not, that I got there early enough that they would forget about me by the time they were getting ready to fly down. Now I read that all these guys that are smarter than me, for sure, seem to think using a light may be a concern. I have recently read about a green LED light that is supposed to be less " bothersome" to turkeys, and plan to acquire one before next spring. Their website address/link is:

http://www.streamlight.com

The item is a Green Trident LED headlamp, and it costs about $35.00.

if i do , it' s a quick on and off......just to get my bright eyes shinin' so i now where to go most of my walk is in total darkeness, and if i know where they are roosting, i' wont do it.........

I' ve seen it work--and not work--both ways. Last year I walked to with-in 50 yards of a roosted gobbler I didn' t know was there with a very bright headlamp on and he never spooked. This year, I had one fly off over 80 yards away as soon as I turned on my mini-maglight.