Roosting
Copyright © 1998 - 2002 Roger
W. Raisch * Nadine Adele, all rights reserved
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Putting a gobbler to
bed doesn't guarantee success the next morning (you won't even be able to do it every
night), but it does give you a leg up on your feathered and camouflaged competition the
next morning.
Roosting is especially
worthwhile if the weather turns sour over night, you are hunting in the part of the
breeding season when hens are with gobblers or if you hunt a popular area where getting to
a gobbler first is important.
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If you have found
some consistent roosting areas on your pre-season scouting trips, be near one an hour
before sunset.
If you haven't scouted, slip
onto a high ridge where you can hear all around.
Wear camouflage, move quietly
and avoid the temptation to use hen calls if hunting is not allowed in the
afternoon. I prefer to stay on logging trails and out of the brush.
You don't want to spook
turkeys that you plan on hunting the next morning. Turkeys will go to roost within a
few minutes of sundown, earlier on dark, overcast days.
Listen for wing flapping,
occasional cackles or clucks of hens as they fly up and settle down. The wing beats
of a turkey going to roost are a subtle sound many novices miss, but you can learn it if
you stand quietly and listen carefully.
With experience you can
sometimes distinguish the heavy flapping of a gobbler from the lighter sounds produced by
hens.
You can use these sounds to
tell if turkeys are in an area even if a gobbler refuses to sound off. If hens are
around, a gobbler will be near by.
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After 10 minutes or so of
settling down, the gobbler may gobble on his own to tell hens where he will be in the
morning.
If he doesn't gobble,
try to Make Him
Gobble with a locator call.
I prefer the natural sound of
a barred owl, coyote howl and gobble, but you can try any of the locator sounds if these
don't work.
If a gobbler responds but is
not close, you can keep him gobbling by hooting with an Owl Locator Call every 2 or
3 minutes as you move toward him. If you call more often, he may quit responding.
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Ideally you want to get
close enough to pinpoint his tree.
If you know the terrain, you
can decide where to set up in the morning.
Choose a level spot on or
about the same contour as the gobbler, preferably between him and a good Strut Zone.
Don't believe that turkeys
can't be called downhill or across water. Where ridgetops are narrow or brushy,
toms and hens may go to bottoms to strut and mate, particularly if there are open fields
there.
If you have detected this
pattern, during your scouting, set up below the gobbler.
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If you end up closer than
200 yards from the tom on roost, sit quietly until dark and slip out cautiously.
If you are not on a trail that
you can find easily in the dark the next morning, mark your path with bits of tissue stuck
on branches or with surveyors' marking tape.
Be in position one hour before
sunrise the next morning for best results. |
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