Roosting fall birds?
Contributors to this thread:Turkey
From: tonyotony
22-Oct-14
I have read some about roosting birds in the spring, the evening before a hunt. Can the same be done in the fall, using either crow or owl calls? Any hints would be appreciated. I know they are in the area, I just want to get a bit closer before I actually hunt them.
From: Medicinemann
22-Oct-14
The birds aren't mating in the Fall, so they won't be territorial. While I have heard a gobble in the Fall, it was a brief act of excitement, and not as a response or challenge to a call.
You'd be better off locating a flock near dusk. Then check out the nearest potential roosting area in the AM. Some people like to bust up the flocks just before dusk. They will be very prone to a kee kee call in the AM, if you do......
From: Medicinemann
22-Oct-14
Double post
From: Medicinemann
22-Oct-14
The birds aren't mating in the Fall, so they won't be territorial. While I have heard a gobble in the Fall, it was a brief act of excitement, and not as a response or challenge to a call.
You'd be better off locating a flock near dusk. Then check out the nearest potential roosting area in the AM. Some people like to bust up the flocks just before dusk. They will be very prone to a kee kee call in the AM, if you do......
From: tonyotony
22-Oct-14
When you say, "check out the nearest potential roosting area in the AM", do you mean walking through when it's still dark,to get them moving, or do you mean start calling at a certain time around sunrise?
From: greg simon
22-Oct-14
If you bust them up at dusk then they will likely be spread out on roost. They will want to regroup in the morning. Be in the area at dawn and try to call one in. Calling wont help any for roosting but maybe you can spot them going to roost if you know the general area.
From: tonyotony
22-Oct-14
Maybe I will try this: walk the trail near where I think I probably busted them on roost a few weeks ago, when I didn't know that turkeys were making all that noise. With luck, I will bust them again, or maybe spot a few. I realized they were turkeys this week, when I walked my dog to a nearby field, and there they were. Fortunately, the dog and I don't live there!
From: TurkeyBowMaster
22-Oct-14
Turkeys make a lot if noise when flying up to roost so you should be able to hear them going up if you are within 300 yards of them when the fly up which is normally right about sunset to near dark. I would reccommend going straight to the roost and breaking them up in the evening and they should be lonely the next morning.
From: tonyotony
22-Oct-14
Thank you. Will try that. Wow, 300 yards!!Is the noise just the wings flapping, or do they cackle when flying up too?
From: TurkeyBowMaster
22-Oct-14
Justvwings flapping.
From: Brotsky
22-Oct-14
Everything in Alabama is 3 times bigger according to TBM so you can probably hear them fly up at 100 yards in any other state. Just listen for their wings, they make quite a ruckus.
From: tonyotony
22-Oct-14
Thank you again. As I said, now I realize that I must've busted them a few weeks back while walking through the area near dark, and heard a bunch of wings flappin. I hope they're still around when I go back.
From: tonyotony
22-Oct-14
Ok. Lets say I locate them and bust the roost in the evening. There are woods, an unused snowmobile trail,and fields on two or three sides of the woods. How far from the roost would I setup?
From: Medicinemann
22-Oct-14
Close enough that they can hear your calling....
From: shade mt
22-Oct-14
turkeybowmaster hit the nail on the head....turkey often make quite a bit of noise when flying up to roost.
just go listen.
From: Bowartist
23-Oct-14
agreed on the busting up off the roost right at dusk. I've done it twice accidently as I exited stands and both times were able to call them back in for shots first thing in the morning at the scene of the crime. A few yelps and kee kees had them coming in from multiple directions looking for lost friends. Try it, you might like it!
From: thalltdkm
27-Oct-14
I saw these bird entering the woods right at dusk. I knew they would be near there in the morning. They were! Wow, what an exciting morning.
From: Mark Watkins
27-Oct-14
Brotsky...hilarious!!
Mark
From: t-roy
28-Oct-14
You didn't mention in your original post if you were targeting any turkeys or if you were after mature Toms only. If you are after mature Toms, busting the group up doesn't work very well, but it works great on hens & young birds as stated above.
Good luck to you!
From: trkyslr
01-Nov-14
trkyslr's Link
Here's some fall hunts from couple years ago to get ha in the mood.... One more week for us! :-)
From: writer
01-Nov-14
We've had them respond to shock-gobble calls like coyote and crow a few times in the winter, when the tom's are calling back and forth on the roost in the morning.
If you don't get them scattered in the evening, you can often move in super-tight the next morning. Mimic what you're hearing, but with a big more enthusiasm.
In the fall and winter you're trying to figh 'em, not f--, well, you know, 'em.
A submissive jake decoy can really help if you're working a bunch of longbeards. I use the Dakota, pushed lower into the ground than normal.
Get out and learn, and listen. You'll learn a lot about calling my sneaking in close and listening to a bunch of birds on the roost.
