how close to the roost can you get
Turkey
I have 4 toms roosting in a small 10 acre open woodlot. They roost in the south 1/3 fall out of the trees and walk south out the woods. I cant hunt the south field, so I set up east and try to call them over, either they cant hear me or just ignore the calls. I'm thinking of trying to sneak into the south side of the woods, but that would put 50 or so yards from the roosting trees. Could I sneak in that close early in the dark, or is that just to close?
If youre quiet I Dont see why not. If you screw it up, who cares, they're only turkeys. Make sure you know where you're going so you're you aren't stumbling around and give it a try.
Go in early before there is any light in the sky. It's amazing how close you can get under the cover of darkness. Just be very quiet. Good luck!
It's better if you can wait for the trees to leaf out.
You can definitely sneak in that close under cover of darkness. It helps to know the area well. It doesn't seem like it would be too problematic, being an open woodlot.
Also, I would limit your setup so that you aren't making a bunch of commotion setting up blinds, decoys, etc. As it starts getting light, you better know how to be still if it is open and you are that close. You likely won't be able to do much calling either. If you were able to call much, I doubt it would help a lot anyway, because the birds will figure out that you aren't what they are looking for in a hurry.
Get in there the afternoon before and set your blind up and leave your decoys in the blind, etc. Then sneak in the next morning very early and set your decoys out. You should be able to get practically right underneath them. Last Friday my daughter and I were able to set up within 50 yards of two toms early in the am quietly without spooking them. You can get pretty close as long as you get in there early and are quiet.
Gobblers Likely following hens off the roost. Might try going out at 10 am when early hens are busy with other things and gobblers are wandering around. Good luck!
I've setup that close before and killed birds. Leave your calls and decoys at home. Get setup early and as others have said - be stone cold still. Setup between where they are roosting and where they are flying down. Shoot them when they hit the ground.
--Mitch
A friend told me that he crawled and tried to act like a deer. It has to be totally dark. Move slow & easy. I used that technique in one spot I used to hunt and killed 2 birds there over a few years. It works! Go for it....
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I agree. Here is what I have done with a shotgun several times.
Find a tree the day before. Clear the ground for a quiet place to sit against the tree. mark a spot to set your decoy.
Go in about 90 minutes before first light. Set the decoy on the premarked spot. go sit on the premade spot.
Wait. Wait. Wait without moving. This is definitely the hard part. It gets quite hard after sitting perfectly still for 90 miinutes.
The birds will wake up, see the decoy below them and fly down right to the decoy. Then, you shoot them.
With a bow, you could modify this procedure by setting a blind up the day before.
I've found myself sitting up against a tree the turkeys were roosting in more than once so it's possible! It's quite a rush when you hear a gobble right over your head when you let out the first yelp when you didn't know the Tom was there! Do you know their route to the roosting tree? Hunting them in the evening intercepting them on the way to roost works too!
Like others have said but a blind up and sneak in early even if they see you and they don't spook and fly off they will forget about you. I would put out a gobbler decoy with a real fan. I've killed many turkeys that way.
I have sat under their roost trees before and killed them with a shotgun when they flew out into the alfalfa in front of me. You can't move a wink while you're waiting though.
Be hard to believe they cant hear you in a 10 acre lot when they are on the roost. If they are leaving Id bet they are following someone.
But like said above, no reason you cant get close if you go in in the dark.
I a couple years ago, I set up within 25 yards of roosted birds..... I didn't know they were that close when I did set up, but if you are quiet, you can pull it off.
Last year, my first bird was dead within 3 minutes of fly down. I watched them roost the night before and knew exactly where they were.
I set up my blind and my decoys up as quietly as I could and as soon as they flew down, they were in my decoys, beating up my Jake. I watched for a minute and then shot the biggest one. It was a really good day.
Get in there super early in the pitch black darkness, way before any birds start to gobble. You can set up right under them (or right where they fly down to). If they putt at you, don't sweat it. Just set up quickly and quietly and get in your blind. Coyotes, deer, coons, squatches, etc. move around in the dark all night and the birds probably get disturbed and putt at the wildlife too. Those turkeys will forget about you and calm down well before flydown time. Don't make a sound until they start their morning gobbling. Then give them a few soft yelps to let them know there is a hen nearby. They will drop right down to you, maybe even a little earlier than normal in really low light. I've done it several times.
I have set up against trees with bird roosting in them without knowing they were there before. Twice that I can think of. Both times they were hens and they flew down and landed right in front of me and wandered away and both times toms came past within five minutes.
Another spot that I hunted for several years I had to walk right under the roost to get to where I could hunt. Three years in a row I shot my bird opening morning there because the layout was perfect if I could get past them. I tried to take people in there several times but was never able to find anyone that could walk quietly enough. The first time I was on the property I was trying to roost some birds and had them walk right up to me and fly into the tree above me just as it started to pout. I had to wait for a half hour for it to get dark enough to walk out, but there were still there in the morning.
I got crapped on one time...that was pretty close. :-)
Like some have said, get there super-early, put out a decoy and chances are a tom will get greedy and try to get a bit before his ugly ol' hen flies out of the tree.
...and if I wasn't using a call or decoys...I wouldn't shoot one.
If you get a chance, make it count, because you may spook them away from roosting in that location.
My wife had 3 roost within 40 yards of the truck yesterday evening while she was waiting on me. funny thing is, they were n public land and she was parked in a small, secluded parking area. I almost didn't believe her text until I spooked them when I got back.
