Gobblers / Hens Roosting

[Greg Massey]

In your experiences do turkeys prefer roosting trees to be stand alone or in groups? What kind of Roosting areas do they prefer over water, drainage / ravine's / over vegetation at the top of hills or halfway up the sides? Where / Why

Do they necessarily need a clear landing path to land after leaving the roost?

Do you have more gobblers go away from you after setting up near a roosted gobbler and calling than him coming to you? Him flying in the opposite Direction...

How do you hunt your roosted gobbler / set up / strategies? Do you avoid the roost all together and set up away from the roosted gobbler?

Will they roost during the daylight hours? Have you ever been trying to cover ground during the day and bump a turkey that was still roosting late morning?

[WV Flopper]

Ok, my experiences. But, they are different across other regions.

In my home range turkey prefer roosting on a ridge. 3/4 up towards the top. Typically, elevation wise, they will be under the top of the ridge by 10'. And yes, groups of trees, we have plenty of them.  Why.... I think it protects them from wind, plus gives them a good view of the landing zone.

Do they need a clear landing path.... No.
They do prefer and will use one 100% of the time if available. Need, is a big four letter word.

Next question is a good one. Not sure! I can tell you it is dependant on breeding cycle of the turkeys present time. When a tom has a few girls with him and he is getting regular action from them he is going in the direction they are going. Wouldn't you??? But, a week prior or a week after and he may be inclined to come to you. I prefer one to two weeks after prime breeding peak.

I like setting up on roosted turkeys. I prefer to be 100-150 away, I want to give them room to fly down and be comfortable. It also gives me a chance to adjust without them being right on top of me.

Yes, turkeys will roost at any time. They will roost for different reasons.

The first turkey I killed was in the fall. Probably about 9am on a very foggy morning. I was hunting through some pines and jumped her off the limb. Back then I was quick with a gun!

They will roost for fog, deep snow, take a nap, or fly up if they get spooked. Bunch of reason to go set in a tree during sunlight I guess.

[Tom007]

The rare times I set up near Roosted turkeys, I do not call. I'll wait and see what's going on right at daybreak before they fly down. If I'm too close, I'll do nothing. If I'm a comfortable distance from the gobbler, I might wing-flap or scratch leaves when the time seems right. I try to avoid having them fly down away from me. If they go off with the hens, or head away from me, I'll sit tight, then plan to go after them. That's the fun part for me. The chess game begins. Gobblers will stay on the roost longer later in the season, probably due to the thicker foliage. They also don't like to leave the roost in dense fog. In the end, if he cooperates and comes right in to my gun, it's off to the diner for a celebratory breakfast.....

[TrackeySauresRex]

Good topic and great questions Gregg. I've witnessed many times them to be roosted in big clusters of trees with no landing space also crashing through some thick stuff when landing. I had one spot for several years where they always returned.It was 50/60 yards in this deep ravine off a field, most times they'd land in the field. Sometimes they didn't. Turkeys just being turkeys is my guess.
  Roosted birds, Im a flat lander for the most part. When in the north I'm a usually staying on top of em. I haven't had a whole lotta luck straight off the roost. I can probably count on one hand where it went well. It always seems they go the other way. lol!
  Last one I love.... Yep, I bumped em more than I like to admit. I've had em sleep in and stay on that limb til 8 am  lol. Once I had had a fix on som birds and I was in early. Real early. As it got to be time when the birds would start to do their thing, one gobbled directly in back of me. 20/30 yards back. I had great cover under a big oak facing the opposite direction. I never made a sound and waited...and waited some more. He stayed up there forever. It got quiet I thought may have glided down and didn't hear him. So.. slower then slow. I tried to peak around the tree. He's still up there. Mind you, birds are gobbling everywhere else as well, and my backside is stiff and sore by know. I elected to flush him off the roost, and did. I went down an old logged road in the direction he flew off in and circled around a couple hundred yards. Called one sequence he answered. Second one he was on the end of my barrel.
I've learned use caution in them roosted areas. I Don't call to them on the limb. Possible a tree call, a soft yelp and shut it down. If they answer, they know your there. That's it. I'm looking at where they want to go... There's always tomorrow and I don't want to booger em up too bad.
I like that 100 plus yard range. I don't try to get super close. 

[zelmo1]

I think they prefer clusters. I also think the tree is more important than the landing area terrain. I have seen them stay roosted way past when I would be hitting my second spot. My strategies change with the birds I am hunting. If I have a precise location, I get in tight very early and let them wake me up. Strategies for these birds are set up with a 3/4 strut jake and a breeding hen in the open. A few light tree yelps as soon as its legal and then let them work to me. In the woods I will call lightly at legal and adjust my location as to intercept the gobbling birds. I actually have better success getting in tight. Better shot opportunities. But I think I work more birds that I strike when walking. Success is lower but I do love to hear them squawk, lol. Z

[GobbleNut]

Good questions...longer answers...   

In your experiences do turkeys prefer roosting trees to be stand alone or in groups? What kind of Roosting areas do they prefer over water, drainage / ravine's / over vegetation at the top of hills or halfway up the sides? Where / Why

In this region (mountainous, mixed-conifer forest types) there are rarely stand-alone trees so our turkeys generally roost in a number of trees, often fairly close together. They have a tendency to favor certain places regularly, and if not disturbed, may roost in the same group of trees over and over again. Of course, varying terrain types (rolling hills, big ridges and canyons, flat land, etc.) play a role as to preferred roost sites.

Do they necessarily need a clear landing path to land after leaving the roost?

I don't think clear landing areas are a must, but when clear areas are nearby, they will often sail quite a ways to pitch down into them. Conversely, they will often just glide down close to the roost tree, as well. Around here, there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to which they decide to do on any given day.

Do you have more gobblers go away from you after setting up near a roosted gobbler and calling than him coming to you? Him flying in the opposite Direction...

From my experience, whether they come or go is very dependent upon the hunting pressure an area receives. Lots of hunting pressure usually means fewer gullible two-year-olds...and those older-age-class gobblers have often "dun rid in the rodeo" enough times not to come to calling right off the roost. The ones that have been put through the ringer enough times will very often go the opposite direction from calling they cannot see the source of. Of course, if a guy has patterned a gobbler and knows how to keep his yapper shut until the gobbler is down and in from of him, any of them can be killed off the roost...   

For me, I would say about one out of four roost hunts will result in the gobbler coming to check things out straight off the roost. The rest of the time, there is usually some chess being played for a while by both hunter and turkey. 

How do you hunt your roosted gobbler / set up / strategies? Do you avoid the roost all together and set up away from the roosted gobbler?

I will always try to work a gobbler on the roost if the opportunity is there...usually set up roughly 80-100 yards away, if feasible. I do not want them to have line-of-sight vision to me, though...want to be obscured by trees/vegetation from set-up. Usually no calling until it's fly-down time, unless there are hen(s) calling, then I will tree-yelp with them...but sparingly. Do the wing-beat fly-down and on-the-ground wing adjustments (and scratching, if needed) accompanied by soft ground yelping at the appropriate time.  Then hope for the best... 

Will they roost during the daylight hours? Have you ever been trying to cover ground during the day and bump a turkey that was still roosting late morning?

Over the decades, I have seen a handful of turkeys in trees during mid-day, but not often.  I have witnessed suspicious turkeys stay on the roost past regular fly-down time on numerous occasions...usually due to them hearing/seeing something suspicious, or too early and/or too much calling to them on the roost.

[Dougas]

In your experiences do turkeys prefer roosting trees to be stand alone or in groups?

Groups of trees three to 10 in a group and always oak or douglas fir,

[Dougas]

What kind of Roosting areas do they prefer over water, drainage / ravine's / over vegetation at the top of hills or halfway up the sides? Where / Why

On my private land, one group of trees are at the base of a hill, which, is about a half mile long in a field. The other group of roost trees is 1/3 of the way up the hill and the third is 2/3 up the hill in the field. All pitching out into the field. Get about 75 yards from the lowest group of trees, because the only cover is a black berry bush about 75 yards away. They usually land in my lap and I don't always have to call them to me. I routinely take toms from there year after year. I have no cover for the middle group of trees except for a dry creek bed bank.The furtherest I can set up from there is about 50 yards and it is very hit or miss. The upper group of trees are seldom used and I have to be between 200 and 300 yards from it and I occasionally take a tom from there.
On my public land, they roost about 1/3 of the way up hill over looking a meadow. It is mainly fir trees. They pitch down over lots of brush and land in the meadow. From there, they will disperse in any direction and it is crapshoot on where to set up, however, the fly down is visible from almost any angle, so getting into the right place to call is very doable. I usually set up about 175 yards and hope they fly my direction.

[Dougas]

Have you ever been trying to cover ground during the day and bump a turkey that was still roosting late morning?

Only once.

[Marc]

In your experiences do turkeys prefer roosting trees to be stand alone or in groups? What kind of Roosting areas do they prefer over water, drainage / ravine's / over vegetation at the top of hills or halfway up the sides? Where / Why

Do they necessarily need a clear landing path to land after leaving the roost?

I have found that birds generally like to fly down from a higher point to a lower point.

I have noticed that bowl-shaped clearings with some surrounding good roost trees will almost always roost birds, if birds are in the area.

I am hunting hilly country with rolling oaks and a few scattered digger pines...  Turkeys far prefer the digger pines over the oak trees, and seem to prefer dead limbs.

Do you have more gobblers go away from you after setting up near a roosted gobbler and calling than him coming to you? Him flying in the opposite Direction...

I have found that hens dictated Tom behavior.

A lonely bird later in the season (when the hens are on the nest), or a satalite tom with no hens might fly off the roost right into your lap... 

Early in the season, they will be with live hens.  I am more inclined to attempt to aggrivate a hen to come in, and bring a tom with her...

Very frequently, if a Tom is coming in from the roost, an interloping hen will intercept, and take him the opposite direction...  Some hens will come in to fight, but most will take the toms the other way.  And all too often, once the toms are with the hens, the gobbling stops, and different tactics must be used (I often use the tactic of cursing at this time).

How do you hunt your roosted gobbler / set up / strategies? Do you avoid the roost all together and set up away from the roosted gobbler?

I try to get as close as I can to roosted birds without alerting them of my presence...  The closer I plan on getting, the earlier I set up.  I always stay OUT OF LINE OF SIGHT of roosted birds.  I do NOT use any light when walking to set up on roosted birds.

I generally attempt to between 100-200 yards, depending on the terrain.  If I know what side they generally pitch down, I try to be on that side of the roost; I would rather be 200 yards away on the side they pitch down to, than 80 yards on the other side.  I (try to) stay quiet until I hear them gobble if I know where they are roosted.

I generally do very little calling to roosted birds, and might make some quiet yelps and clucks before doing fly-down wing-beats with a hat or dried pheasant wings, or dried wing-tips from a harvested turkey...  I might then do a bit of yelping and clucking to emulate hens that have just hit the ground....

Now...  If I have a vocal hen on the roost, I might try and agrivate her, and I will call quite aggresively to these hens and emulate their calling...  If I can get her and her clan to come to me, sometimes a tom or toms will be in tow.

Will they roost during the daylight hours? Have you ever been trying to cover ground during the day and bump a turkey that was still roosting late morning?

I feel like the hens usually pitch down prior to the toms...  Sometimes later in the season, those toms will stay in the roost a bit longer (maybe looking to see or hear an unnested hen?).  Most of the time, birds tend to pitch down (with good weather) around sunrise, but have seen bachelor birds stay in the tree for up to an hour after sunrise...  I have actually had success with these birds at times.

I have called birds from a roost to the tree I was sitting under...  And have seen birds fly from tree to tree before pitching down.  I suspect these birds are uneasy or nervous about something.

I have also seen birds spooked by myself, other hunters, or predators take perch in a tree flying from the ground...  I have seen jakes fly into a tree after losing a fight to a tom, and would suspect a losing tom might also take this tactic.

Late morning or mid-day, birds in a tree are probably there because something is making them nervous to be on the ground.  They will eventually fly down, but these birds are generally on high alert, and in my experience will not gobble as easily as relaxed birds on the roost before flydown.

[TrackeySauresRex]

I have called birds from a roost to the tree I was sitting under...  And have seen birds fly from tree to tree before pitching down.  I suspect these birds are uneasy or nervous about something.

I have also seen birds spooked by myself, other hunters, or predators take perch in a tree flying from the ground...  I have seen jakes fly into a tree after losing a fight to a tom, and would suspect a losing tom might also take this tactic.

Great Hunts!