Roosted Gobbler Attack Plan

[GobbleNut]

For the last 15+ years we have spent a considerable amount of time roosting turkeys the evening before.
The biggest key in my opinion is being extremely tight.  Although terrain and habitat will always make "tight" a relative thing, generally speaking 125 yards isn't even in the right universe.  100 yards is in the wrong area code. 80 and closer is when things start to shift in your favor.

The obvious key to success is leveraging darkness as your primary asset to move in tight.  I prefer to be sitting 60-80 yards from the roosted gobbler for at least an hour before light is up especially when I'm moving in on a gobbler on a new piece of ground or area I'm totally unfamiliar with.  You want to give yourself plenty of time to move under the cover of darkness which means your alarm needs to go off 2 hours before most turkey hunters are even considering getting out of bed.

The next consideration when you're that tight to a turkey is whether you can see him in the roost or not.  Most of the time, especially in the early/mid season, you're going to be looking at the gobbler in the tree.  Calling at that point is not an option (if you hunt without decoys)  If youve executed your set up correctly, there's a good chance the gobbler flies down inside gun range.  If he doesn't fly down within gun range, you're often so tight to him that calling him the final few yards after he flies down is a relatively simple task.  Lastly, if for some reason the set up isn't conducive to calling him inside gun range at that point, you're in a superior position to crawl/move to a new location and kill him from there. 

Totally agree, Kyle.  Give me the circumstances necessary to do what you speak of, and my success rate usually is pretty high.  Unfortunately, having hunted turkeys exactly the way you outlined since Day One practically,...that is, evening roosting to locate gobblers with the intention of getting in early and tight,...the problems I have found have been 1) identifying the exact roost location in the evening such that I know exactly where the gobbler is and how close to get, and 2) if not knowing that exact tree, identifying it in the morning before it is light enough for the gobbler/turkeys to see my approach (and as you know, I hunt places where I can get gobblers to let me know where they are when it is still pitch black)

Bottom line is,...ya' gotta know pretty much exactly where a gobbler is for that preferred approach and where I typically have hunted, that is much easier said than done.  But like you said, give me those circumstances where I know exactly where a gobbler is on the roost of a morning,...and that bird is, quite often, in pretty big trouble.   

[Dtrkyman]

I love watching them on the limb, I agree that killing them immediately off the roost it is a good plan to be within 80 yards or so.

I quit crowding them when hunting private just to leave them alone at the roost site, however I hunt mostly public the past several years and if I roost one I will be trying to look at his toes in the morning!

Even if you do not kill him you get a heck of a show!

[Cottonmouth]

In my experience,  a younger bird will fly down and come to some soft calling that he hears while on the roost. An older bird will fly down and go to where he wants to gather his hens rather than come to a call. Thats when you have to call the hens with soft calling and dont get very agressive. Just my experience over the years.

[Mossberg90MN]

If I can get in to 80 yards and within his most likely route of travel, I'll take it.

My favorite is a ridge point where he almost has no option but to walk towards you.

[Kyle_Ott]

For the last 15+ years we have spent a considerable amount of time roosting turkeys the evening before.
The biggest key in my opinion is being extremely tight.  Although terrain and habitat will always make "tight" a relative thing, generally speaking 125 yards isn't even in the right universe.  100 yards is in the wrong area code. 80 and closer is when things start to shift in your favor.

The obvious key to success is leveraging darkness as your primary asset to move in tight.  I prefer to be sitting 60-80 yards from the roosted gobbler for at least an hour before light is up especially when I'm moving in on a gobbler on a new piece of ground or area I'm totally unfamiliar with.  You want to give yourself plenty of time to move under the cover of darkness which means your alarm needs to go off 2 hours before most turkey hunters are even considering getting out of bed.

The next consideration when you're that tight to a turkey is whether you can see him in the roost or not.  Most of the time, especially in the early/mid season, you're going to be looking at the gobbler in the tree.  Calling at that point is not an option (if you hunt without decoys)  If youve executed your set up correctly, there's a good chance the gobbler flies down inside gun range.  If he doesn't fly down within gun range, you're often so tight to him that calling him the final few yards after he flies down is a relatively simple task.  Lastly, if for some reason the set up isn't conducive to calling him inside gun range at that point, you're in a superior position to crawl/move to a new location and kill him from there. 

Totally agree, Kyle.  Give me the circumstances necessary to do what you speak of, and my success rate usually is pretty high.  Unfortunately, having hunted turkeys exactly the way you outlined since Day One practically,...that is, evening roosting to locate gobblers with the intention of getting in early and tight,...the problems I have found have been 1) identifying the exact roost location in the evening such that I know exactly where the gobbler is and how close to get, and 2) if not knowing that exact tree, identifying it in the morning before it is light enough for the gobbler/turkeys to see my approach (and as you know, I hunt places where I can get gobblers to let me know where they are when it is still pitch black)

Bottom line is,...ya' gotta know pretty much exactly where a gobbler is for that preferred approach and where I typically have hunted, that is much easier said than done.  But like you said, give me those circumstances where I know exactly where a gobbler is on the roost of a morning,...and that bird is, quite often, in pretty big trouble.   

Good to hear from you, Jim.

I certainly stand by my statement in 99% of scenarios with the exception of your neck of the woods.

Those turkeys were playing by a different set of rules the last time I was out there....

[Dtrkyman]

We always told our clients in Nebraska not to get their feelings hurt on a roost hunt, those big flocks have their own agenda and would completely ignore you most of the time.

Same general area around 11am and it's a whole new ball game!

[GobbleNut]

Get too tight and he sits on the limb waitin to see you. Stay too far and a lot can happen between him and you.

This is the quandary we each have to deal with on roost set-ups.  Unless you are hunting a known, traditional roost site, it is often a guess as to what is too far away or what is too close. Many questions go through my mind when deciding what to do in any given roost hunt.  Here are a few additional thoughts on the matter....

My first inclination is to get as close as I can to the roost, while still feeling comfortable about not getting busted.  Speaking strictly about a situation where I am not familiar with the location a gobbler is roosted, that is generally going to be on the conservative side,...unless I see a clear path to approaching that provides adequate cover.  In the country I have mostly hunted, those kinds of circumstances occur pretty rarely.

Although observing turkeys on the roost is an enjoyable experience, I also personally do not really want to be able to see the gobbler (or other turkeys).  I want to be as close as possible, but with some obstruction blocking the line of sight between me and the bird.  I agree that a direct line-of-sight between me and a gobbler is a recipe for disaster if you are going to call or otherwise imitate turkey roost noises like wing adjustments and such,...sounds that turkeys naturally will make as they begin waking up.  Simply stated, I want a gobbler to hear those noises,...but not be able to see the source.

I will admit I'm not much for just shooting a gobbler when he flies out of the tree without doing something that attracts him to my location,...either calling or other "turkey noises".  However, I hold no ill will to someone that feels differently about it,...as long as they are not shooting a gobbler off the limb.  In addition, I have rarely found myself close enough to a roosted gobbler such that he flew down within shotgun range regardless of how close I managed to get to his roost.  Again, in the country I have mostly hunted, I am just not stealthy enough, I suppose, to accomplish that, and quite honestly, I don't really ever try to do that.  But again, if others are capable of that on a regular basis, more power to them.   

[jhoward11]

If on public land, I'm balls to the walls, full out on-slot. First gobble, I'm running full bore to the tree, limb lift him in the dark, catch him as he falls out, and runn oft back to the truck before other public hunters get there. OK, that's what I feel like doing sometimes on public land. I believe like some others, off the roost is more daily patterns. I've set up where I know he's coming because I've patterned him and don't have to make a call. I've lightly called to some and used my hat to bang against the side of blind to sound like fly down, which works. I've waited for the boss hen to get fired up and go at it with her and she flies to me with him in tow. Don't do much putting to bed, as my scouting weeks before has told me where they usually hang out.

[Tom007]

Looking back at the times I set up in the dark on a roosted gobbler, this is my experience. When I got within seeing him fly down, I think I was successful a handful of times. I can remember seeing a good number of them hen up, and walk away. Now, I do not try and "tuck in" too close, what I mean is I stay a couple hundred yards away, give or take. I feel that these boss Tom's know where and what tree their hens roosted in directly around them. Again, this is only my feeling here. When I set up outside their "comfort zone", I can get away with my favorite move, a wing-beat fly down cackle breaking branches. I do this when I feel they see enough to fly down. As I end my "false fly down", I rustle the leaves. I've gotten triple gobbles from this, shortly after, the gobbler, (sometimes with hens) works his way to me within Gun range. This has worked out more than "tucking in" tight for me. Again, I love the fact that everyone has their roosted gobbler move, and from the above responses there is certainly a lot of attack plans that have worked and led to success.....be safe