Roost Shooting

[LaLongbeard]

No respect for the bird or the sport.It is caused by the kill at all costs so I can post a picture and prove I'm a hunter mindset.Roost shooting ,fanning ,baiting shooting across a field with rifles nothing sporting or ethical about any of it.Sadly it is not illegal in my state and a lot of people take advantage of the fact.To paraphrase Tom  Kelly in one of his books "Gobblers killed  by cheating should turn a shocking pink so everyone would know how he died." That would solve most of the issues no one would want to be on Facebook with a pink turkey lol.

[mspaci]

I dont think there is any law about it in NY, but there should be.  Mike

[WNCTracker]

I didn't realize it was legal to do this in any state. Never even considered it. Rifle hunting too for that matter. Grew up in PA and was told by my dad it was illegal to use rifles for turkeys. Never thought to ever doubt him or bring it up. Props to my dad for that. Roost shooting seems pretty unsatisfying to me


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[deerhunt1988]

Second morning to ever hunt Florida public land, we got peppered by a roost shooter. It is illegal there but A LOT of it goes on. Ive hunted all over the US and there is substantially more roost shooting on FL pub land than anywhere else ive hunted. Made 4 trips to FL and heard plenty of roost shots on 2. One trip was a drought year so hunters couldnt use the swamp water to their advantage to get within range silently.  Sounded like you were walking on corn flakes that year! And the locals would tell ya they shot them off the roost. Just the way a lot of them hunt.

I shot an Ozark bird one year who may have actually pitched down before legal shooting light. It was already a cloudy morning and it was DARK when he flew down in the timber. Killed him a few minutes later and it was like 4 or 5 mins past legal time. Had i heard the shot from a distance, i would have swore it was a roost shot. So ya never know, they can do some crazy things.

[1iagobblergetter]

I couldn't find any joy whatsoever in that. If I needed a turkey that bad id go to the store and buy one. Then just take a picture of me with that one to post on Facebook. Calling em in is where it's at for me...

[Fatbeard]

Several years ago I had been watching a bird fly down from a neighboring property and land 50 or 60 yards onto a property I hunt. Went Friday evening before the opener and watched him fly up. Leave to
go home and a guys waves me down asking if I was hunting in the morning. Told him yes and he said he live across the street and had been seeing me park and watch. Next morning the bird gobbled 1 time and was immediately shot. 20 minutes later see the guy walk up his driveway with a bird over his shoulder!

[appalachianassassin]

sadly folks, im afraid MOST hunters are glad to kill a turkey by any means necessary. makes me sick to know it goes on but it does and always will. in your neighborhood and mine. people just have to get there selves a fakebook hero shot. I know a few guys who fit this description and they all have one thing in common. they will NEVER hunt with me.

[HookedonHooks]

Not saying it wasn't roost shot but sunrise is 6:15, it's light enough at 5:55 for a bird to pitch into a field at that time.

Funny you say that as I went yesterday morning (May 2nd) and I got there just a little before shooting time, but I'll be dammed if it wasn't getting way lighter than I expected. I got to the back field I wanted to set up along and there was four birds in the field, the big tom full strut. Looked at my phone real quick, it was 5:54 a minute before legal shooting time and I was already staring at a bird in full strut.... I was appalled and upset because it forced me to move my set up, I watched the birds move and tried to position myself ahead of them towards the edge of the field they were heading.

[Uncle Nicky]

I've only been close enough to shoot a spring gobbler off the roost once, and i turkey hunt A LOT. I gotta be honest, it was tempting (legal shooting hours and legal in the state), but the guy I was with talked me out of it.

[Captain Hooks]

I have a guy that does every year on the opener.... This year it toook 3 shots...

[outdoors]

THERE NO HUNTERS  THERE
LAZIE A** SO CALLED HUNTERS ........

[Bill Cooksey]

Like others have mentioned, you don't know for sure unless you are close enough to hear him fall or the shot is truly in the pitch dark. Never forget one I shot well before sunrise in deep woods. He was gobbling good when I picked my setup about 150 yards away. Could've gotten closer, but the ground closer to him is very broken, and it would be impossible to pick where he'd fly down.

So, I'm set up, with my five-year-old son sitting next to me and the turkey is gobbling like crazy from his limb. I'm hearing zero hens anywhere, so I call. He cuts me off with a gobble and then I hear wings. I purr, he answers and then I hear footsteps. The turkey stopped 14 yards from me, and it was so dark I couldn't see color or anything else for a sure ID. After about 30 seconds, he turned to the side and his beard swung out from the black silhouette. He died right there, and I had to use the flash on my phone to even have him show up in a photo. A friend hunting close enough to hear the shot texted and asked who had slipped in and shot the roost.

Something an old man pointed out to me years ago when we still had to check birds at a station in Tennessee was to look at the birds feet and legs. Often when shot off a limb, there will be pellet holes through them. I busted an acquaintance one day many years ago at a check station. I took a look at the bird and, when no one else was around, I asked how he managed to get close enough to shoot him off the limb? He turned pale and said, "where you hunting nearby?" I answered in the negative, and he asked how I'd known. I pointed to the pellet holes in the bird's feet and said it was tough to shoot through a birds feet when he's standing on the ground.

[drenalinld]

I am not advocating but not sure how it is any different than using a decoy to attract him where he would not otherwise go or seeing and/or hearing the direction he is headed and moving in front of him and shooting him where he was already headed whether or not you call? You cannot just walk out into gun range of a roosted gobbler easily. I have only shot two off the limb and in both cases they were closer than I first though and someone was walking into my setup on public land about to spook the gobbler.

[WNCTracker]

I am not advocating but not sure how it is any different than using a decoy to attract him where he would not otherwise go or seeing and/or hearing the direction he is headed and moving in front of him.

I'd say the difference is that a roosted gobbler feels safer watching you walk under it in the wee hours than it would getting even a tenth as close when they're on the ground too. I think they feel safe from ground predators so keeping still and quiet usually lets them be safe. But not from someone with a gun who watched them fly up the night before and knows exactly where they're at to go and shoot them out of the roost.  The only time I've walked up on birds within shooting distance , they've been in a tree and not the ground so I would say that is one difference. When I was a young boy I would sneak up on roosted turkeys for practice stalking and it was easier than stalking squirrels.



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[Happy]

I gotta tell a story on this one. I know a fella that was quite proud of his prowess in the woods. He was never a turkey hunter per se but he wouldn't pass up a good opportunity at one. When I was a youngster one spring day we were chatting and I mentioned I was going turkey hunting the next day. "Turkey hunting huh?" was his reponse. "I guess you like to run around with a call trying to call one in and shoot it dontcha?" I admitted that was kinda the general strategy and he just chuckled. " boy if you ever really wanna get serious bout killing turkeys you gotta throw all that nonsense out. If I wanted a turkey bad enough well I would just go shoot one tomorrow." I told him something to the fact that I guessed I just wasn't that good at it yet. He chuckled. " tell you what, you go hunt them your way and I will go hunt them my way. Call me in the evening and will see who has a turkey."
Well I went out and hunted my heart out, unsuccessfully and that even I called the fellow to see how things turned out on his end. He answered the phone and I said "well, how big was it?" "I don't wanna talk about it" was the only response I got. We made some small talk and finally he couldn't hold back. "Well I went out last night behind the house cause I wanted to find out where those ol turkey gobblers was a roosted." "Every year there's at least one gobbler that likes to roost under the hill back there." I sat back there and right about dark I hard what I wanted to hear. Two old turkeys a' floppin round in that big oak down below me. I didn't get closer cause I knew exactly where they were.  Well I went home and spent some time picking out what gun I was gonna use. So I settled on my 20 guage automatic. I really wanted to kill'em both to really show you how it's done. Well I went down and was standing under that old oak way before daylight. As soon as I got enough light I picked out the first one. I got to lookin round and finally found the second one. I shifted around a little and practice my swing. When I could finally see my bead I up and shot that first bird, swinging the shotgun as son as I shot to bust that second one. I shot him too and about that time the first bird hit the ground. I knew it sounded kinda funny. I walked over and wouldn'tcha know it I had done shot me a big ol turkey buzzard. I was so mad I never even walked over to the second one cause I knew what it was too."

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