Roosting birds

[cbhunter15]

Any pointers on how to roost birds in the evenings? I can count on one hand how many gobblers I have ever heard gobble late in the evening. I have killed a few birds in the evenings but not because they were gobbling. I would like to hone my skills of pinpointing then on the roost in the afternoon.


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[batsonbe]

Hopefully others will share as well! I live about 1 hour away so it is not feasible for me to hunt in the mornings, go take care of my chores and come back that evening to roost a bird for the following morning. I've read, and some make it sound as easy as walking around blowing an owl call right around dusk. Ive personally never done this. If this is the case i imagine they wouldn't react to the owl call too long once the season starts. 
I have gone to areas that they frequent, set up for the afternoon, call a little here and there. Listen around dusk for anything that flies up. Typically once a gobbler gets in a tree he does gobble at least once to let his hens know where he is at. This isn't always the case obviously.

Look forward to reading more experienced hunters responses 

[deerpoo22]

One thing I can tell you from experience, if you go to an area to roost a gobbler and attempt to put one to bed with an owl call do not get discouraged if you hear no gobbling. I can't tell you how many times I'd go up the night before and attempt to achieve this only to not hear a single bird, yet go there the very next morning to hear 4 or more birds going off. Also carry multiple owl calls. I've found that I've had more success using more shrill sounding owl calls than a more realistic one. I have one that sounds like a dying duck they gets em to gobble if all else fails usually.

[silvestris]

I have used two methods with great success, a single barred owl, "oooooooAhhh" or a single cackle, one or the other, not both.  The key is timing.  You want the gobbler settled on the limb before you do either.  Do not think that you can begin earlier and over and over with good results.  You just want him to gobble once on the limb so you know where he is to begin your hunt the next morning.

[MK M GOBL]

 I have used a number of calls and seem to work in the area I'm hunting. Owl, peacock and my goose call.

MK M GOBL

[Bowguy]

I have used two methods with great success, a single barred owl, "oooooooAhhh" or a single cackle, one or the other, not both.  The key is timing.  You want the gobbler settled on the limb before you do either.  Do not think that you can begin earlier and over and over with good results.  You just want him to gobble once on the limb so you know where he is to begin your hunt the next morning.

This

[High plains drifter]

Duck call

[cbhunter15]

I have used two methods with great success, a single barred owl, "oooooooAhhh" or a single cackle, one or the other, not both.  The key is timing.  You want the gobbler settled on the limb before you do either.  Do not think that you can begin earlier and over and over with good results.  You just want him to gobble once on the limb so you know where he is to begin your hunt the next morning.

What is the magic time? Maybe 10-15 min after sundown?


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[silvestris]

The days get longer with each passing day, so it would be a minute or two later each day with the same conditions.  Then you have to factor in overcast and possibly windy versus clear and still.  I don't attempt it every afternoon.  Not much help, but it is a feeling that it will work on a particular afternoon; if I doesn't  feel right, I don't do it.

[poolboy]

I use a mallard duck call when it's about too dark to walk in woods without a light. I only try on a clear evening too.

[Old Gobbler]

Stay back a distance where you can hear and see a good distance , try not to disturb your potential morning spot , just glass it with binoculars keep your ears peeled.

Try some cutting or fly up cackles to try and provoke a gobble before fly up

[kyturkeyhunter4]

Coyote howler is a great call to get them to gobble on the roost. I've used owl calls and had birds never gobble and then get the coyote howler out then they will hammer. Try that out I think it will help you on roosting birds

[Ozarks Hillbilly]

Coyote howler is a great call to get them to gobble on the roost. I've used owl calls and had birds never gobble and then get the coyote howler out then they will hammer. Try that out I think it will help you on roosting birds

X2

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[mightyjoeyoung]

Well, besides making a point to be in a position to hear and/or see them go to roost, I have literally gotten them to shock by just yelling loudly.  Some of you guys are over thinking this.  An air horn, a dog wistle, a sharp yell, about anything loud will do.  I put more stock into being in the right place to begin with.

[GobbleNut]

Well, besides making a point to be in a position to hear and/or see them go to roost, I have literally gotten them to shock by just yelling loudly.  Some of you guys are over thinking this.  An air horn, a dog wistle, a sharp yell, about anything loud will do.  I put more stock into being in the right place to begin with.

I don't think that folks "over think" it,...if anything they "under think" it.   

I think that a lot of folks just do not take the time to understand the concept of a true "shock gobble" as compared to other gobbling responses.
True "shock" gobbling is an involuntary response by gobblers to a loud, abrupt sound that their brain interprets instinctively as a challenge gobble in the millisecond that it hits their ears.

This phenomenon is most obvious in the scores of videos that show a group of gobblers together during the spring breeding season.  One of them will, out of the blue, decide to gobble,...and all of the others will gobble right on top of them in the split second the first bird starts to gobble.  Their ear-to-brain connection is triggering that response so quickly that it appears there was some signal among them that said,..."Hey, let's just all gobble together right now",...when in reality, the secondary gobbles have just been triggered by the first bird.

Make a loud enough sound at the right time when a gobbler is around, he will gobble back at it instinctively.  Make a sound that is not loud enough, and at the wrong time, and he probably won't. 

Finally,....and this confuses the issue a little bit,...too much of a good thing too often will dull the ear-to-brain connection such that a gobbler may stop shock gobbling if you do it too many times in a row, too quickly.  That seems to be a function of time interval between "shocks".  There seems to be a recovery period involved.  Shock a gobbler the first time with a loud, abrupt sound "out of the blue" and he will likely gobble to it.  Do that over and over again in a short period of time, and he may stop,...for a while. 

On that first try, though, if you make the right sound,...again, at the right time,...he will most likely gobble at it.