Let's Talk Turkey

[Nut]

Yelp Yelp Yelp

C'mon y'all have to have more turkey hunting to talk about.

Maybe if I started a post where I shot a turk out of the roost it might get this forum hopping.:eek: ;) :D

[rjolenic]

Hey Nut, I'm from Toledo too, where do you do Turkey camp up here?

RJO

[Caribou Dreamer2]

Shooting turks out of the roost ,all yea that will get the boilers hot.

[rjolenic]

No roost shootin guys ... come on!

[Nut]

rj... I go down to Morgan County to do my turkey hunting. Might do a little Ross County this year also. I did see a flock of around 40 turkeys around Maumee State Forest a month ago;)


Funny thing about roost shooting,it is illegal here but legal in other states. If ya was in the other state would you shoot a turk out of the roost?:eek:

[rjolenic]

I have also seen turkeys around the Maumee State forest area off of Sager road I think it is??? Is that where you have seen them also?

rjo

[atrkyhntr]

ROOST SHOOTING?
Well... oneday I was walking passed the TV which always has the outdoor channel on and ther ewas a turkey roosted in a tree... I had to stop and admire what I was seeing when al of a sudden BOOMMMMMM someone on TV shot this bird from the roost!!!
I now had my total attention directed to the show wondering what had I just viewed!!!
Here there were a couple women hunting for those birds down in Central America or wherever there located and on the show they said that 99% are shot out of the roost... I could be wrong could have been 99% !!!
Well if that is what it takes to complete a world slam then NO THANKS :rolleyes:

[Ðe§perado™]

Shooting turkeys on the roost is wrong. What happened to giving the game you hunt a sporting chance.

[bks]

atrkyhntr, I saw the same show. Their "excuse" for shooting the birds off the roost was that after they fly down it's so thick in that area that you can never call one close enough for a clear shot:rolleyes: I saw another show the other day where they were hunting the same species (I think they called them oscilated turkeys, looked like small peacocks to me) where they were in this jungle looking area set up beside a watering hole just waiting on them. But the only one I saw them kill, they were walking back a road thru the jungle, rounded a curve and ambushed one. Not my kind of turkey hunting, if they won't gobble and come to a call they're no fun.

[Lance]

I hear the trees are shorter in Morgan county so you can get better shots! ;)


It's kind of liking ground swatting pheasants and grouse, NO THANKS!

[atrkyhntr]

Hey Lance I'll have to look I have yet to see any trees in Morgan County :D

I have a guide who comes in from Pa and every year he psss and moans that the Amish are roost shooting cause he hears shots way before anyone should... I am not sure who is doing the shooting but I've heard the shots too :( :mad: Just no sport in it so can't ever see a reason to roost shoot myself :confused:

[Ðe§perado™]

LOL:D :D :D :D

[atrkyhntr]

Very very cruel... rubbed it in without a single word!!! :D

[lureboy98]

Forget talking! Lets go get one! Seriously though, I hope I get my first one this year. I know I have the talen so I hope the luck goes my way.

[Nut]

Lance mmm I am trying to figure out what Morgan County has to do with the question. :confused:

But I havent seen any dang peacocks there either LMBO still at that one.

The question was for out of state because it is illegal to shoot turkeys out of the roost here in Ohio.

The calling in what is the fun.... but how many people set up close to the roost trees and nail em as they land coming down from them. Isn't that just as bad as shooting them in the roost?

[Nut]

rj... I usually see the turkeys around the youth camp and the migrant center in Henry County.

[atrkyhntr]

Hey Nut...
The calling in what is the fun.... but how many people set up close to the roost trees and nail em as they land coming down from them. Isn't that just as bad as shooting them in the roost?
I've set-up on birds still in the roost and many times had them fly right in take a couple steps and a client lets a round fly... I see nothing wrong with this because the birds were called in... They may have flown in off the roost but they still came to call. I do agree that if someone sneeks/slithers to a roosted bird and waits for it to fly off then shoot or simply ambushes the gobbler to me that is not hunting!!!

My question is "is there a state that allows roost shooting and which ones if any???" hmnmnmn :confused:

[Nut]

Idaho is one that I am certain of.:D


See all I had to do to get some action going in the turkey forum is to post about roost shooting. People read things a certain way and misundertsand the post.(why it is the internet LOL)


I even posted that statement in the last post because I knew it would get a response also.:p


You see I am not one of those "my way or the highway" type of idiots. I am liking playing a devil's advocate. I might not do something myself but will defend the right(if it is legal) of others to do it.

Who knows if I am ever in Idaho...:eek:

[lureboy98]

I've never seen one fly down from a roost, but I've scared them from the roost. I have also had someone come up and tap me on the shoulder when turkey hunting against a fence on our property. Talk about a shock! I'm just glad I didn't have a bird around there. I have called them in when they were on the ground, however.

[Lance]

You see the videos with the guys trying to get up on the roosted birds to set-up about 70 yards out, so I've tried that a few times but it seems that I don't have much luck calling them in like that. Most of the toms I've called into sight have either been a distance from their roost or later in the morning. Every time I locate a good tom on roost they always have a whole flock of hens! I guess the good part is that I've probably have been finding the mature birds. It's funny, my tom to jake call-in ratio is about 4:1(45 yards or less). Too bad I don't get to connect with more of them, need to work on my setups.


Nut,
The Morgan county comment was a little harrasment as that's where you said you roost hunted er hunted. ;)

[Nut]

Sorry Lance...the goof is on you. Never once did I type that I roost hunted. Just asked a question. Ya need some improvement on readin skills.:rolleyes:

[Lance]

I know, I was implying it as a joke since you brought it up.

[Nut]

LOL then:D ;)


I just thought we needed some traffic in here. The season is just a little over 3 months away. Not much time in my book.

[lureboy98]

Does anyone use a crow/owl call to locate the roosting turkeys? I've always wanted to do that and I've got an owl and crow call but I've never heard them gobble at them. how is it supposed to be done?

[Lance]

I haven't had a lot of luck with the crow calls but I've done really well with my owl hooter. I've tried three different ones and I like the reed type best hands down. Good sound and seem to be a little more abrupt. As far as when they'll respond it just seems to depend on the day, I've had them respond when it was pitch black but I normally tend to wait till the first light breaks the sky. As far as the calling I mainly just use the text book "who cooks for you who cooks for you" rhythm.

[lureboy98]

When you use it at dawn, is that when you are in your spot or when you are heading out or what? I have tried it at pitch black with no response, I know where they roost a lot but it would be fun to hear them.

[atrkyhntr]

I hope I don't go overboard here....But here goes

I only use a locator call for just that reason... to locate a huntable bird. If you already know where they roost then there is no need to use a call to make them 'shock gobble'... These style of calls will work all thru the day but at night would be at best very very lucky. I have heard some gobbles at night but each and every time it was during a Tstorm with alot of flash and thunder :eek:

Lance the trick to calling a gobbler from a roost to your location is a very touchy one... My main approach is to call once or twice with a couple very very soft tree yelps, I use a friction call for this style of soft calling. Then I don't make another call... Many times the gobbler will respond and sometimes even cut into your calling with a aggressive gobble, thats a good sign. Now the reason to stop calling is simple you do not want that gobbler to keep gobbling because that will attract real hens to his location thus ending your hunt before it started. You also do not want to attract another hunter to your area too... At times it will be too late anyway but you still have a bird you can hunt later in the morning in that same area once the hen(s) leaves the gobbler and goes to her nest(s)... Sometimes due to the lack of time I have to hunt, say out of state or a new area or I have a client who is in for only a few days I wil get real aggresive with a gobbler still on the roost only this time I cut him off when he gobbles with sharp cutting and the use of two or more calls at the sametime... A jake kee kee or the qst note a simple jake whistle is icing on the cake and maybe 20% of the time I can get that bird to come to me even taking him away form the real deal *hen(s)*
If you have the time and patience I would call very very little just enpugh to let that gobbler know where your at then stop calling and if no other hens are around many times he'll come searching for you... GOOD LUCK and have fun with another way of hunting these greatest of all game birds :D

[Lance]

Locator
I use it while I'm walking in, if I find a bird closer than expected why walk? :) If one gobbles before I call I just put it away.

Interesting, many of the things I do are very close. I tend to use a nice quiet slate for tree calling and try to limit my calls wether it be while on roost of after fly down to not more than once every 15-20 min if I've gotten a response, especially if he cuts me off. I just began hunting private land this past year that's loaded with birds that are often very vocal at sunrise, the problem was this spring the Toms would fly down with at least three or four hens already there. I hunted one tom who roosted in the same tree nightly three times and he always had a bunch of hens and would be within 30-40 yards but out of site. I called one in to 20 yards for my dad but he couldn't get a shot and a pair at 11:30 opening day that hung up at 45 yards. They crested a hump while I was cutting and I think they spotted us.

[atrkyhntr]

Hey Lance sounds like your doing fine... I wouldn't call more then once to a bird in the roost though ;) UNLESS you are going to be very very aggresive and sounds like you don't have to be...

If we all were able to harvest a gobbler each time out or even each season we'd need to go find something else that rings our bell or take up another sport cause thats not what hunting is all about...
Now that bird with the heans you hunted here is what you need to do and do this for as many birds as you can... Take some binoculars and go out early to scout and pattern the birds. Find their favorite travel route, strut zone or even where the hens nest.. Remember that after the hens leave many times that gobbler will come back to his roost area to look for the hen he heard at fly down (you) ;)

[lureboy98]

I also use the short yelp when I first go up. This worked for me twice last year, one bird getting within 5 yards of me but in a non shootable place. Anyways, you all say you ahve luck in the afternoon, though I have not. What kind of calls do you use say from 9 on?

[Lance]

I've called after 9 with everything, slate, box and mouth. I just get a little more aggressive with my calling after 9-10 oclock. How aggresive depends on the amount of gobbleing I've heard recently. The less I hear the more aggressive I get.


It's rush when they're that close isn't it! I called a pair of toms off a hill top but they came in from behind me instead of in front a walked right up next to me then spooked. geesh...

[lureboy98]

What a rush! And the cool thing was the fact that I called them in by myself, me, solo! I have more success than my dad.

[Nut]

It was pretty great last spring for me. I did not have to use a locator call. Actual crows did all the work for me to locate them.

I do have a question though....has anybody heard a crow call before daylight? I have not but I am curious.

[atrkyhntr]

off the subject a little but... 2 years in a row now I have heard an owl go off and sound so bad I thought it was another hunter with nothing better to do LOL
The 1st time I was walking a path on a ridgeline trying to reach a haul road where the walking would be easier. It was still dark but the sky had that little tiny patch of light where the sun would come up... Anyway this dang owl started going off and it sounded like another hunter using an owl call really bad but also walking up that haul road... Knowing nobody should be there but me I hurried up to the haul road burning my legs and energy up as I went LOL.... As I reached the haul road a flapping of wings greeted me as that owl landed in a tree about 4 trees over GEZZZZZ that owl needed some hooting leasons bad LOL

The next time I heard a really bad sounding owl was last season when I was working a couple gobblers at 1st light and it sounded like someone from PETA had an owl hooter and was simply trying to void the woods around me of any wildlife be it turkey or what not.... I mean this owl ( I ended up seeing it too ) would hoot real bad for something like 30-40 hoots in a row!!! Never have I ever heard an owl hoot so many times like that and so loud!!!

What kind of calls do you use say from 9 on?

From that time frame till noon if I did not hear any gobblers on the roost that morning I'll run-n-gun using a soft yelping or cutting sequence then after a few secs (looking for replies ASAP) I'll call a little louder till I work my way to my box call which can reach out and touch someone... If I heard gobblers on the roost I'll be patient and return to that area calling very softly every 10-15 mins or so... I use a variety of calls from mouth to friction to box and never use the same type of call over and over... I also love to hunt known strut zones using soft content yelps and purrs...

I do have a question though....has anybody heard a crow call before daylight? I have not but I am curious.

Either red birds or crows are often the very 1st birds you hear at daylight but I have never (I think) heard one at night but thats not saying it can't hap'n.... If your wondering will a crow call work to shock gobble a bird while it is kind if dark before or at 1st light I have used them before for just that purpose, its not the call itself but the tone/loudness that shocks a bird into gobbling and giving away its location ;)
Years ago I use to use those portable boat air horns to try and shock a bird into gobbling till I broke this part I had that allowed me to refill those little containers :( Too expensive to buy brand new "SIGH"