Turkey Roost?

[nw_bowhunter]

This will be my 2nd year of turkey hunting and I have been wondering how do you locate turkey's in the roost? I found an area which is a good distance from the main road, and you can only hike in. (Not accessible by car) I have not been able to locate where the turkey roost, but have seen them in the general area during the day. What would be my best approach? Head into the area before dark and wait in order to locate? Just not sure

[carpsniperg2]

first light last light head into the area. and try to get them to shock gobble. allot of people use owl,crow,or gobbler calls to get them to shock and all will work if they have not been messed with before. i do not tell what i use because it is my secret and i have never seen or heard of anyone doing it but me and my buddy i tought. sorry the other should work for you just fine. hopes this helps.

[nw_bowhunter]

Ok thanks for the input.

Also, when looking for roosting spots anything in particular to look for? type of tree, terrain, etc?

[yelp]

In general..look for large trees..turkey will sometimes use a hill to fly into the top of.  Look at the base of trees for droppings.  Also To "roost" or put a turkey to bed..You can stay out in an area turkeys are and listen right at dusk for gobbling.  Toms will gobble normally right after sun down and you can use locator calls..coyote, owl , etc.. to locate birds in roost.  That is the easiest way to locate a roost.  Now that you've located it you can set up within 100 yards of it.  and try to coax them in.  Don't try and hunt the roost..it can be ruined.  They will get more silent.  There are a few guys that flush them off of the roost in the dark and then go back and hunt.  It is a tactic that may work..but I love hearing them gobble and if your careful you can have lots of opportunities hunting around it..etc.  Or you can jump it and only get a few opportunities.  Some roosts will move with hen groups..which toms will follow.  Many established winter roosts are where we find them early in the year and then after breakup the toms and hens will roost at different locations..that is where locator calls can be handy.  Good Luck.

[fishunt247]

What has already been said plus it also depends on the birds you are hunting. Mountain merriams move...a lot. They often times don't have a specific roost site that they come back to nightly, like say, Rios in the SW often do. If you are in an area that pines are less dense, look for patches of pines where the branches aren't too thick for a turkey to fly in and out of easily.

[ICEMAN]

first light last light head into the area. and try to get them to shock gobble. allot of people use owl,crow,or gobbler calls to get them to shock and all will work if they have not been messed with before. i do not tell what i use because it is my secret and i have never seen or heard of anyone doing it but me and my buddy i tought. sorry the other should work for you just fine. hopes this helps.

A coyote call will also work, peacock yelper, duck call, goose call, truck door, airhorn or shout. 

I wanna know your "secret call"..... 

[turkeydancer]

Hen squeeler .... 

[Wacenturion]

Whoopee cushion?

[KimberRich]

Look for a concentration of droppings and feathers under trees for sure.  I looked under the roost trees we found last weekend and it was unreal the amount of crap and feathers.  Like already stated they like roost trees on a hill so they can walk up past the tree and pitch down into it and out of it in the morning.  But they definitely have a large "home" range..  I'm sure someone on here knows how large of an area they stay in.  Last weekend watched the same group of birds roost 1/2 mile from the previous nights spot but after they flew down they all worked back across the field to within 100 yards of the previos nights roost.  From what I've seen they are habitual, not as much as say a Whitetail, but they definitely do a lot of the same loops and feeding patterns day after day until they are forced to change.   
Good Luck Man!

[Bofire]

 :)best locator call I use is a coyote howler.
Carl

[carpsniperg2]

first light last light head into the area. and try to get them to shock gobble. allot of people use owl,crow,or gobbler calls to get them to shock and all will work if they have not been messed with before. i do not tell what i use because it is my secret and i have never seen or heard of anyone doing it but me and my buddy i tought. sorry the other should work for you just fine. hopes this helps.

A coyote call will also work, peacock yelper, duck call, goose call, truck door, airhorn or shout. 

I wanna know your "secret call"..... 

they call it a secret call for a reason roflol i dont think i can get the sound of a whoopee cushion to carry very far. the real thing prorbaly works better.

[yelp]

first light last light head into the area. and try to get them to shock gobble. allot of people use owl,crow,or gobbler calls to get them to shock and all will work if they have not been messed with before. i do not tell what i use because it is my secret and i have never seen or heard of anyone doing it but me and my buddy i tought. sorry the other should work for you just fine. hopes this helps.

A coyote call will also work, peacock yelper, duck call, goose call, truck door, airhorn or shout. 

I wanna know your "secret call"..... 

they call it a secret call for a reason roflol i dont think i can get the sound of a whoopee cushion to carry very far. the real thing prorbaly works better.

Professional turkey hunters use the Whoopie a lot.  You have to be close to use it..It isn't for novice's.  A little Whoopie goes a long ways...LOL   

[carpsniperg2]

 

[Tom Tamer]

first light last light head into the area. and try to get them to shock gobble. allot of people use owl,crow,or gobbler calls to get them to shock and all will work if they have not been messed with before. i do not tell what i use because it is my secret and i have never seen or heard of anyone doing it but me and my buddy i tought. sorry the other should work for you just fine. hopes this helps.

A coyote call will also work, peacock yelper, duck call, goose call, truck door, airhorn or shout.  

I wanna know your "secret call".....  

they call it a secret call for a reason roflol i dont think i can get the sound of a whoopee cushion to carry very far. the real thing prorbaly works better.

Professional turkey hunters use the Whoopie a lot.  You have to be close to use it..It isn't for novice's.  A little Whoopie goes a long ways...LOL    

It is  way better than the Ol' hand in the armpit trick due to less movement

[ICEMAN]

Taco bell....I dont need no stinking whoopee cushion.... 

[Tom Tamer]

Taco bell....I dont need no stinking whoopee cushion.... 

Iceman you must of invented the saying" If a turkey could smell we'd never kill them"

[carpsniperg2]

Taco bell....I dont need no stinking whoopee cushion.... 

sorry for the next comment in advance the yar in me has to.

"Taco bell....I dont need no stinking whoopee cushion...." you might need some wet wipes if you are going for volume and distance
   

[KimberRich]

Taco bell....I dont need no stinking whoopee cushion.... 

Iceman you must of invented the saying" If a turkey could smell we'd never kill them"

I said this very thing last weekend!!   Wasn't referring to the Taco Bell aftermath or wet wipes 
but I was thinking that if these birds could smell they would SOO much harder to kill.

[PA BEN]

A loud cutt from a box call will strike a gobble almost always in the evening. Don't use in the morning because the hens are quite. As far a coyote howler, coyotes eat turkeys. If they know coyotes are in the area they tend to shut up once on the ground out of the roost. An old turkey hunter told me this years ago.

[BPturkeys]

first light last light head into the area. and try to get them to shock gobble. allot of people use owl,crow,or gobbler calls to get them to shock and all will work if they have not been messed with before. i do not tell what i use because it is my secret and i have never seen or heard of anyone doing it...

You ain't that guy I heard a few years back up at the head of Harvey Creek ablasting away on an Ooga Horn are you? First time he cut loose with that thing the whole woods went quiet except for me, I took cover thinkin a Model "T" was about to run me over.  

[the shootist]

I like to use my mouth call and make the sound of a rooster crowing. I think that certian pitches in sound make them gobble more readily, and the crowing has 4 different tones or pitches to it. Cup your hands when you blow it though because it is deafining! Also take a set of good binoculars with you and set on the opposite ridge and glass for the birds once you've located them in the morning. Just like deer or elk hunting you will be amazed how much easier it is to see them in the woods at a distance and be able to watch thier movements without disturbing them. When you do find them however you will need to mark a particular landmark that you can go to because everything looks different when you get to the other side. Trust me on that because over the years I've made all the mistakes.

[sneakyjake]

To answer your original question, if I want to roost an area I might hike a mile back into the woods and wait until the light is right and then roost all the way back to the truck concentrating on vantage points.  Hopefully you will cut them.  It might take a few mornings or nights because the birds might not be in the area every time.  Birds also will get burned out on certain shock calls and quit answering them.   Got to switch it up.  Cover ground.  Better by foot then by car.

[HoofsandWings]

And the turkeys do move their roosts. A few years ago, I found a roost several hundred yards up a hill. On opening mourning, I park the car in the dark and get my stuff together only to find that the turkeys had moved the roost to a tree next to the road. The tree leaned right over where I parked the car. Needless to say, I woke them up and other cars went by to further make the birds wary.
They flew off the roost before shooting light and I never saw them again.