Birds off the Roost

[BPturkeys]

A recent post about a guy having trouble getting birds to come in when they first come off the roost has got me thinking. It seems to be very very difficult to get birds to actually come in to the call first thing off the roost. I can't count how many times I have sat and watched or heard birds that just flew down walk off after responding to my calls. I have shot many a bird fresh off the roost but when I replay the event in my mind, it seems like most of those cases I was right in the fly down zone, or in the right place that they would normally have traveled anyway.
  So I ask you boys...now tell the truth here and don't count the birds that landed right on top of you or just wonder over close to you or just happen to walk in because you knew which way they'd go...how many birds fresh off the roost have you actually called in to you? I'll still respect you and call you a great turkey hunter if you say "not that many", so just tell the truth now and let's stop passing the myth along that "puttin birds to bed" and then calling them in for the kill first thing in the morning is the best time and way to get a turkey.
  I must admit though, there is nothing more fun than sitting quietly under a bunch of birds, a-yelping and clucking and gobblin, bringing in a new day!

[carpsniperg2]

i think there is about 3 or 4 of the birds that i have killed by calling them in from the fly down but the majority of the birds that i have killed have been between 7-9am and 5-last legal hours

[jackelope]

none.

run and gun mine.

[WAcoyotehunter]

They seem really tough to call fresh out of roost.  I generally wait till they get to a strut zone before I get too crazy with the call.   It is fun sitting close to the roost and watching them strut in the tree and gobble though!! 

[yelp]

I have killed at least 14 toms after fly down. That is about 1/5 of the birds I have harvested or called in for others.  Putting them to bed, scouting them, knowing where the strutting areas are, etc..capitalizing on any weakness.  I have on several occasions picked a set up where the location off of the roost was more important than the calling them in..they were going to be there no need to call.  One set up I called and the whole flock came in..8 strutters 15 jakes 20 hens..Location location location.

[Machias]

My percentage goes up quite a bit if I have scouted the birds prior and I'm not just out running and gunning so to speak.  However, if I go into an area and hear birds roosted and try and set up and call without really knowing those birds, I'd say I'm in the 10% range of calling one in off the roost.

[NWTFhunter]

If I find a Tom that doesnt like to come to a call off the roost, I will find the area he likes to go to off the roost and be there quietly the next morning.  He will think everything is normal and come in on his own.

[PA BEN]

most of the time a tom doesn't come in off the roost is because he is going to his strutting area, the hens come to this place. So find the place he is going to. The strutting area depends on where the hens roost for the night. Set up close, put your decoys close, use fly down cackles, use a turkey wing to flap w/fly down cackles. I've had toms wanting to go away, but I set up close and used the wing and fly down cackles, if your close, I mean with in 25 to 50 yds they will come and take a look. I had a tom roosting up hill 200 yds away, I set up in his strutting area w/decoys, took 45 min.s to get him in. The only reason it took that long is because he saw my decoys and strutted and gobbled all the way in. Soft calls the hole time. The key is put the tom to bed, find a spot close, after dark, Find your set up place and clear it out. If you don't make a lot of noise it will work. Remember this is the night before, they won't be scared after all night, sneak in way before day light put out your decoys and get ready. 

[Mike_D]

I've only gotten my first bird through an ambush...

[cmiller85]

From what little experience I have gained it appears to me that most gobblers have a routine by now and they perform that routine before they think about doing much else. In most cases I think the hens will actually go to a gobbler and he will fly down once he sees them milling about underneath his roosting area.

Its very, very tough competing with a real live hen. Right now it seems as though there are still too many hens laying and not sitting. So, gobblers will answer but won't come in because they have hens already. To have them come to you, you are going to have to set yourself up in their routine (i.e. travel patterns, strut zones) or try calling later in the morning when the hens have left to go lay some eggs.

[turkey slayer]

3/4 of the bird I have gotton have been 15 to 20 min. after fly down. I try to call the night befor in the area that I am planing to set up in.

[Karl Blanchard]

like everything else in turkey hunting it is all about finding the right bird at the right time.  The key is to find a tom who isn't roosted with hens who is gobbling to the 4 corners of the earth, spinning on the branch and working himself into a lather.  Call to him to let him no you are there, once he has you pegged he will gobble his brains out at you.  When you hear him gobble from the ground give him one more set of yelps and then nothing.  If you over call to a bird off of the roost he will head straight for his strut zone expecting the hen to follow, but if you fire him up then leave him hanging he won't be able to stand it and he'll come looking.  Its all about the set up and like I said before its the right bird at the right time.   Usually another hen or one of those hunters who likes to sneak on birds instead of calling them will screw it all up for you   Good and bad you gotta love it though.

[carpsniperg2]

yep that is it. they have to be there to hunt them, you have to find them, and you got to get them to come in to get them.

[turkeydancer]

Totally agree ... too many hunters call everytime the tom gobble especially when they are still on the roost.  When the hen he heard doesn't show up below his roost tree he will smell a rat, fly down, and go the other way.   

So if he gobbles at your first "tree call", he has recognized (honored) you as a real live hen, and its time to shut up and wait until he's on the ground.  Let him gobble at least twice or three times to your one call ... if he's coming, don't call and just let him come (see "shut up" above) ... use his curiosity and sex drive against him  ... work him vice have him work you.   

[canyelk48]

I've killed some of my biggest Toms shortly after they've flown down from their roost.  I've had 3 large Toms come running to my decoys even though there were hens landing all around them. One 12" bearded Tom was even henned up with over 20 hens.  It took alot of patience and soft calling to "coax" the Jakes and lead hen to come to my decoys, but when they did, the big Tom happily followed his flock and I dropped him when he was in range.  I've had others walk away with their hens and wouldn't pay the slightest bit of attention to my calls or decoys; however, I've later called these Toms out midday or early afternoon after their hens have gone to their nests; some hangup, but with patience and persistent calling, most will come in to your decoy(s).  Don't think that the only time you can bag a nice Tom is either right after first light, or shortly before they go to roost. Some of my most successful hunts have been midday, long after other hunters have packed it in.  I currently live in Tennessee, and these Easterns can be pretty darned smart; the big Toms don't get big just because they've been lucky.