Roosted turkey's

[elkkiller]

If you have roosted turkey's in the evening and you come back in the morning how close or far away should you have your decoy's setup?

[TrkyBob53]

IMO it depends on the setup.  If you can get to within 100yds and not be seen I would do it.  Just remember they have great eyesight.  Not sure how well they see in the dark, but they can still hear you.  I have set up at no closer than 100yds, and it worked and I have set up at 200yds, and I am sure that I must have got busted.  terrain has a lot to do with how close I set up.  If you can get into his kitchen, he MIGHT be yours

[Machias]

Best thing is to scout and try and set up where they generally like to land and strut when they come off the roost.  100 to 150 yards is good, but if they are henned up you still might be out of luck when they come off the roost.  keep in mind the hens almost always go to the gobbler, that is why they can be really tough early in the season, I have had hens sprinting past me getting to the gobbler.

[TrkyBob53]

well said Machias.  There are so many thing that can enter into the setup.  You must overcome his natural instinct to have the hens come to him, and instead, have him come to the hen. 

[elkkiller]

thanks guy's!

[Seatown5]

My buddy and me got our first turkeys this year, off the roost to boot. We had all of our decoys ready before we were in sight we then crept to about 150-200 yards. There was at least three gobblers and ten hens. Right at the crack of daylight they flew down, not above us like planned but right to the decoys. The first hen landed twenty feet from me, then it was like pearl harbor and turkeys were landing everywhere around, absolutely unreal. The gobblers were so pissed there were jakes on his ground he started hissing and scratching as he strutted towards them. By 5:50 we had two dead gobblers and one of the most unbelievable hunts ever. This was monday in colville.

[bowhunterforever]

Sounds like an awsome first hunt seatown.

[Intruder]

Gettin em off the roost like you see on TV rarely goes as expected.  When they've got those hens they are a bugger to call.  Not my cup of tea but I think that guys that kill birds that way a lot often slip in and get right in their kitchen so that they are basically in range when they pitch out the the tree.

I much prefer to call a bird    

[Seatown5]

I get that it is fun to get a bird with a call, we got one to come from about half mile it seemed like. Unfortunately I missed (probably a eleven inch beard, pretty much dragging on the ground) anyway there is a lot to be said to a plan that works perfect. If you can position correctly off the roost, and not get busted, its amazIng. I've tried many of times, and what seemed to make the biggest difference was we got there about an hour before light. The birds forgot we were there. Anyway I say if you can blaze off the roost, then blaze!

[elkkiller]