Steve Felgenhauer
In the hour before daylight, I followed behind turkey hunting legend, Ray Eye, and was hopeful this would be the time. Two previous hunts the turkey we referred to as ‘Chop’ had zigged when we had zagged. As we made our way along the little creek that wound through the bottoms, I stepped in the water. To add insult to injury, the top of my boot took on water and I spent the remainder of the hunt with a waterlogged sock and water sloshing in my boot.
Eye had driven 90 plus miles each way to roost this boss gobbler two evenings before and watched it fly up to its roost. He was confident we could get the deal done this time. All we needed was a little luck.
We made our way through the bottoms to a large oak and Eye motioned for me to sit down and be quiet and wait for Chop to fly down. As the sky began to lighten, the woods came to life. One of Chop’s girlfriends had spent the night in the tree we were sitting against and she was waking up.
As daylight illuminated the bottoms, it was apparent that Chop had spent the night in a different section of the farm. Once again, we had zigged and Ol’ Chop had zagged.
Roosting Turkeys: Underused Tactic?
Turkeys roost in trees to keep themselves safe from predators and even in places like Hawaii where there are no predators, the birds roost in trees, it’s their nature. Unless they are bumped or scared from a particular tree or area, they will return to the same place every night.
To bag a bird, it’s the hunter’s job to find these roost areas and set up on them.
I have heard Eye preach more times than I can count, “Roosting kills turkeys… it is the main ingredient to consistently kill birds. Many hunters don’t put enough emphasis on roosting. I get as close as I can without spooking them off the roost. I like to be within 50 yards if the terrain allows for it. I’ll set up tight on the birds and if possible, in the same direction they flew up,” explains Eye.
Eye feels roosting is an underused tactic to hunt turkeys. Many hunters will listen for a roosted bird to determine if there are birds in a general area and hunt that area instead of hunting a particular roosted bird. “I like to know which tree the bird is roosting in and from the spot the bird flew up from,” says Eye.
Although Eye uses an owl hooter to roost birds more often than not, he roosts turkeys with a turkey call. “I like to get those gobblers fired up,” explains Eye. “I want to be the last thing they hear before they go to sleep and the first thing they hear when they wake up the next morning.”
By being in position before daylight and waking up these birds, you will hear the subtle tree calls. As the morning progresses, the calls will get louder and if you are within sight of the tree you will see the gobbler puffing up on the branch as he gobbles and takes inventory of the hens as he decides who he will spend his morning with once he flies down. I’ve watched gobblers strut up and down the tree limb they had roosted in before they fly down.
How Close is Too Close to Roost to a Turkey?
How close you can get to a roosted bird depends on the terrain, cover and your comfort level. If there are multiple birds present, it’s imperative to be even more stealthy as there are many more eyes on alert. You stand a better chance of getting picked off if you move at the wrong time.
Oftentimes, you will be unable to call when you are close to a roosted bird. Remember, a gobbler expects a hen to come to them. From their roost they can plainly spot a bird in the open fields or open woods. If they hear a bird where there is none to be seen, the jig is up.
Ol’ Chop is long gone now, but maybe this season Eye will invite me back and we will have an opportunity to sneak into those bottoms again and roost his prodigy.
