Learning how turkeys roost will give you a serious advantage during the hunting season. Figuring out where Turkey start and finish their day isn’t as difficult as it looks.
With a few basic tips you should be able to roost a gobbler and all the hens that come with it. Learning how to roost turkeys will put you ahead of the competition this spring hunting season.
When it comes to setting up on turkeys the biggest thing to help you out is watching them fly up at night. When you notice a group of turkeys flying up late at night you’ll know exactly where they’ll be the following morning.
In a lot of states shooting turkeys while they’re in their roost is technically illegal, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use their roosting location to your advantage.
In states where shooting roosted turkeys is illegal you’ll want to figure out where turkeys roost at night and wait til morning to setup. With the general location pinned down you should be able to call in quite a few large gobblers in the morning.
How To Hunt Roosted Turkeys
Where to Find Turkeys?
Before you start you’ll want to go to a field or location that shown signs of a few birds. Preseason scouting is really important to have success during the turkey hunting season.
If you have absolutely no idea where to start wake up early and listen for morning chatter. If you can hear few birds start looking in that general direction and try to get some glass on them.
Depending on where I’m going and how far of a walk it is I’ll either try to spot turkey using my spotting scope or long range pair of binoculars.
If you don’t already have a good set of binoculars check out the Vortex Diamondback lineup of binoculars. Considering they’re the Vortex budget lineup of binoculars they really do provide a great sight picture for the price. Personally I like the 10x42mm set that offers a little bit brighter sight picture without a huge increase in price.
Find a Turkey Habitat
Hopefully at this point you’ve been able to put your glass on a few birds. Now you want to pinpoint exactly where most of these birds sleep.
It’s very likely that they’ll return to the same general location night after night until they feel pressured. A good turkey habitat will hold birds reliably year after year so take some notes for next year. Just like preseason scouting knowing where birds roost will give you success for a long time.
The night before your hunt start by slipping into an area a few hours before the sun goes down where you’ve hopefully spotted a few birds. If you weren’t lucky in your scouting phases just try targeting spots that look like decent habitats.
Look in open areas that aren’t too far from trees and cover. Just sit calmly and quietly with your binoculars waiting for the turkeys to walk into your observation range.
If you aren’t lucky enough to see some birds keep your ears open the night might not be a complete waste of time. Try and listen for wing beats and soft calling/gobbling. With a little bit of luck you’ll see them approaching roost trees.
Once in the trees you should be able to spot them bouncing from branch to branch looking for a roosting spot. Now that you know where turkeys sleep get ready for a really successful early morning hunt.
Setup For an Early Morning Hunt
The morning after you’ve watched the turkeys go to roost you should have a good idea of where you need to set up. Try and keep note of where they came from the night before because that’s probably where they’re going to head in the morning. Setting up downward from their roosting location should give you a huge advantage in the morning.
Make Sure You Get in Early
To guarantee that you get between the birds and their midday location you’ll need to get to your set up extremely early. Turkeys wake up as soon as the sun comes out so you’ll need to be all set up while it’s still dark out.
Either setup a small ground blind like one of these cheap Ameristep blinds or dig your way a little bit back into the trees. Turkeys are almost guaranteed to come strolling back through at some time during the day so if you setup right you should definitely see a few birds.
Once you’ve figured out where you’re going to hold out you’ll need to figure out a way to draw in the turkeys. Mornings like this are when I like to setup a few ultra realistic decoys.
I’ve had a lot of success setting out a pair of these Primos Gobstopper Jake and Hen Decoys. I like to setup my decoys looking away from my hunting location and attempt to draw the flock directly in front of me. Personally I think a pair of docile decoys works best, but some hunters like to put out a couple sets.
Keep Your Noise Down
After a good night sleep you’re going to want to get in early and very quietly. Getting there early won’t help you at all if you rip in on your ATV and scare off all the birds. Try and get in as close as you can without spooking the birds.
If you start to hear a little bit of chatter back off for a while to avoid spooking them. If you can’t get as close as you’d like all isn’t lost. With a few well timed calls you should be able to bring the flock to you.
Listen Carefully
Right before turkeys leave the roost they tend to start making a lot of noise. As the sun starts to come up you should start to hear a little bit of roost gobbling and calling before daybreak.
When you start to hear flapping and cackles that means the turkeys are about to leave the roost. Try to re position yourself after you’ve pinpointed roosting locations.