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Morning Setup ... More Novice Questions

bowhuntr311

bowhuntr311

IowaWhitetail Addict
Alright after cinching my NR Tag down and may even have a MN opportunity I have way more questions to ask.

Here we go:
After tagging along on a hunt last year with a buddy who also was a novice, I know I need to be out way WAY earlier in the morning than we were last year.

How long before dawn should I be setup ready to rock?

How much will turkeys gobble from the roost in the morning if I call at them with a turkey call? I have a owl/hoot call but I sound like an owl choking on a mouse than a hoot. Should I use a owl call while thier in the roost or turkey call? Can a person get them to gobble in the roost and move around them to pin point them.

Obvisouly you cant jump around like a dipstick below them setting up dekes and blinds and making a bunch of movement. If I know where birds are roosted and I have an idea which way they are going how close should I get to the them roosted when I need to setup a blind and dekes?

Dean

PS I have read quite a few posts in here and there no real exact answers to these questions.
 
Dean,
Leave the owl hooter at home, never saw much use for one unless you are in a huge area such as the black hills or the rockies.

I am set up and ready to hunt an hour before sunrise. It generally starts to bleed light around that time. During full moon, I will stay further away from the roost than I would under a new moon situation.

Also if you are gun hunting you can wait until they start to gobble and then move to a location within 150 to 200 yards depending on the terrain. Alot of varibles but one that never changes is patience. If you feel you want to move wait a minimum of a half hour before you actually do. You will be amazed at how many birds will come in silent. Hardest in the world to do but it is worth it. Take it from someone that learned the hard way... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

If I am in an area that I know the birds are using I will stay there all day... Yep 15 hours to be exact... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
 
I can't really add anything else to what Limb said, but I'll hammer that last sentence home. If you do find a place that the birds strut at all day, don't leave it. I shot my bird on opening day last year at 12:30, right as I was eating an apple in the blind.
 
A lot of factors as far as how close you get, like Limb said. One of the big ones is also how noisy the area is, I hunt a few areas of large open timber that is full of oaks, last year it was so dried out in that area that I had to stay back an extra 100 yds or so from normal because it was so loud going in the morning.

Also, if you already know where the birds are don't hit the owl hoot at all. Just sit and wait for them to wake up. Also, go out a week before and listen to the birds wake up, you can learn alot by how the birds themselves are calling, I think the biggest mistake that a newcomer can make is over calling (besides not being patient). If you already know the travel route of the birds get in that area and setup and leave the calling to a minimum as they already want to come your way. Good Luck

Kratz
 
Yea Im screwed as far as the scouting situation. Im a quick 6 hours from my bird right now. And 12 hours in 2 days is a bit to much driving for me to make a weekend run.

I know turkeys dont like to cross barriers if they dont have to. But if they do come to a 4 strand fence I assume they jump it, or is more normal for them to go under?


How many of you sit all day? Last year I sat from dawn till bout 9ish. Got out did some walking, back to the house for lunch and back out bout 3 till dark.

Thanks for the info.

Dean
 
i love hunting all day. my second bird last year i chased from the moring untill late afternoon. When they are vocal it is awesome.

Secondly I love my hoot tube. I blow that thing like its my job. I justt love it. BUT!!! I never blow it if I know the birds are there I dont blow it. A lot of my hunts I roost the birds the night before so i know where they are at.

here is a perfect example of where I love my hoot tube. I drive an hour or so to go hunt and i havent hunted in a few days and i dont know exactly where I am at. I will still set up where I think the birds are at. Say they are gobbling 300 yards away and not by me and I want to move. before i move i will hit my hoot tube trying to spark a close bird!!

Multiple times I have set up and maybe walked by a bird in the dark or something and he will wait till about flydown to start gobbling. A lot of times I can get that bird to sound of.


BUT if you have a barrel style owl call keep it at home...
 
i agree with everything so far, however i take my hoot tube everywhere,
ONLY USE IT AS A LOCATOR. i will use it to locate birds on the roost in the morning and evening, although evenings i might use a howler on the way back if i need to locate a distant bird for the following morning, but mid day, while runnin and gunnin, i use a mixed bag of things, crow call, box call, slate call.

however, if i know where a bird is for sure, i will not use my hoot tube. that is only for completely to semi blind morning set ups.


good luck
 
I'm a believer in hunting all day and will sit in the same spot all day. It may take the birds you call to early in the morn, (that the hens take away from you), hours to come find you. If you call a few times an hour you'll be letting them know you're still there. A lot of those birds with the long spurs are not going to run right in and get shot like a 2 year old.

Another bit of advice that I think all will agree with is try to resist calling alot to a bird on a roost. They will stay up for hours and holler at you if you work them hard while they're still up. I made that mistake too many times when I first started.

AGS
 
All good advice so far, I will address the question of calling to them on the roost. They will gobble in response to turkey calls on the roost. The best plan is to keep calling to them on the roost at a minimum. I will usually give a few soft tree calls, sounding like a hen waking up and just enough to make sure that he has heard me and then shut up. I will then wait till fly down time, do a few yelps, a cut or two and then a flydown cackle along with beating a dried wing or my hat against my leg, tree, or brush. Finish that with a kick in the leaves to sound like a hen touching down. Now all this is done if the turkey cant see you from the roost. If you get too close and he can possibly see you, don't make a peep and don't move until he is on the ground. I am always amazed at how far they can see something out of place from the roost. Typically the tom will fly down shortly after my flydown series. You have to listen for wingbeats or the change in tone of his gobble. Once he is on the ground I will take his temperature, see how fired up he is. If it is private ground and not to heavily hunted i am not bashful at all of pouring the calling on him. Wild hens are very vocal when they first hit the ground and if he has hens roosted near him, this is best chance to get him headed your way before they all fly down and lead him away. Which they will, almost every time. I know as a beginner I loved to hear him answering me from the roost and would call way to much. I believe it would cause him to stay on the limb longer, and he would either grow bored or suspicious of the sound coming from the exact same spot for so long. Hopefully this helps, and good luck!
 
Fences---Don't worry about them! Four strand has never seemed to
slow them down, and if you find a hole in a hog-tight
fence you've found one of the best turkey funnels in
the woods.

Roost trees---Nobody has said anything about setting up between
gobblers. It's awesome! They seem much more likely
to come into gun range as opposed to hanging up
where they can't be killed.

When setting up in the morning, remember moisture
effects birds. Last year, almost without fail, a
group of birds would pitch off their roost tree
and walk through the woods into the brome grass on
our place, EXCEPT when there was a heavy dew.
Every morning there was moisture on the grass and
undergrowth they flew straight from the roost to
the crops. One of my favorite things to do is set
up in a cut hay field after a wet night.

How long to sit---Every situation is different, and it usually
takes a lot of time in the spring woods before
a hunter starts getting a feel for the
situation. I've sat for 8+ hours and killed
birds. Dad and I have done the same
practically running circles around toms trying
to get a shot. If I had to put my money on a
hunter, though, it would be on the one that
sits tight.
 
Speaking of fences........The place i hunt in Iowa, the deer jump over the fence. The place i hunt in Illinois, i dont care if the deer are on a dead sprint, they crawl UNDER the fence. I watched one get stuck. What in the heck is the deal with that?
 
As far as all day hunting, I love to hunt between 9:00and 12:00, a lot of the toms will be breaking away from the hens they were with off the roost and searching for new ones, if you get a bird fired up after 9:00 there is a good chance you are going to have him in your lap.

As far as the roost, it is fun to hear the birds going crazy but like was said before a few tree calls and that is it. Wait until he is down to put it to him.
 
i have only been in on one bird right after flydown from the roost. But that was because I spooked all his hens on the way in and he roosted 80 yards from them so he was all alone. he hit the ground running. all the rest have been atleast 1 hour after flydown.
 
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