Main Discussion Area > Shooting and Hunting
One-two-eight roost, opening day
JW_Halverson:
I shot my first ever gobbler from this roost site quite a few years back. Every shotgun I own has taken a bird from this site, with one exception: my new .62 cal smoothbore flintlock. And I had a good chance to do that this morning, opening day for gun hunter's turkey season.
Last nite I put the birds to bed on the roost. I saw at least 5 gobblers and a good dozen hens fly up well before sunset. From where I sat in a thick tangle of blowdown ponderosa pines, I had a decent view and could slip in and out unseen. I went to bed with visions of sugarplums exploding against a mature gobbler's bean!
I was up at 4:00 a.m., fed and walked the dog, put her back in her kennel, and headed out. I had loaded the shotgun the night before, dug out the 3 segment cane yelper made by Jonathon Creason, and the box call I won at the Tennessee Classic Raffle last year. I knew the yelper would work, it brought in my bird last year. I had high hopes for the box call, and I knew since both had strong ties to this forum they also carried strong mojo.
I slipped in under cover of darkness and set up quite close to the roost site. On previous scouting trips, I had determined which route they take and I was in their path. Before long, the cool grey dawn was shattered by gobbles, double gobbles, yelps and freeform attempts at yelps by at least one ambitious but immature jake. I was in, in deep, and in like Flynn!
I gave a few soft tree yelps with the cane yelper and had gobbles immediately answering. Time to shut up, I had already established my bona fides as a hot hen and they knew where to find me. I closed my eyes and leaned back against the tree to await the sounds of fly-down. There was a boss hen on the roost with a deep growling yelp, very distinctive. She was singing me a lullaby when I heard another hen behind me. Resisting all urges to peek around the tree, I slowly lifted the box call and gave a couple soft tree yelps. The birds in the roost ahead of me responded, but the bird behind me said, "They're hot!" and them proceeded to yelp madly.
Risking a shot to the head, I leaned over and hollered, "TURKEY HUNTER!" The two bozos clad from head to toe with the finest sporting goods store patented, copywritten 3D designer approved camo continued to work that box call like they were going to play the entire William Tell Overture (Lone Ranger Theme) on it. I hollered again at them, but they didn't make any response, they just kept beating the living tar out of the box call.
When the birds pitched out of the tree they headed downhill to a busy highway and crossed over without hesitation rather than deal with a hen that can't shut her freaking yap! Not a single alarm putt from those birds, they were as calm and cool as a cucumber, they just didn't like the excessive trash talk.
*sigh* That would have been the 9th bird for me on that roost site. But at least they didn't scare off too badly. Overnight rain turning to snow shortly before dawn....and I am bailing out of my warm bed at 4:00 again, weather be damned. Bad weather will shield me from those fairweather fools. Tomorrow is my day. Why? Because I am a turkey hunter. That's why.
nclonghunter:
Thanks for the story. Sorry you had some bad luck with the gizmo guys. I'm certain that was just a bump in the road.
What type of load are you using in your smooth bore?
JW_Halverson:
70 grains of FFg DuPont, cushion wad over that, slice the top off a 12 gauge bismuth duck load of an ounce and an eighth #4's, dump that down the pipe, and a card wad over top. The pattern is not great, but at 20 yds it is more than tight enough to do the deal.
Just wish I could find more of those 1990's era bismuth shells. I'm down to about half a dozen. The other non-toxic shot is too hard for the barrel, especially since I am not shooting plastic (oh horrors!) wads.
The snow is supposed to taper off about 4:00 a.m. That will shut down most turkey hunters. The rain and snow will soften the pine needles and sticks on the forest floor, silencing my steps. I should be able to slip right under them tomorrow morning, mwahahahaha. Yeah, right?
chamookman:
Better luck today Jdub ! Our season doesn't start till the end of the Month. Yesterday afternoon it was in the high 50's and had T Storm front roar thru - high winds/heavy rain and hail. Looked out after the shear winds and there were Birds strutting in the pouring rain and wind. Love is in the air :laugh:.
JW_Halverson:
--- Quote from: chamookman on April 13, 2014, 04:46:40 am ---Better luck today Jdub ! Our season doesn't start till the end of the Month. Yesterday afternoon it was in the high 50's and had T Storm front roar thru - high winds/heavy rain and hail. Looked out after the shear winds and there were Birds strutting in the pouring rain and wind. Love is in the air :laugh:.
--- End quote ---
I was about to leave home this morning when I got a call from a friend. Last nite I had told him about the debacle earlier in the day. He relates he had gone up and sat on that roost site last nite to scout for me. He said exactly one bird had come in and roosted, one very large and mature gobbler. He said the rest of the flock had set up across the hiway on private land, hen-gobblers-jakes-whathaveyou.
I drove out calculating my chances. One solitary bird on the roost. With last nite's rain and littlel skiff of snow, I knew I would be able to move silent as an owl fart and could get right under the roost. I could take the bird right as he hit the ground without any other birds being disturbed off the site. Generally, shooting a bird right on the roost site will spook the birds off that site sometimes for years to come. Not generally a wise choice. Far as I can tell, if I took the one bird on that roost, none would live to tell the tale and the site would remain a viable roost.
That meant I could take the shortest, albeit steepest, climb to position. This also takes me under several of the best roost trees, so I HAVE to be quiet to say the least. I arrived early, no other vehicles parked nearby! Woohoo! I pulled the shotgun over my shoulder (chickened out and brought the modern 12 gauge), grabbed a padded cushion and started to glide up the hill. Several new blowdowns from the October blizzard blocked the steep deer trail, so I had to make a few detours, but I was on the spot in minutes and had my back against a large ponderosa pine while it was still black as the inside of an abandoned coal mine.
I settled in and checked the time, almost 50 minutes to sunrise, 20 minutes to legal shooting hours. With the cloud ceiling blocking out all starlight and the moon, the blustery wind, and the rain turning to snow...it was a lead pipe cinch that the birds would not pitch down from their roosts this morning until much later than normal. I made ready to spend a loooong time waiting.
The main flock across the hiway lit up about 10 minutes after legal shooting hours, which is 30 minutes before sunrise. There had to be at least 8 gobblers across the road and untold numbers of hens. My one and only, sad and lonely, solitary gobbler answered them with singles-doubles-and triple gobbles as the birds carped and moaned about the morning weather! He was deep in the narrow draw and low down on his chosen roost tree. Bad news for me, I had strong suspicions of his impending behavior.
Thinking I did not want to over play my hand like the clowns did yesterday, I opted to do no more than a few low tree yelps and stay quiet. Just let him think a hen sneaked in late, just a little something for him and him alone over here on the far side of the hiway from the rest of the flock. He liked the sound of the river cane segmented yelper. Soft yelps with the bell end of the yelper buried in my gloved hand to muffle the sound. But he lit up like Handel's Messiah Hallelujiah Chorus every time he heard it.
6:14 a.m., nearly a full half hour after legal shooting hours and I have given him no more than 4 sets of tree yelps. I hear the sound of him "rouse", shaking his feathers to get everything arranged, and I know he is ready to pitch. Get an idea how close I was to the roost....I could hear him rustle feathers! He pitches out of the tree and it is over in a flash. That's it, folks, that's the ballgame, thanks for coming, have a nice drive home.
Yup, he flew across the road to join the rest of the flock.
So. I gotta ask. At the risk of him pinpointing me and busting the game up, should I have called more aggressively? Aggressive calling may have convinced him I was hot and ready, fre for the taking, his and his alone.
By the way, in the three minutes it took me to hike back to the vehicle, the woods went from being full of gobbles and yelps to graveyard quiet. These birds are henned up tight. Talked with a couple guys that stayed out all day working site after site, only to have them tell me the only gobbling they heard was in the trees. Once their feet hit dirt, their beaks were sealed tight.
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