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Shooting turkey off roost?

Setterman, I admire your knowledge and experience as a turkey hunter. But, do you really think it matters to the turkeys HOW they meet their maker? :D

Just saying...
 
I've only shot a couple off roost and will do so again if given the opportunity, but I'm not after that opportunity. I definitely prefer to call them in but it doesn't always work that way. I've had to bushwack many birds by crawling around and cutting them off. Also, sneeking up on a bird while he is on roost is not the easy. But i've never actually walked up to a tree in the dark and sat there waiting for daylight.
 
Setterman said:
You can't relate deer and turkeys. Deer are not primarily called in, and the whole premise behind turkey hunting is matching wits with a bird and outsmarting him through calling. Just my personal opinion, but shooting one off the roost is as low as it gets. It centers IMO around this new age of hunting where folks don't care how,they just want to have instant gratification. It is all about the numbers of dead critters, not in how those critters meet their maker. JMHO.
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SO what are rattling horns, grunt tubes and can calls for? Have seen plenty of deer outsmarted and called in. ;)
 
No you didn't either. That bird flew to him and landed in a tree the best I remember.

There is a big difference in shooting one out of a tree sometime during the day and shooting one off of the roost. Turkey will often fly to a tree during the day whether it be to feed on buds or to escape predators. I have had a gobbler fly tree to tree on me while coming in before too.
 
RUGER said:
scope eye said:
If you snuck up on a bedded deer, would you shoot it? :confused:
Click to expand...

VERY good question.
Click to expand...

Let's make the analogy valid...

'If you snuck up on a bedded BLIND deer, would you shoot it?'

There, that's better... if you would, then you would probably shoot a turkey on the roost... because that is exactly what is going on when you sneak through the woods in the dark when the turkey cannot see you approach, nor can it fly off to escape while it's still dark. For all practical purposes, it's most similar to spotlighting deer to temporarily blind them and prevent them from running off to get the shot off.

Now if you can sneak up on one in the tree after 8am, have at it. I would be quite impressed with that.
 
All of us who have flushed turkeys off the roost know that they are not blind by any means!! If it is too dark for them to see you, then it is too dark for you to be able to identify them on the roost. If they are gobbling on the roost, then they are paying attention to what's around them.
 
I have had the opportunity, but did not do it...It is just my personal preference.. I guess I am more for the thrill than target practice...

The best hunt I ever had did not involve a dead turkey... It involved my son's eyes when the big ole gobbler topped the ridge 15-ft from us....(he missed of course)
 
i shoot them however i can

sneak
call
roost
decoy

and the list goes on and on maybe i only get to hunt 2 or 3 days out of the year or maybe i hunt all year and just had a bad year if it's legal go for it and everyone else get over it
 
not my cup of tea but aint judging those that decide to do it. I have WANTED TO a few times but most of those were HENS that busted me sneaking in lol


however the bedded deer vs roosted turkey is not a very good analogy. to me a better one is would you shoot DUCKS on the water on the way to the blind?
 
Setterman said:
You can't relate deer and turkeys. Deer are not primarily called in, and the whole premise behind turkey hunting is matching wits with a bird and outsmarting him through calling. Just my personal opinion, but shooting one off the roost is as low as it gets. It centers IMO around this new age of hunting where folks don't care how,they just want to have instant gratification. It is all about the numbers of dead critters, not in how those critters meet their maker. JMHO.
Click to expand...

Do you own a grunt call or rattling horns?
 
megalomaniac said:
RUGER said:
scope eye said:
If you snuck up on a bedded deer, would you shoot it? :confused:
Click to expand...

VERY good question.
Click to expand...

Let's make the analogy valid...

'If you snuck up on a bedded BLIND deer, would you shoot it?'

There, that's better... if you would, then you would probably shoot a turkey on the roost... because that is exactly what is going on when you sneak through the woods in the dark when the turkey cannot see you approach, nor can it fly off to escape while it's still dark. For all practical purposes, it's most similar to spotlighting deer to temporarily blind them and prevent them from running off to get the shot off.

Now if you can sneak up on one in the tree after 8am, have at it. I would be quite impressed with that.
Click to expand...

So sitting there camo from head to toe and shooting a silent bird that might just happen by is unethical? They can't see you, right? BTW a turkey will leave a tree in the dark.
 
Not an easy task to kill a turkey on roost. It is not cheating by no means in my opinion. I had a good chance by pure luck a few years ago, I did not take the shot. Wished I had ever since.
 
RussellvilleRob said:
I have had the opportunity, but did not do it...It is just my personal preference.. I guess I am more for the thrill than target practice...

The best hunt I ever had did not involve a dead turkey... It involved my son's eyes when the big ole gobbler topped the ridge 15-ft from us....
Click to expand...
This is kind of my take, as well.

Can't say the absolute best hunts I've had did not involve a dead turkey, but can say I've had many hunts that provided me more enjoyment and better memories than some for which I killed a turkey.

I've never shot a roosted turkey, but probably would have during my early years as a turkey hunter ---- just didn't have that opportunity until after I had called in and killed a few. But during the past several years I've ENJOYED passing up sure kill shots on several roosted birds, some of which I later killed, some of which flew off the roost never to be seen again.

This issue kind of reminds me of my early years dove hunting as a child. After I had shot a few doves sitting in a dead tree, it began to seem much more enjoyable to only shoot them flying. Doubt the doves cared, but it became more about the total experience than just how quickly I could limit out or just how many I could kill.

For similar reasons, I have passed on shooting quail seen sitting on the ground, even though I'm certain I would several times have gone home with more quail, especially when a single shot might have produced a limit of quail. But I'll be slow to criticize anyone for shooting a turkey on the roost, as for some like Ruger, that would be quite an accomplishment just in getting close to ANY turkey without spooking him out of the country! :grin:

By the way, Ruger, turkeys are not color-blind, and that camo pattern you've used in the past may have been your biggest problem with the turkeys. The pink camo pattern simply stands out too much against either a gray or green background.
 
BTW the bird Waddell shot had not come off the roost yet but was tree hopping. I have seen several birds do this in the early morning after daybreak. Never touch the ground just limb hop. Yes shooting one off the limb may not be as enjoyable but I have never been able to tell the difference in taste from one that I shot off the limb or on the ground.
 

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