Gonna try and roost some birds tomorrow evening

[Squirrelhunter91]

Tomorrow, my dad and I are making our final trip before turkey season up to our hunting land. We own 62 acres personally, but have permission to hunt all adjacent properties to ours. Leaving us thousands of acres to hunt. All to ourselves. Tomorrow I am gonna try and put some birds to sleep. But the thing I wanna know is, should I call to them like a lost hen and risk them getting call shy for next weekend ( Youth Weekend ) or should I just stick to the locator calls and try and shock gobble em? I'm not 100% sure where these birds are roosting, but I have a general idea. There are about 2 or 3 flocks on the properties. I will be getting some scouting reports from the locals up there that don't turkey hunt, but give us updates on where the birds are at and what they're up to. So what should it be folks, locator calls or turkey calls?

[need2hunt]

I'ld just stick with the locator calls.

[turkeygirl]

That's cool you can hunt that much land without the pressure of anyone else. I wish I had it that easy! Good luck and I'd say try the locator calls. Where do you hunt anyway?

[Squirrelhunter91]

Ruth, we hunt in Sullivan County, WMU 3H, in a small town between Monticello and Liberty.

[Bruce Schmeck]

I usually just walk areas I know the birds to frequent and listen carefully at dusk or early morning. Also look for scratchings, droppings, dusting areas, etc. I would only use a locator sparingly and not like another turkey at all.

[elnor]

I'll second the above suggestions. Best to scout without calling at all, or with only very light use of locator call, but I wouldn't make any turkey talk til opening morning.

[BowtechTurkeyHunter]

I would go in the morning the birds are much more vocal in teh mornings ... you can pinpoint them that way for sure ... sometimes turkeys dont gobble at night ... shocked or not .... Gl man I hope you find em

Steve

[Squirrelhunter91]

I really wish I could go in the morning. My dad works nights. He has to drive home from Battery Park, Manhattan after getting off from work at 6:00 AM. Then he gets home around 7:30 AM. We are making a day trip up there, but coming home around 7 or 8 at night. If we didn't have to go to Staten Island on Sunday for Easter, we would have a 3 day weekend up there because he doesn't work on saturday and sunday nights. But oh well, that's life.

[BowtechTurkeyHunter]

WEll then I would definately try and owl call or evena crow call just befoer dark ... but I wouldn't turkey call to them .. I have a friend that called a turkey right into him before dark lol ... all he wanted was to roost them and he had him in his lap ...

[dartonman]

I agree....Owl call....I even used a boat air horn once because the flock moved on me in early spring....sure enough, they gobbled their heads off...(note) the land I hunted was next to a river, so Im sure that the turkeys heard that loud obnoxious noise from the air horn before...lol.............only use locator calls, never call to a turkey that late using a hen call....al

[dartonman]

Also....I usually in Illinois, find my birds roosted on a ridge, near a small ditchline of water, or stream...and large trees with big limbs.......good luck, Im sure after seeing all your varmints shot this past year, you'll score on a bird.....have a great time.........and savor it all...al

[redbeard]

Locator calls first, then try just a short cackle if they haven't answered. Good luck

[Squirrelhunter91]

Well.. I gave it a shot, but it was futile. The wind was howling around 30mph.. no bueno.. But our buddy who owns a farm stopped by and told us where to find a big ol tom that has been gobbling his head off the past few months.. .. He said this tom was gobbling in the middle of March when it was 20* out and snow was on the ground!! LOL.. But he said this bird has been hot especially the past few days... We shot two turkeys off his farm last fall, so why not give it a shot again? 6 days, 5 hours and 27 minutes.. LOL