Flying away from the sun?

[kenturkey89]

Recently a friend of mine told me that when birds fly off the roost, they typically fly away from the sun (or to the west). Is this true? If so, are there any exceptions that you could call a bird toward the east if that's where you're setup?

[grizzly]

all my land is on the east side of the hill and the toms fly down the hill towards the feilds so i would say that's false i think in the spring a tom will fly down to where he thinks there are hens[;)]wayne

[shocwave26]

well to be honest, turkeys fly down to any place they feel is suitable. there is no definates on what turkeys do or dont do. there are rules of thumb but no absolutes. down here in the south i have witnessed turkeys fly down in every direction that is known to man. most of the time turkeys are on the ground before the glare from the sun could have any effect on their vison. maybe the thought behind that is it would put the sun in any preditors face while allowing them better vision on their decent to spot preditors.[8|]

[Everyday Hunter]

I've heard people say that turkeys usually fly down to the uphill side of the tree. That makes sense from the standpoint that the ground is a little closer that direction. But that's definitely not a rule, and it can't apply on flat ground. They'll fly down any direction. Sometimes they'll drop almost straight down. Sometimes they'll fly a hundred yards or more from the tree. It depends on whether they see hens, where "the coast is clear," and which direction they think they want to go after they hit the ground. As in most turkey hunting rules, there are no rules on this subject.

Steve

[Ruttinbull]

In thinking about several of my favorite roosts... I gotta say false.

Perhaps your friend was thinking of a particular roost.

[icdedturkes]

Fly down, Nah.. Some older birds later[;)]

[Treerooster]

Total BS Sounds like advice from a couch hunter.[;)]

Turkeys fly down when & where they can see good enough to be sure there is no danger around. Sometimes they flydown just before sunrise sometimes just after.

On a nice day they are usually on the ground by 15 min after sunrise if not before. You can look at the ground right under the sun and still see pretty well at 15 min after sunrise, especially from a perch in a tree as you are looking down. The sun is just not very intense yet. Put some trees in front of it and the sun is even less intense.

[Fan Club]

False.

Never heard of or saw evidence of that theory.