advice for early morning calling!!

[bodetis]

i had a post earlier in the week, didnt really get the answer i needed, only birds im getting on is the morning roost, here in ky its been tough, i normally get my birds midmorning but they just wont work this yearand calling calling the roost is my achilles heel. will somebody please tell me what works the best, meaning when i give some tree yelps and he answers, give me detail on what to do next. some on here say be agressive while on roost and when he hits the ground, while some say give some tree yelps then shut up till he hits the groud, then maybe be aggressive or short on the calling. this being my 4th year iv never killed one off ther roost, i would really like advice on what works best, when it does work!! thanks guys

[Fan Club]

Other circumstances come into play-

How far are you from the roost and how much foliage is there? Usually best to let 'em hear you and then back off on the calling... let 'em gobble a few times on their own and get worked up. After you get the tom's position, and are certain he can't see you, you can stage a fly down (with a cackle and wing beats).

If you are close enough that he thinks he should be able to see the hen, don't call after it's day light or he'll get suspicious and fly the other way. Hunting the roost is always a crap shoot but can be very exciting.

Please keep us posted on what happens.

[cornfedkid20]

Have you tried gobbling at them? We were in ky last we'd-fri & they didn't want anything to do with hen calling but came to gobble calls... So I'd try a gobble shaker...got 3 longboards in that way got 1 of them & my friends had success the same way...Good luck

[WillowRidgeCalls]

The hardest part to working birds off the roost is learning how to read that Toms gobbles. What I mean is, some birds will gobble their heads off on the roost and some may only gobble once or twice. The birds that are gobbling their heads off, most times have a bunch of hens with them, and they are talking to those hens. The bird that only gobbles a couple times is more likely alone, and his gobbles aren't a high volume gobble, he is just saying hello to the day. Those are the birds I look for, IMO they are easier to work. What I do is, cutt at that softer gobbling bird with a short series of cutts and wait to see what he does. If he answers back right over my cutts, you can bet he'll be coming in. If it takes him a minute or two too answer, that is telling you that he isn't interested in you, and if it takes him a while to answer you, then when he does gobble again I stay after him and cut him off again with a louder call, and I keep doing that until I have his full attention. If your sitting out there answering every bird that gobbles, chances are you will never kill a bird off the roost. Pick one bird and stay after him, as soon as he opens his mouth, you better be answering him, call right over his gobbles. If you wait to answer him, all your doing is telling that gobbler, good morning yeah I'm here. If that bird is cutting your hen talk off or double gobbling at you, then let him gobble a couple times on his own, then do a flydown cackle or slap your leg or use the log toss, something to give the impression of a bird leaving the roost, as soon as your on the ground run a breeding yelp, that should get that bird headed your way, and then just work him like you'd normally would. You need to be set up no more than a 150 yards away from him. The better you know your area the better it works. If that bird hits the ground and goes away or hangs up, hit him with some jake yelps or gobbles, it makes him think he loosing his girlfriend and it will help get him coming a little faster. Now if the only bird you get to work is loaded up with hen, for get the soft tree talk. You have to be the aggressive hen and you work him the same way. Being aggressive will get the boss hen upset and you can bet she'll try to out do you right on the roost. Ignore her and keep working that Gobbler, the more you keep working him and ignoring her the more she's going to get PO'd and you can bet she'll be coming for you and so will that Tom.

[onpoint]

All of the above!!! Especially the flydown cackle and the gobble shaker combo. If you're using dekes a hen or two with a semi-strut jake seems to be a real teaser!!!

[onpoint]

[quote="TurkeyComander]

Actually it's just the opposite.[/quote]

How 'bout a little clarification on that

[onpoint]

thanks for the quick response

[Cut N Run]

I've had a few old gobblers with hens that didn't gobble much, but when they did, it was like they were issuing a challenge or announcing that they were king of the woods and for other birds to bring it on if they wanted their butts kicked...kind of daring other gobblers to try to take his hens.

I've also had henned up birds give courtesy gobbles off the roost knowing full well that they had no intention of leaving their hens to go after a bird that wouldn't show itself.

Jim