Pennsylvania Game News - May 2020 - 18

might follow.
But Gulvas said turkey hunters
shouldn't discard keyed-down, social
tree calls from their bag of tricks.
When hunting near a roosted gobbler
- especially one that's been pressured -
they might be the most important calls
a hunter makes.
This and other tips can help hunters
who find themselves in close-quarters
with a roosted gobbler this spring.

FIND A ROOST
A gobbler, even generations of them,
often will roost repeatedly in the same
area.
There's no guarantee you'll find
one there on a given day, but gobblers
- especially in the spring breeding
season - generally choose their roost
sites strategically.
The point of all their gobbling is to
be heard, after all. And they'll often
take advantage of the highest overlooks
where their sound-resonating presence
can be known, sometimes up to a mile
away.
While hunting near known gobbler
roosts often can put you close to action,
nothing beats pinpointing a gobbler's
roost for the night - intel that can be
picked up only through in-season evening scouting.
While it's best not to elbow into an
area before roosting time and risk an
encounter that will only make a bird
more wary, you always can maintain
a comfortable distance and keep your
ears open.
Gobblers usually will gobble just
after they fly up a tree for the night.
They might gobble overnight on the
roost, as well. And even if they don't
gobble at all, they'll make quite a racket
winging their 15-plus-pound bodies to
18

the treetops.
Absent any of these clues, a locator
call - such as an owl, crow, hawk or
woodpecker call - might work to evoke
a response from a roosted-for-the-night
gobbler. Just keep the natural world in
mind, Gulvas recommended. An owl
might hoot in the daylight, but a crow
won't caw at night.
No matter the method, if you can
determine a gobbler's overnight location, you'll know where he'll be in the
morning.
But where should you set up?

KEEP YOUR DISTANCE
While many variables might affect
how close to a roosted bird a hunter can
approach, Gulvas said many hunters
who know gobblers are roosted nearby
try to get too close.
The biggest trouble with an in-tight
setup is that it leaves a hunter vulnerable.
The closer you are to turkeys, the greater
the chance of turkeys seeing you. And
if that happens, there's little chance any
bird will come your way.
As the season progresses, and leaves
continue popping out on trees, hunters
have more cover to nudge closer, set up
and sit there without being seen.
But at close proximity, the effectiveness of a hunter's calls often is compromised, Gulvas said.
Turkeys have an uncanny ability to
detect exactly where sounds come from.
To a gobbler roosted nearby, it's fairly
obvious even the softest tree calls are
coming from the ground - spotlighting
that something isn't right since the hen
ordinarily would be on the roost.
Even if a real hen was on the ground,
as soon as there's enough light, the gobbler would expect to see her. Turkey's
never stop moving.

Pennsylvania Game News - May 2020

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