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Temperature and timing on flights off roost

3K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  Birdman 
#1 ·
Hey Guys,
Looks like a real chilly morning for most folks this coming saturday! I am traditionally an early riser and just like to have plenty of time to set up and adjust and hide before light hits the field. Hunting alone mostly there is a lot of work to do. However i seem to recall hearing something about birds not jumping off their roost until much later in the morning/midday when it gets really cold. Anybody have any experiences to validate that? I wouldnt mind sleeping a little later and setting up decoys with a touch of daylight, that would be nice!
 
#2 ·
The colder it is the later Geese move off the roost. At least that is what I have seen many times. We have a roost about a mile from our pit and when it gets really cold they don't leave until at least 10:00. On occasion the may not move until after 12:00. The last several hunts the temp was below 0 and the Geese never left the roost. But yeah...Geese will leave the roost later in the day when it gets cold. If overcast they could sit all day. If sunny then they wait for it to warm up. Hope this helps,

Murph.
 
#3 ·
don835 said:
The colder it is the later Geese move off the roost. At least that is what I have seen many times. We have a roost about a mile from our pit and when it gets really cold they don't leave until at least 10:00. On occasion the may not move until after 12:00. The last several hunts the temp was below 0 and the Geese never left the roost. But yeah...Geese will leave the roost later in the day when it gets cold. If overcast they could sit all day. If sunny then they wait for it to warm up. Hope this helps,

Murph.
^^^ Nailed It. :thumbsup: It's not an exact science, but thats pretty darn close.
 
#4 ·
Well, for anyone interested, apparently temps in mid to high teens isnt quite enough to keep birds roosting late into the day, at least in this case. I nearly froze to death trying to change my luck around this past weekend but the first birds i saw were moving around 8:30 and the last ones i saw were about 9:15. Waited it out until about 11:15 to see if any more groups came out or catch some coming back but the skies were empty! Chalk it up to lessons learned.
 
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