Calling Techniques

[Rhino]

I read an article this morning titled "Late Season Turkey Calling" in my LA-MS Game & Fish Magazine. I guess over the years I've taken a lot of what I do working birds for granted when it comes to calling but the techniques this author described are a few of the ones I basically use all during the season. Some depend on how the bird reacts to my calling. It's always a good idea to, as they say, take the birds temperature to determine how hot he is. Many of you seasoned turkey hunters already know about these. Here's the ones the author described for late season but I personally believe they apply to any time the season is open: 1) Go Red Hot & Ice Cold - The essence of this tactic is to call aggressively to work the bird up & then give the bird the silent treatment & wait him out. If the bird isn't with hens this isn't a bad idea at all. It's particularly good for working older birds that have survived beyond 2 years and have been worked by you or other hunters. Especially if the gobbler wants to stay close to one spot and you have no way to move without getting busted. Sometimes when this tactic works the bird will come in silent or just drumming. 2) Switch-Hit Calling - This is just using more than one call to try to sound like more than one hen. I do this all the time. I have no idea why the author thinks this is just a late season tactic. I'll always have a diaphragm and a slate ready to dish out hen talk. I'll always have at least 2 slate calls handy (sometimes up to 4) & use multiple strikers on slates since each striker can sound different on the same slate call. Sometimes I'll carry a box call too but I prefer limiting my use of box calls on MS Eastern birds during windy days. They are simply loader than the calls that I prefer to use and loader than the real hens I hear in MS. To each his own though. 3) Enter His Comfort Zone - The essence of this tactic is just getting where the bird feels comfortable going to. You know...getting between where he is and where you think he wants to go anyway. This is a no brainer tactic to attempt to use ALL the time. It may take a few encounters for a hunter to figure this out. Spending a few days in the woods before the season opens can tip you off to a bird's tendencies but leave you hen calls at home if you do before opening day. Crow calls are OK during the preseason to coax shock gobbles out of the bird or whatever locator calls you like that don't produce turkey talk. 4) Drift & Call - This is the tactic of calling & moving away. I've used this tactic only occasionally. I'm usually either hunting alone or with a novice turkey hunter. It's a good tactic when you're hunting with a buddy that has some experience with turkey hunting. I've found more often than not, novice hunters have a problem not understanding how important remaining still is when a bird is approaching...whether you see him or not. This tactic gives a worked up gobbler the impression the hen is easing away. If you're hunting with a buddy be sure you try to keep your buddy sitting between where you're calling and where the bird is gobbling. The author doesn't say this but when I have used this tactic I'll move away, call, then cut the distance in half between where I was at 1st and where I called from. Then give him the silent treatment to see how he reacts. You have to be careful doing this though because a turkey can hear a lot better than we can and the sound of crunching leaves going away from a bird can be enough to make him think the hen is leaving absent of any calling. These are the 4 the author described in his article. I could add more but that's enough to chew on for now. Gotta get loaded up to hit the turkey woods for a few days. Good luck to y'all! I'll be back Friday afternoon when the rain is supposed to move in.

[VermontHunter]

Good stuff Al ,,, Thanks ..

[Ethan Givan]

Very good tactics there for sure. I agree that those techniques will work anytime.

I use the Red Hot & Ice cold and the Enter His Comfort Zone techniques the most. My favorite way to kill a bird is to beat him to his strutting zone in the morning. Get him fired up after he hits the ground, then go quiet and wait for him to show up. It works.

[youngbuck06]

Calling Techniques

My dad taught me most of those techniques long ago. And they still work to this day! If it aint broke dont fix it. But always be able to learn and adapt!

[Strut10]

Good stuff, Al !!!

I use #1 and #3 quite regularly.

Have also teamed up with some guys (and gals) using #4 and slammed some problem birds.

[wtnhunt]

Thanks for sharing Al. Only luck I have had has been to get between a bird and where he is going. Never had anyone teach me anything about hunting so these tactics are definitely helpful.

[loner]

great tips! the situation one finds a tom in will dictate the success or failure of calling.late season,normally means hens are nesting and not roosting with the toms.a tom will normally, come much quicker to a call at this time of the season.if on the roost,just let him know where you are and he will find you.up in the morning or afternoon,a gobble will almost insure he will come unless he can't get to you without much effort.patience,rather than alot of calling more important.a tom will be interested if all the hens are on the nest and you are the only one around.i have had toms run to me up in the day when the hens not around and barely had time to get setup on right tree.great article!

[Ravin R10 man]

Good tips Al...

like setting up in the strutting zone myself...the waiting can be short or long..last yr. I put in 8 or 9 hours before he showed up, he was following a hot hen

Year before it took 15 minutes total

[Rhino]

Martin...I sure like being set up in their strutting zone too. When they are henned up bad during the early season, more than likely, hens will dictate where the gobbler is going to be. Know where the hens want to be and be there 1st, preferably before they wake up on the roost. Another thing...I would start another paragraph here but for whatever reason on this site, I can't hit the enter key and start one. Problem started about a week ago. Anyway...anyone that's been around here for a while knows I'll use a gobble call to work birds. Obviously this is on private land where there's not supposed to be any risk of calling in another hunter. Here in MS it's more of a situation specific tactic. Usually works best in MS for hung up older birds that have made their mark & are waiting for the hen to make the last move to them. Last year hunting MO for the 1st time, a gobble call turned out to be the primary "go to" call. Unbelievable! The way they went to other gobblers during the 1st morning hunt is what tipped me off. 1st day was a buddy hunt with my buddy doing the shooting. 3 gobblers passed through a field ~100 yards in front of us going toward another gobbling bird. My buddy missed one that I gobbled in from a long way off in the same spot about 11:00. 2nd day turned out to be a marathon hunt for me hunting on my own but what brought the gobblers into sight where I was hunting was my gobble call. A total of 6 birds were gobbled in before the biggest one in a trio of birds got close enough ~10:30. Oh...yea...one got closer earlier but I got greedy wanting the BIG one. Once they were inside 150 yards in the field I was set up on dictated my switch to softer hen talk. Third morning was a rain out and we had planned to go home that day anyway. We returned for the last (3rd) week of the MO season. 1st morning back was another buddy hunt with my buddy doing the shooting...nothing got into his range but we saw at least a dozen gobblers & a bunch of hens. That afternoon we were Quincy, IL running errands & we picked up a gobble call for my buddy. 2nd morning I actually busted a gobbler with a hen trying to get into position to work him. My mistake but I didn't think I'd busted them too bad the way they left so I waited 40 minutes, hit the gobble call & called both the gobbler & the hen back in within 10 minutes. About an hour later, my buddy gobbled in and killed a bird ~1 1/2 miles from where I killed my bird that morning. It was the 1st bird he's ever killed calling on his own. He actually saw 2 gobblers in the 106 ac. field he was set up on & gobbled them in from close to 600 yards away. With all that said...you just never know how birds will respond to gobble calls where you hunt. Most places I've hunted have been situation specific for them to work. I've only used them successfully hunting Easterns & Rios though but I've never tried one on Merriams & haven't been to Florida yet. Where we hunt in northeast MO was, by far an exception to how they respond to a gobble call. If you're hunting private land and you witness gobblers going to other gobbling birds don't be timid about breaking out a gobble call. It's not just a locator call. For obvious reasons, I would NEVER use one of public ground for any reason at all.

[dbHunterNY]

with the season starting so late here in NY... #3 is usually the one to close the deal.

[dlriggins]

One of the tactics That have worked for me when toms are henned up is not to call to the tom but to the hens. I can describe turkeys in the spring season as a lot like a bar scene, where the hens go the tom will follow. If you can lure the girl the guy will follow like a love sick puppy.