Shock gobbles, owl or crow call the best?

[FSU_Seminole]

Just wanted to get the opinions of you veteran turkey hunters. Over the past few years I've tried shock gobbling, it hasn't worked for me with either owl or crow calls. I was terrible with with either. But I've greatly improved so tell me. Most of your owl hooting is it done before sun up & your crow calling is that mostly done mid morning, mid day and in the afternoons to make these fellas gobble? Or can you use a crow call right at sun up?

[Ravin R10 man]

have had better results with crow call, early am. or late pm to roost them

[whitetailfreak55]

I usually go owl call in the morning and evening and crow mid day. I've had luck with coyote howls also

[Ethan Givan]

I usually go owl call in the morning and evening and crow mid day. I've had luck with coyote howls also

Same for me, owl hooter in early morning or late evening, and crow call during the day. Sometimes a bird will not shock gobble, regardless of what you use.

[dbHunterNY]

Same for me, owl hooter in early morning or late evening, and crow call during the day. Sometimes a bird will not shock gobble, regardless of what you use.

i agree with ethan. although, i'll only use a yote howl if it's down to the last of legal shooting hours and i haven't struck up anything. turkeys tend to keep distance from yotes and i don't want them working farther away from me. even heard a cows below and strike a gobbler before. i just actually picked up a Down N Dirty Boogieman Barred Owl locator. It's wood, not that big, and seems to work really well. Gives you more range than your voice and easier to tote around then those bigger can style ones.

[FSU_Seminole]

thanks for the info guys. I bought both and will use the owl early mornings and crow mid day afternoon.

[jesse8953]

I had a turkey shock gobble to a cops siren a mile away.He ended up riding in the back of my truck that day! I also heard 3 toms shock gobble to a hawk screaching last week in Florida.Again one of the toms got a ride in the back of my turck!

[wtnhunt]

I am not so great with turkey hunting and dunno about where you are, but geese seem to get as good a response as owls or crows around here. Been plenty of times I have sat and listened and plenty of owls hooting and later on crows cawing and nothing. Then later on have a goose or geese fly over honking and a bird gobble. Think when they first start getting hot about anything will get them to gobble, have had them gobble at the end of running a skill saw cutting off 2x4's.

I listened to a bird this morning I plan to hunt tomorrow for our opener. I made a mouth owl call a couple times and he gobbled at both. That was before it was light.

[Rhino]

Birds will shock gobble at a lot of different sounds. The traditional owls & crows...horns honking, shotgun blast, thunder, other gobblers...you name it. Just depends on the birds. It's not a bad idea to have a couple of options to coax a bird to shock gobble. I don't believe there's a rule on specific times to use crow calls or owl calls except I wouldn't use either in the morning until it is time for a bird to crank up his gobble on the roost. I'd limit using a crow call a little later than an owl call since in nature crows will call on their own later. I also believe in moderation using them when birds are roosted. Just enough to allow you to get a fix on him and move in for the setup. If you're within 250 yards of a roosted bird I wouldn't risk using one at all anymore. I've heard guys keep blasting them with owl calls, crow calls & coyote calls just to make the birds gobble to the point they quit. I personally don't feel the need to use any locator call for roosted birds in the morning since they are just as apt to gobble on their own on the roost anyway. I don't usually have a problem hearing real owls & crows crank up causing birds to shock gobble. During the day I believe you can use either. I heard a bird gobble at an owl this past Saturday at 4:00 in the afternoon. It's not unusual at all for me to hear owls during the day but they are more vocal in the morning & afternoon. You're not going to spook a gobbler making a owl call during the day unless you're already too close to him. BTW...JMHO but the best natural sound that will cause a bird to shock gobble is thunder. Unfortunately, nobody will ever be able to create a call that reproduces that sound. As for getting birds to shock gobble on the roost late in the day either an owl call or using a cut or cackle has worked for me before. I prefer to give the birds a chance to gobble on their own 1st...then try an owl call...then last resort is a cut or cackle.

Edited April 1, 2013 by Rhino

[dlriggins]

I often hunt on public land in southern Indiana and saw a guy using a duck call that worked unusually well. The Whaaak Whaaak Whack seemed to work very well. I saw this only once and have not tried it myself but that morning I heard more gobbling than I had ever heard before.