Any calling tips and tricks?

[Nate22]

I've done a lot of reading and talked to some other turkey hunters and ive heard two different sides on how to call and how much to call. I know a lot of guys that love their box calls and will use them quite a lot. Ive read though that really other than locating a bird its better to just put the box down and use a more quiet calling method like a mouth call or slate even when the bird is over 100 yrds. away still. Also i think over calling is a mistake a lot of guys make that ive made before myself but how much should you cut back on calling?

[swamppirate]

I think less is more....in other words I call very sparingly. Soft yelps, purrs a cluck or two. Another trick I have in my bag is a wing. I've called in hard to call to tom's by simply a soft tree call and wing flapping....once you have done the fly down sequence, you can peck around in the leaves to imitate a hen scratching...it's worked for me....my .02 regards....

[Ethan Givan]

I use primarily mouth and slate calls. I use a box call sometimes if its windy or if Im trying to find a bird during the day. How much i call depends on the situation. If Im on a hot bird during the day and he is fired up I will call more but If Im calling to a bird that is on the roost with hens I will call soft and not as much.

I like to set up on a strut zone mid morning and early afternoon when the birds arent gobbling much and I will call only once every half hour or so. Also depends on the weather. If its raining and drizzly I tone it down. Lots of variables that effect how I call.

[Strut10]

Who says you have to call loud with a boxcall?

Boxcalls are so versatile. You can crank them up or go waaaaay on the lowdown.

Rule of thumb: No matter what type of call you are using, (if your main goal is to just call in and kill the bird) call only as much as you have to in order to keep the bird coming.

I have a nasty habit of wanting to watch birds strut and gobble until they're outta breath. So I call pretty hard sometimes.

[Crappiepro]

I like to imatate the birds Im hearing, every once in while make a loud fast yelp or cutt. this makes the toms think someone new is there. You also might try smacking your hat against your leg,this really sounds like a fly down or a small fight! I done this a time or 2 and got a few hung-up toms to show them selfs in the woods that I might not have gottin a shot on!. They will come lookin! Good Luck.

[pointing_dogs_rule]

DITTO: do not over call. Just my preference.... if I know the birds are using the area I will call once every 20 minutes until I get a response.

Note: I use box and mouth and slate calls and all are good if used in the correct manner.

good luck to all

the dog

[HuntnMa]

I hunted th elast 3 days.......the first day , it wasn't long before i relaized this bird was wise, the second day, i confirmed it, lol.....so I came up with a game plan, I knew he'd be in one of two places, but I couldn't be at both places, so I invited my hubby ...that bird was going down...I told him, NO yelping, just clucking and purring....he actually listened to me...there he was about 40 yds. from him,a couple of clucks and he was coming in, he stopped coming in, a couple more clucks and guess who walked out with his first bird ever...my hubby less is always more......

[Flintlock1776]

Calling works but different time require different approaches.

[Nate22]

Thanks alot ya'll for the responses good luck everyone

[Rhino]

The vast majority of calling made by real hens is clucking and purring. The vast majority of calling made by turkey hunters is yelping. Doesn't take them long to get wise to that in a area that gets a fair amount of hunting pressure. Granted, I hear hens yelping and cutting too but they will move around clucking, purring and scratching more than anything else. Yep...scratching the leaves by you is calling too. I prefer trying to sound more like a real hen when I'm calling turkeys so the majority of my hen talk is clucking and purring.

Outside of that I've had good success using a gobble call too. It's a great call to use on hung up birds provided you're not hunting public land. The private land only reason for using a gobble call should be obvious. A gobbler high on the pecking order does not like an upstart intruder competing for his hens. On average I'd say 1 out of my annual 3 bird bag limit in MS gets tricked into range thanks to a gobble call, usually in conjuction with some hen talk.

[PA_RIDGE_RUNNER]

Normally I would say that less calling is more. But on 3 separate occasions of calling to an empty woods/field and deciding no bird was anywhere nearby I got all my calls out and very very softly used one then another till I went through about 4 or 5 calls. The first time I did this was at the edge of a large field and I just wanted to see what two new calls sounded like in the field. I was infact playing. I happened to look up and 7 birds were coming right at me. I picked up my gun and 6 birds left. The other times I tried this also produced birds. Maybe I was sounding like a flock of birds feeding but it worked for me.

[ChrisSeb53]

If I have a bird interested and responding to me I will turn my head (mouth call) and use my hand to direct the call I am making away from the tom to make it seem like the "hen" (me) is going away from him.. this tactic drove the tom i killed last year nuts to the point that instead of walking around a tree line to me he busted over it and practically into my lap!

[Leo]

The vast majority of calling made by real hens is clucking and purring. The vast majority of calling made by turkey hunters is yelping. Doesn't take them long to get wise to that in a area that gets a fair amount of hunting pressure. Granted, I hear hens yelping and cutting too but they will move around clucking, purring and scratching more than anything else. Yep...scratching the leaves by you is calling too. I prefer trying to sound more like a real hen when I'm calling turkeys so the majority of my hen talk is clucking and purring.

Outside of that I've had good success using a gobble call too. It's a great call to use on hung up birds provided you're not hunting public land. The private land only reason for using a gobble call should be obvious. A gobbler high on the pecking order does not like an upstart intruder competing for his hens. On average I'd say 1 out of my annual 3 bird bag limit in MS gets tricked into range thanks to a gobble call, usually in conjuction with some hen talk.

This is seriously good advice! Ruttinbuc can attest to my adherence to this philosophy.

[dbHunterNY]

They're right! Last spring I called in a long beard from somewhere close to 400 yards out. I only made a couple series of yelps with one series of cutting in between to get his attention. Then I used clucks and purrs the after that to bring him in most of the way.