The Wildcat call

[Rapscallion Vermilion]

I've been reading Leon Johenning's "The Turkey Hunters Guide".  (A good read.) Several times in the book he mentions the "Wildcat call".  For example

"These wise old birds have a code unto themselves.  They use calls and tactics intended only for the understanding and benefit of another gobbler.  For instance, they have a long whining call that sounds as if an owl or hawk may have uttered the call in which the tone is difficult to associate as being make by a turkey. It has a clear whistling quality that carries a great distance in the still mountain air.  For the want of a better name, hunters that know about the call, call it the "Wildcat Call" because it sounds as if it might have been made by that animal.  It opens up great possibilities for the hunter who understands its meaning, and learns to use it in connection with his gobbler hunting."

This is the first time I recall mention of this call in any of the books I've read.  I don't doubt the account, but I have never heard it.  Has anyone here heard a gobbler make this call?

[GobbleNut]

Yessir, Mike,...I have heard it,....on one occasion in fifty years.  Up there in the Sacs pretty close to where you hunt I set up at daybreak on a bunch of roosted birds,...hens and gobblers.  I got in early and got right in the middle of them before light.

As the daybreak began, the gobblers started up.  There were several of them in the pines right around me.  As I recall, they started gobbling first,...as expected.  But then, they started making this sound that was similar to an owl, but not quite.  Initially, I thought there were owls in the trees with them, but the noise wasn't quite right for any owl I had ever heard.  The longer it went on, the more it became apparent that it was the gobblers making the noise. 

Like I said, it is the only time I have witnessed it in fifty years of turkey hunting,...even though I have been in similar setups on roosted birds many times,...before and since. 

[Rapscallion Vermilion]

Very cool.  I wonder what circumstance led to that vocalization in that one instance.  Any chance they had become a bit suspicious that something wasn't quite right down below?

[silvestris]

I think suspicion is the word.  I have heard it three times in forty years of hunting, twice in one day, once early in the morning and then several hours later in the same spot.   The sound is a "wheeeeeeeeup".  On all occasions I have heard it I am certain I was detected by the gobblers but not identified.  How do I know it was the wildcat call?  I duplicated the sound to Kenny Morgan and he identified it as such.  That was confirmation enough for me.  I doubt that it has any value in the turkey woods other than to alert you that his suspicions have been aroused.

I have a sound file of Leon's rendition of the wildcat call that I will try to post in a couple of days.  It is identical to what I heard with the exception that his rendition does not fall off into the "up".

[Rapscallion Vermilion]

I have a sound file of Leon's rendition of the wildcat call that I will try to post in a couple of days.  It is identical to what I heard with the exception that his rendition does not fall off into the "up".

That would be great.  Thanks.   Neat that you were able to talk with Kenny about it.

[silvestris]

Here is Leon Johenning's rendition of the Wildcat Call:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/g4962juqnp6zgl3/Wildcat%20Call%20LeonJohenning.mp3?dl=0

The calls I heard were very similar but fell off into an "up".  Other than that the calls were quite similar.  I  doubt if Johenning heard the call very often either.

[Rapscallion Vermilion]

Thanks for posting a sound file.  I can say for sure that if I heard something like that and didn't have the visual confirmation that you and Jim had, I never would have pegged it as a turkey.

[GobbleNut]

I don't recall from my experience that the sounds I heard from the gobblers I was on sounded quite like that, but it has been a few years since I heard it.  The sounds they made were not drawn out that long and definitely had more of an owl sound about them.  I suppose it could have been some version of the same sound,...not really certain at this point. 

All I know for sure is that the sound was being made by several different gobblers on that morning and it is the one and only time I have ever heard it.

Also, although it could have been that they were suspicious about something, but they ended up all flying down right in front of me about twenty yards away.  There were several mature gobblers, some jakes, and also hens.  They hit the ground and instantly all of the gobblers and jakes were on each other in a big ball while the hens watched from the perimeter.  They all stayed in that ball, bickering with each other and running in circles, taking shots at each other all the while. 

It was pretty cool.  I had my gun trained on them the entire time and not once did one of the mature gobblers clear the other ones so I could get a shot.  They stayed in that little circle and gradually move away and went over a little rise about forty yards from me without ever offering a shot.  ....Worth every second of it!

[Rapscallion Vermilion]

I'd pay good money to see a show like that.  Very cool. 

[flockbuster]

I was sitting against a beech tree early one morning before daylight when I heard the same sound as the soundfile from Mr. Leon. It was from several places out across the swamp and was pretty obvious that whatever was making the sounds were calling back and forth to each other. Soon I could tell it was  birds because of how rapidly they were moving and as they got closer I could tell they were in the trees. They were getting closer when I started hearing it directly above my head in the tree I was sitting against.

When it finally got light enough to see I could see two barred owls out across the swamp and then one in the tree above me. They were making that exact same sound. The two across the swamp flew into a tree next to the one I was sitting against and the three made that sound over and over. I had the impression it was some sort of mateing call but that is only a guess.

The one above me slipped into a hollow in the Beech tree and I could hear the sound inside the tree. Over the course of the season I sat against that tree 6 or 7 times and heard it every time even after she had little ones.

Not saying turkeys don't make that same sound but I have seen with my own eyes Barrded Owls do so.