In most of your hunting scenarios while calling your gobbler are you aggressive or do you soft call mostly? Taking into consideration most of the time hen's are not walking around being loud or aggressive during the day. Do you feel soft calling kills more bird's for you or do you feel being aggressive with your calling kills you more bird's? Do we practice enough soft calling? I know from running my calls or practicing it's pretty easy to get away from soft calling. SO what KILLS more birds for you aggressive calling or soft calling? Do you soft call more in the woods and are you more aggressive hunting field edges? What is your favorite call to soft call on is it pot call, mouth call, tube call, box call, trumpet, push pin or just plain old not calling much or over calling period? Opinions please ... I think we all agree there's a time and place for both soft /aggressive calling. But again what do you see yourself doing most of the time in calling? Now you already have a bird gobbling your not trying to locate one, that's different or is it different?
I am generally aggressive. But it all boils down to the moment.
Context is key, but just as a general rule, say, without a bird actively being worked to provide that context, I tend to call softer early, and as the day progresses and I start trying to strike birds I'm more apt to get really aggressive and cover a lot of ground. With birds working it's whatever they seem to be responding to, sometimes it's going crazy and sometimes it's contentment purrs and leaf scratching. Don't know that I've noticed higher rates soft or aggressive, probably six of one, half dozen of the other.
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Of all the birds I've been fortunate to call in and kill, not one was done in the same way, or at least that's what I think.
As Dtrkyman said, all boils down to the moment, for me the gobbler leads the dance, I don't think I've ever had a conscience thought when working a bird "better call like this, cuz it worked last time" I sort of just react to the situation.
I've stuck up gobblers that take a lot of time to work, and have also struck up gobblers that are in my lap before I can make a move. It's Turkey Chess and there's nothing better!
Undoubtedly it's in all our best interest to be well versed in calling.
I start soft on an initial blind set, then if no responses after half hour or so I will get more aggressive to see if I can elicit a response. If nothing I am somewhere in between. From there if I do get one going, I just match his "temperature". When I finish him, I have usually toned it down as he works closer his last few steps.
Of course, every set is a bit different, if in the timber, field edge, or if run & gun. I just play the game by the scenario. I try to call loud enough / low enough to keep him coming but as you know it's all just a chess game and making the right "moves" wins you the game. If not you just get to play again.
MK M GOBL
Soft most of the time. If I'm going in cold and looking to make contact I usually do nothing but cluck, maybe add two or three soft plaintive yelps and/or purrs. I hunt woods 95% of the time. I've also had luck with loud hard cutting right out of the gate. A bird might surprise you. If I know a gobbler is there I'll move in and call softly not moving much. It helps to change position slightly for realism. I think pressured birds get suspicious of calling from the same spot for a length of time. I use tube calls mostly mixing in yelpers.
If a bird is gobbling I'll get more aggressive. Be the hottest hen he's seen or interrupt him and take over the conversation. Nothing is foolproof. Every day is different.
Soft calling kills more gobblers for me without a doubt. I only get louder if a real hen is involved.
When I first started out it was all about hearing myself. Didn't take long to learn its about hearing them.
Quote from: tal on February 24, 2022, 01:19:28 PM
Soft most of the time. If I'm going in cold and looking to make contact I usually do nothing but cluck, maybe add two or three soft plaintive yelps and/or purrs. I hunt woods 95% of the time. I've also had luck with loud hard cutting right out of the gate. A bird might surprise you. If I know a gobbler is there I'll move in and call softly not moving much. It helps to change position slightly for realism.
That pretty much sums up my approach.
SOFT...
Pa. has enough hunters, that call to loud & to much....
With predatory factors equated in, plus all the loud calling, it's surprising, that our Pa. turkeys make any turkey talk at all...
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Most of the time I try to figure out what stage the turkeys are in. Next if he wants it loud and fast , thats what he gets. If he wants it low and slow I can do that too.
Soft, soft, soft. Now, if he hammers me, or he has a hen, I'll bring up the pressure. But generally, I am a soft caller......
I have found that a few clicks here and a yelp there gets more in front of a gun barrel more often that really getting after it and it doesn't seem to get blundered or get other hunters in on the bird gobbling his head off at the aggressive stuff. About the only time I do get aggressive is when I get a hen fired up then the yelling match is on.
As you mention there is a time and place for both but In my experience soft calling definitely kills more birds. When I know he is alone I try to strategically set up then try to make calls that are barely audible to him. Actually, sometime my best call is no call at all once he knows that you are there. My pot call works best for me soft calling ( clucks, purrs, short yelps ) but I always have my mouth call ready to go. Every bird is different and you have to get into their head and feed them what they want. There is no substitution experience...
Every encounter with a Turkey is different and requires different calling tactics. By and far soft calling is what brings them to the gun.
This very simple start soft and go up. Stop when he starts cutting you off. Call at the minimum level that keeps your gobbler engaged.
Way louder and way more often than I should! Always been that way and it's always worked for the past 35 years.
Can't really add much to what has already been said. I will say that I prefer the gobblers that like to have a loud and lively chat over the ones that don't. In about any place I have hunted, I will search for those loud-mouths first (generally with some pretty aggressive calling) before resorting to settling for the silent types (with the softer stuff). Those vocal gobblers tend to be the ones that put on the best show, which is what I am personally really out there chasing them for. I have found there are usually some of them running around,...it is just a matter of finding them.
Soft anywhere in the South. Very aggressive and loud 75% of the time if I'm hunting anywhere up north. Just seems like hens are way more vocal the further north I've hunted. I have harvested several birds in OH, PA, WI, and MN. Birds up there seem to eat it up.
I call loud and hard until I wear the striker down to a nub, then I soften it up (like a pencil that has been sharpened too much).
Oh no, wait, that is the people I always seem to wind up near in the woods.
Varies a lot. Competing hens usually make me call louder. Windy days = louder calling. I was walking and calling one windy day and I struck two with a box call on flat terrain. If I had just stepped into the palmettos I would have killed one of them, but instead I tried to sit and before I could they were looking at me. I am talking 45 seconds from gobble to facing each other. Oops. But they would have never even heard soft calling.
Sitting and letting the woods quiet down - soft. Walking and listening - soft, then louder if no answers. Like someone up thread said, it is better to have all the tools in the box.
I am aggressive, I will cut off a gobbler, "in the right situation." Mostly, I start slow and easy. Depending on the turkey I can get aggressive quickly as long as they are on the ground.
If I strike a turkey late I am usually aggressive right off the bat as that is how I struck him.
I will add, in my experience...... Once you go aggressive, you can't go back the other way, Unless you go 100% silent.
After reading a few replies in this thread and thinking about it. I usually just do what I have developed as a habit over 50+ years. However, I do not think there is a right answer between the choices of soft or aggressive. The more standardized you become in your calling the more it hurts , especially if your hunting the same area repeatedly. Turkeys know members of their own flock and they will learn to associate your pattern of calling with danger....argue that all you want I'll hang my hat on the statement. It comes down to the old saying, "Read The Room". Assess the weather, terrain and activity of the gobblers, and then decide a calling strategy. Just like a good football coach studies an opponent and plays against their weakness, so are we. The true turkey assassins I have known pretty much all were good at adaptive calling and set ups.
I'm going with what some of the other members have posted. I try and get a read on the gobbler and situation. If he is with hens, or close by them, i will be much more aggressive with my calling, trying to get lead hen mad enough to come and drag mr. tom over to me. If he is alone i call much more softly and sparingly. Same with weather. I will be soft on rainy or cloudy days, much louder and more aggressive on windy brighter days. Seems to work o.k. for me mostly, but turkeys being turkeys, they've made me a fool more often than not!
I'm probably more aggressive than I should be, but as a general rule, I try to mimic what's going on around me. With that said, softer calling seems to work better but when they are fired up, you'd better be getting aggressive.
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Depends on the bird's temperature, then I go from there. But over the years I get a lot more toms come in to soft feeding calls with scratching than any other calling I try.
I've been hunting for 35+ years and only get aggressive as a last resort. Many times, soft calling is all it takes. As a Mississippi native, I've learned that aggressive calling can spook a bird. You can get away with aggressive calling on midwest birds that don't get the pressure that our birds get.
I base it upon the birds temperature, I always start out soft. Even when trying to locate, A little sweat talk then increasing the volume. I personally think purrs,clucks and scratching with the occasional soft yelp are my ticket to success.Every now and then you catch A hot bird that decided he had his final roost and you can match his energy.
Starting easy then letting the bird tell me how they want it. Lol.
I'll preface this with the fact that I'm a woods hunter and usually pretty big woods.
If he's gobbling on his own when I show up, I'm playing it close my vest to start out. Just a little bit to let them know I'm around. I want to get the feel of what's going on. Are there hens around? Other Toms? Hunters? What is his/ their mood like. If it's a group toms with hens are they vocal? If so, I'm gonna tend to jump right in. If not and hens are present I'll be listening hard for a satellite toms. Gobbles in the periphery, Quiet/half gobbling or maybe a gobbler yelp or 2 in the area. It may be a jake or it may be something more.
If I hear something I'll focus my attention there. They're probably not going be to so gun ho so it's probably going to take a while if at all and probably going to be fairly soft. I'm not going to be pressing anything. I'm hoping the ladies leave while I'm at it. If I have no luck with anything on edge my focus shifts back to him.
Are the hens gone yet? If so, its like 1st contact again. Start out soft trying to pull a response. I'll ratchet up the calling as needed until he answers or loses interest. If he answers it will go from asking him to come over to pleading for him to come and finally demanding that he comes over. If he's still playing coy, I'll play hard to get and go quiet. Before leaving I'll test to see if he's still around. A couple clicks and a hard cutt might pull a gobble from him. Well I'm not leaving without a fight. Some fighting purrs maybe, most likely a big series of aggressive cuts. By this time its getting late and I'm sneaking off to a new area or working my way back to the truck.
Not saying that's how it goes everytime but it's the plan going in. Usually it's, I call to him and gobbles as he's running away. Dang hens where'd they come from.
I am always amazed at how sensitive gobblers can be and how far calls can travel.
Usually, I start off about as low as I can go. I try not to be first; I try not to be the loudest. Before flydown, I'm usually just letting them know I'm there.
After flydown, I usually clam up. If a bird is interested, he's going to start making his way to me and let me know he's coming. If nothing shows, I'll throw out calls of varying levels of volume and intensity every 15 minutes or so. It continues like that until I give up and go in.
In the afternoon, it usually gets windy. I'll go somewhere that can throw a call a good long distance and do so every 15-30 minutes. It may take a bird all afternoon to work his way towards me. The places I go are places where I've seen hens doing this themselves.
Where I hunt, there generally is not another hunter within a quarter-mile. However, I can usually peg them. They're way too loud and they call too much, and they're constantly moving. A real hen usually won't do all three. A truly frustrated hen will usually go somewhere and lament, usually in a spot where she can be heard. If you ever get in a position where you're hearing real hens doing this to any large extent, it means there is a dearth of males in the area and you're hunting a dry hole. I've witnessed one season like this on my farm, and another were there were too many males and not enough hens.
I take the birds temperature so to speak. If he's hot I pour it on. I generally am more aggressive though, especially on first 2-3 weeks of season and tone it down for the last bit of the season.
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Aggressive calling doesn't have to be loud!
Much of the time I call at a lower volume, it is amazing what they can hear.
I told my cousin, a new turkey hunter to call at a volume you think he might hear, not one you know he hears!
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Quote from: Dtrkyman on February 28, 2022, 08:46:34 AM
Aggressive calling doesn't have to be loud!
Much of the time I call at a lower volume, it is amazing what they can hear.
This is a really good point. I suspect there are a good number of turkey hunters that think you can't be the aggressive without being loud. They are not one and the same... :icon_thumright:
I "soft talked" several birds last year, low volume and virtually constant calling!
Years ago I had two toms coming across a large field, if I stopped calling they lost interest, I was about out of breath when I finally killed one, I think of that hunt often when calling those birds that are slow to come in.
Like anything it works when it works!
A good friend who I guide with and who also builds all my mouth calls calls really softly volume wise, I noticed this when we were playing with calls in his shop years ago and added it to the arsenal, he is a killer!
I may be stubborn but I ain't stupid...haha
A wise old turkey hunter, years ago, told me
"Less is best & soft is super."
Very wise advice...
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I well remember Kenny Morgan running a barely audible series of calling at his house one day. He got that knowing grin on his face and said "veriest call". He wasn't kidding.