How do you locate Gobblers with your trumpet and how do you demonstrate excitement once you strike a bird? I had one come from waaay out to about 80 yards last week and after he gobbled at 80 yards I gave him a high volume response of fast clucks and yelps. He never came closer. I wonder if I might have been too loud? I don't hear the best myself so maybe I got carried away with it all? This was the first time I have had a bird get this close so I was just going by feel. I am not sure that was smart and I maybe need to control my own excitement as I work a bird. Thoughts? BTW...I locate birds mostly in clear cuts where there is lots of cover versus open hardwoods and I start fairly soft but end up yelping full volume as I turn 180 degrees.
Quote from: Brillo on May 01, 2023, 06:55:03 PM
How do you locate Gobblers with your trumpet and how do you demonstrate excitement once you strike a bird? I had one come from waaay out to about 80 yards last week and after he gobbled at 80 yards I gave him a high volume response of fast clucks and yelps. He never came closer. I wonder if I might have been too loud? I don't hear the best myself so maybe I got carried away with it all? This was the first time I have had a bird get this close so I was just going by feel. I am not sure that was smart and I maybe need to control my own excitement as I work a bird. Thoughts? BTW...I locate birds mostly in clear cuts where there is lots of cover versus open hardwoods and I start fairly soft but end up yelping full volume as I turn 180 degrees.
Do you baffle the call when calling? IE, cup your hands around the bell end of the caller to tone it down or redirect sound?
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You have to remember that turkeys hear a yelper pointed at them better than any other call. General rule of thumb (with any call) is as the bird gets closer the calling gets softer and less frequent.
Good question...For sure I cup my hands but open the top or bottom to redirect sound or increase volume. I usually open the top a bit for clucks and the bottom for yelps.
Understand that yelp, cluck, etc are general terms and there are different types. Grasp turkey vocals and strive for a conversation.
Quote from: EZ on May 01, 2023, 07:07:56 PM
You have to remember that turkeys hear a yelper pointed at them better than any other call. General rule of thumb (with any call) is as the bird gets closer the calling gets softer and less frequent.
I must have been blowing his ear drums. He stayed around for a long time though.
Quote from: davisd9 on May 01, 2023, 07:09:58 PM
Understand that yelp, cluck, etc are general terms and there are different types. Grasp turkey vocals and strive for a conversation.
I get that with hens but how do I differential gobbles? How should I respond to a gobble? Especially if he is responding to me?
I agree with EZ, you probably were calling way to loud at 80 yards and did not need to be so excited with your calling. Maybe just a few soft yelps and a cluck or two just loud enough for him to know you were still there and interested.
Even a baffled/muffled soft yelp can be heard a LONG ways by a longbeard, especially one you've already established a conversation with. It takes some time to learn how to gauge just how high or low you NEED to call, it's all a learning game.
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Yep. Once it was over I realized what I had been doing. Gotta learn to keep control of my own excitement. Slow it down and tone it way down next time.
Something I've practiced a lot over the past year is a technique learned here from members. Calling with only one hand on the bell. It takes a lot of practice and a little more draw control, but is great for soft clucks and subtle tree call like yelps.
If a bird has responded once or twice already and he is at 80 yards I'm not saying anything to him in most circumstances. Time to click the safety off and be beaded down . Turkeys know exactly where a particular sound is coming from .
If he's at 80 yards I'm going to see what his mood is and depending on that mood i will soft call or change it up with a few excited notes. If he continues to close the distance i will soft cluck and purr to let him know I'm ready for LOVE... I learned from a good friend and member on this forum who has been using trumpets for years that you can blow a turkey OUT with a trumpet... Never point your trumpet directly at the gobbler ... His advice helped me in killing my second gobbler with a trumpet this spring ... As you use these trumpets you will learn more and more what they are capable of in the turkey woods... And I'm no expert. I'm still learning...
The other night I was playing a trumpet I was working on in one end of the house, and my wife was at the other end of the house trying to get our grandson to sleep. I was only soft calling....very very soft calling...trying to call as quiet and soft as I possibly could. After a couple of minutes, my wife came storming down the hall of the house mad as could be at my calling on a turkey call while she was trying to get the grandson to sleep. The soft calling sound from that trumpet penetrated two closed doors and five rooms in between...and I was being quiet. Granted, there is absolutely nothing wrong with my wife's hearing, but I was shocked she was hearing me from one end of the house to the other. My wife wasn't having any of my excuse that I was trying to be quiet. She complained she could hear me plainly....and I was not quiet. All I can say is a trumpet yelper sound carries at a distance a lot better than the human ear can comprehend.
I've learned over the years that a trumpet played as a "soft call instrument" is the best way to utilize it. As described above, the sound travels way better than you can imagine. What's soft to your ears is plenty loud to a gobbler. Most hens aren't screaming their lungs out. Mimic them.
Quote from: Tarheel on May 01, 2023, 09:14:32 PM
The other night I was playing a trumpet I was working on in one end of the house, and my wife was at the other end of the house trying to get our grandson to sleep. I was only soft calling....very very soft calling...trying to call as quiet and soft as I possibly could. After a couple of minutes, my wife came storming down the hall of the house mad as could be at my calling on a turkey call while she was trying to get the grandson to sleep. The soft calling sound from that trumpet penetrated two closed doors and five rooms in between...and I was being quiet. Granted, there is absolutely nothing wrong with my wife's hearing, but I was shocked she was hearing me from one end of the house to the other. My wife wasn't having any of my excuse that I was trying to be quiet. She complained she could hear me plainly....and I was not quiet. All I can say is a trumpet yelper sound carries at a distance a lot better than the human ear can comprehend.
I've had the same thing happen to me, working on doing soft stuff and tree yelps with a trumpet in our attached garage, and my wife would be in the living room of our house with the kids getting them settled down for bed, 3 rooms, with 2 closed doors between us and she came out hollering mad that I was getting the kids wound up and I had the bell end cupped with both hands and my hands closed off. Barely audible to me type stuff.
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I will say that the best responses I have had with my trumpet is super soft stuff, the softest/quietest I can play it. I also have found that a few clucks with maybe a pleading yelp or two has worked best. I do play 1-handed 99% of the time and have found it pretty easy to get the soft stuff this way. There is always the exception, and I have called in birds cutting loudly and yelping aggressively on a trumpet too. A few days ago I was calling softly/sparsely on the trumpet when I heard a hen yelping, she was only 40-50 yards away and I could barely hear her. She was only letting out 2-3 yelps at a time, super soft, no clucks, and my immediate thought was how similar she sounded to a trumpet. This was public land that hens are typically very silent on so it was cool to listen/watch her.
At 80 steps all he'll hear from me is the "snick" as my safety is moved.
I jest, but you blew his eardrums. At that distance a single cluck or whine or "pip" is all he gets, if that.
Quote from: Tarheel on May 01, 2023, 09:14:32 PM
The other night I was playing a trumpet I was working on in one end of the house, and my wife was at the other end of the house trying to get our grandson to sleep. I was only soft calling....very very soft calling...trying to call as quiet and soft as I possibly could. After a couple of minutes, my wife came storming down the hall of the house mad as could be at my calling on a turkey call while she was trying to get the grandson to sleep. The soft calling sound from that trumpet penetrated two closed doors and five rooms in between...and I was being quiet. Granted, there is absolutely nothing wrong with my wife's hearing, but I was shocked she was hearing me from one end of the house to the other. My wife wasn't having any of my excuse that I was trying to be quiet. She complained she could hear me plainly....and I was not quiet. All I can say is a trumpet yelper sound carries at a distance a lot better than the human ear can comprehend.
Great information, and something to always keep in mind! Thank you sir!
Ralph
Thanks for the input and observations everyone. I will be amending my approach.