When you get a gobbler to gobble at you, how long should you wait between each calling series when trying to call him in?
Depends, I would wait 3 or 4 min.
They are all different. Some will tolerate an almost constant calling, others might get nervous if they hear you again after his first gobble. You just have to play it by ear. I usually base it on how vocal he is.
Tons of opinions on this subject. I think a good rule of thumb is at least 10-15 minutes. This will seem like hours. If he is gobbling a lot, I will call more. If you can tell he is coming, by closer gobbles or visual, don't call, let him come. If you have reason to believe he had hens, more calling may be warranted.
When I first get a response, I like call aggressively and fire him up with cutts and then give him the silent treatment till I can't stand it any longer.
If if he countinues to answer me I'm typically the horniest hen in the woods for the next couple of minutes and then go silent. If he doesnt respond to me when I follow up on his gobble I will shut up until he gobbles again. At that point I will answer him or may still stay quiet. I like to call so this is what I go in saying Im going to do, but is not always the case ;D
Quote from: guesswho on February 16, 2012, 07:28:19 PM
They are all different. Some will tolerate an almost constant calling, others might get nervous if they hear you again after his first gobble. You just have to play it by ear. I usually base it on how vocal he is.
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Quote from: cahaba on February 16, 2012, 09:59:16 PM
Quote from: guesswho on February 16, 2012, 07:28:19 PM
They are all different. Some will tolerate an almost constant calling, others might get nervous if they hear you again after his first gobble. You just have to play it by ear. I usually base it on how vocal he is.
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I agree 100%. Every gobbler is different. I let him dictate how much calling I do. No matter what you do it is almost always a Chess game!
Every answer here is the rt. answer because there is no right answer. It's a feel thing. I get the feeling you may be relatively new to this and I can tell you from personal experience that you will probably not call enough for fear that you may do something wrong and all I can say to that is "Don't be afraid to call" and judge your next response by what he does. If he wants to talk- talk and if he wants to be quiet be quiet but not silent. Cut it back to an occasional cluck or two and maybe some soft yelping. If you feel comfortable purring maybe throw in some soft purring. Have fun!!!
You are right. I am a turkey hunting newbie.
It's pretty much trial and error. About the only instruction my Dad gave to me when I was starting out was not to call back to a gobbler every time he gobbles and give him time to do what he's going to do. It seems I've messed up a lot more by getting too agressive and trying to rush things than by being conservative in my calling approach.
Totally situational based upon the mood of the bird and breeding phase they are in at the time.
To me, calling not only attracts birds but gives you an opportunity to assess the bird's reactions and change as necessary during the interaction.
Bottom-line though.... I could careless whether he is on fire or gobbling intermittently; I go silent on them once they are inside 80-90 yards.
To me it depends on the bird. I have killed them by only making a few yelps of clucks and scratching in the leaves and I have killed them burning their butt up all the way in until I pull the trigger. It really depends on the mood of the bird.
Normally if a bird is really fired up and gobbling his head off and then shuts up.. I shut up. 9 times out of 10 he is on his way in looking for his new girlfriend.
if i can see him and he is coming like said above, at 100 yds or so i am shutting it down and going silent with safety off. take his temperature. u will develop a feel for this after a while.
Obviously there is not a "one-size-fits-all" answer to this one. One thing that is true 99.9% of the time for me is (hunting in the woods, not open farm land); once I can see him, I shut up. Gun up, safety off. Slowly start to track him and make adjustments with gun barrel. Hopefully the next call I need to make is a subtle putt to get him to stretch his target out.
My logic on this is: if I can see him with my wimpy human eyes, then he can surely see me with his eagle eyes. He already knows (roughly) which tree that I am sitting next to. I don't need to give him any more information to pin point me.
When he commits I shut-up, hopefully the next sound I make is BOOM!!
Quote from: shuey270 on February 19, 2012, 09:07:11 AM
When he commits I shut-up, hopefully the next sound I make is BOOM!!
This^^^
I know one of my mistakes early on was talking to gobblers that were still in the trees. A nfew tree yelps in the dark and thats it until fly down which you can usually hear on a calm morning. I then peak his interest with some yelps and clucks.After his response I go pretty silent unless I can tell he is headed away.
All good answers. I find that if I want to wait 10 minutes I have to use my watch. 5 minutes will seem like half and hour and if I'm not timing it I'll call way sooner than I think I am.
Turkeys are animals with a self preservation instinct built right into them , conditioning {calling/pressure}from other hunters will help re-enforce that natural instinct not to get killed , if a gobbler thinks that a hen{hunter} calling to them sounds very interested in coming all the way to him , he will of course most likely just sit up there on the limb or out in that field and wait for that hot hen that is sounding back to his every gobble - of course there are those gobblers that will throw caution to the wind and make it to you at break neck speeds, no matter how often or bad a caller the turkey hunter is , don't we wish there were more agreeable gobblers like this
Books could be written on this subject -Initially , I tend to try and not sound to eager to come his way - If he is sounds like he is not falling for it , and sounds not too fired up , you might have to spice it up with some more aggressive calling and/or try and relocate {undetected} to a more agreeable location - When a gobbler gobbles I make it a point not to hen yelp right after , wait a few and hit em' with a realistic yelp - it plays mind games on them
Competition from other hens and proximity to the gobbler will affect calling tactics - also if he is a "problem gobbler" that has a more refined ear and has been educated by constant pressure from other hunters will make things more difficult for you -
Best advice is to call very authentic
Old gobbler that is a little different strategy that i will keep in mind this year.
At some point you have to change the game from hunting him to making him hunt you to get the odds in your favor. Limited calling is a good way to do this.
There is no hard and fast rule. The only thing that is a constant for me is that if he is coming in, I'll shut up and let him come for the most part.
I'm a big duck hunter too and one of the rules to calling ducks is that you dont call to hear yourself call, if they are coming in then let them come. If they give you reason to think they are losing interest, pick the call back up.
The reason for this is that if they are coming in anyway, the call has served it's purpose for the time being and any extra calling might get him distracted and let him hear something he doesnt like OR hang up and wait for you (the fired up hen) to come to him while he strutts out of range.
I call until I get a gobbler really interested and hot, then I shut up the calling and sit silent. When they start closing in I give a few purrs and scratch the leaves to show i'm still there. It has worked wonders for me, they can't stand it when they know you are there and can't find you. I have killed about 6 out of 10 birds with this method.
If he answers, i tend to shut up and wait.
Quote from: guesswho on February 16, 2012, 07:28:19 PM
They are all different. Some will tolerate an almost constant calling, others might get nervous if they hear you again after his first gobble. You just have to play it by ear. I usually base it on how vocal he is.
Spot on advice.
I agree on calling too much...I used to do that whe I was a newbie because I liked to hear them gobble. Now, just like the others, I like to get them fired up and then shut. While hearing gobbles is nice I'd rather hear a BOOM and feel the heft of a nice longbeard
I try to call very little,you are playing in his house.!!Chances are by the secound gobble he knows where you are within 10 feet.After the secound gobble I will go quite for 15-20 minutes,but as said here before every bird is different.
I'm a newbie for sure, but my philosophy so far has been to learn at least one thing from every single trip out chasing toms. One lesson I learned from last season is that if you're wondering if you're calling too much then you probably are. Patience is key.
I try to put myself in the position of that gobbler and think what he might be thinking.... which is more appealing in terms of the base animal instinct of immediate reward? A female that never shuts up, or one that justs says what she wants? :icon_thumright:
totally depends on the situation
Simply call no more than you have to. When I was new to the game I hung up more gobblers by calling to loud and to often. Sit back and have patience. If hes headed away from you and you cant catch up to him take note of the route hes going. Of course when you think you got his route figured out he will be where you was the day before.
calling is only a small part of the hunt,it does not take a lot of calling to get a turkey interested but every turkey is different. after i get one interested i always cut back on the calling, adding realism to your calls is very important,but i believe in making him hunt me,you already know where he is if he is vocal.
I read the bird and let that determine.
If a find that a bird is real hot and answers my every call but wont budge, i'll get so aggressive you almost wouldnt believe it. I wanna get that bird double and triple gobbling. I'll keep that up till he's gobbling so hard his brain is losing oxygen and he starts to dumb down...lol but seriously, get a bird excited enough he makes mistakes. When hes at the boiling point, i shut up completely and get my cheek down on the stock. I never call again after that. Not every bird will tolerate such stuff, but if u find one, this will kill him. Try it on a more timid bird you may run him out of the county.
I had the opportunity to watch one come down a very open mountain side years ago. Every time I would call he would gobble and go into strut for five to ten minutes. When I was quiet he would come down the hill very slowly and tight lipped. When I got myself to just shut up, he worked his way slowly toward me into range. It was a great lesson that you very rarely get to see. I have cut back on calling quite a bit over the years and it has increased my success. I do enjoy making them gobble though. I like the calling as much as the shooting.
I usually do a continues call, as long as i possibly can with my diaphragm...
ok i'm kidding. Like others are saying, there is no wrong or right answer. I usually say patients is key and to keep that gobbler curious...but its all trial an error, you'll learn the more times you encounter gobbling in the morning. More importantly for you if youre just starting off, get out into the woods earlier than later.
Quote from: drenalinld on February 16, 2012, 07:43:05 PM
Tons of opinions on this subject. I think a good rule of thumb is at least 10-15 minutes. This will seem like hours. If he is gobbling a lot, I will call more. If you can tell he is coming, by closer gobbles or visual, don't call, let him come. If you have reason to believe he had hens, more calling may be warranted.
When I first get a response, I like call aggressively and fire him up with cutts and then give him the silent treatment till I can't stand it any longer.
:agreed:
If I get a bird to answer my call and I'm sure its me he is responding too me I pretty much stop calling. I've found I can kill more turkeys that way. Also if the bird is still in a tree I only call enough to get him to gobble to show to me he's hearing me. If you call alot the bird might hang up just out of sight or your guns range. When i know a bird is interested I will scratch the leaves with my hands to sound like a hen feeding. If its damp after a rain I will just cluck by using a push button call and do it sparingly. I taken 4 birds in two year this way. I used a Knight and Hale tom coffin push bottom go get them into range and it has been deadly. :funnyturkey.
Quote from: BP1992 on February 16, 2012, 06:26:36 PM
When you get a gobbler to gobble at you, how long should you wait between each calling series when trying to call him in?
Depends on the bird as said but a general rule of thumb amongst the old timers I have hunted with is if he answers you with a gobble three times lay down your call.
alot of good advice here. call only once or twice while he is in the tree. as soon as he flies down, hit him with a yelp. if he responds, go quiet for at least a few minutes, if he answers and is closer, i stay quiet and get my gun up, it may take a while but he will probably come on in. if when he answers and is getting futher away, i call louder and more often. if he continues to go away, he probably has hens or is headed to area he frequents where hens usually are. then its time to move or wait till he is finished with them and ready to come back. if i sit tight i call every ten minutes or so. if he heads back to you he will usually gobble on the way to you, and i go into the same mode as off the roost. nothing works every time but this will usally work with a bird that is interested.