I've been turkey hunting for roughly 22 years. I have just recently (last 5 years) been able to hear drumming. It has definitely made me a better and more successful hunter. I have always been able to hear them spit. I just assumed that in order for a turkey to drum, he had to be strutting. I thought it was the feathers that was making that sound.
Well this weekend, I learned that strutting is not necessary for drumming to occur. My son and I was set up in a holler that usually holds birds on public land. We never heard a gobble all morning. We set up and just blind call every now and again. We have a decoy out and my son is watching down the creek bed and I am pretty much to his left on the same tree. Our patience is running thin due to not hearing anything other than song birds although it was a beautiful morning. Crows weren't even calling. Just a weird start to the day. We are just passing the time whispering about this and that and I suddenly hear the "DRUM". I tell him to freeze and to not make a move. He didn't hear it and asked what I heard. The bird drummed again and then Landon heard it. We still didn't know where it was coming from and my legs are straight out and gun laying across my lap. Landon's gun is on a trigger stick pointing down the creek bed. He drums again and I look up the knob and I see him walking. He stops and looks our direction. Drums again, while just standing there. He walks about 5 more yards and does it again. Never dropping a wing nor raising his fan. Landon sees him but it is impossible for him to swing left since he is left handed. The bird is right in front of me, 55 yards and closing. He gets a cluster of trees in between himself and me and I manage to get my knees and my gun up. We hadn't called for close to 10 minutes but he had us pin pointed. He couldn't see the decoy due to the thick cover and there was one opening for me to shoot through. He finally mad it to that opening at 40 yards and I rolled him. He was a 19lb, 10 3/8 beard, 1" sharp spurred bird. It wasn't a textbook gobbling, strutting type hunt but we managed to bag another good bird.
So here is my question, What are we hearing when a turkey "Drums"?
Great story! Congrats. I have no idea how they make the noise, but it's cool when they do.
Drumming is purely vocal...easy to do so yourself . Although they are generally in strut, and seem to "shake" a bit when drumming the sound is not from their feathers. You can't get that sound no matter how you rub feathers together! Years ago when scouting on a very cold morning, I had a jake walk by close...and he was drumming. It was neat seeing his mouth open and his breath coming out during the drum.
I'd like to knw also. I killed a bird a few years ago that was drumming but wasn't strutting, first time I had ever heard it. I heard it again this weekend. The bird would drum right at the end of his gobble but I never saw him to see if he was strutting or not. Maybe someone should make a drumming call. If they do I want 10%.
Quote from: SinGin on May 03, 2016, 10:24:10 AM
I'd like to knw also. I killed a bird a few years ago that was drumming but wasn't strutting, first time I had ever heard it. I heard it again this weekend. The bird would drum right at the end of his gobble but I never saw him to see if he was strutting or not. Maybe someone should make a drumming call. If they do I want 10%.
I was just thinking I should give a natural voice spit and drum sound a try on a hung up bird sometime
Quote from: Turkey-Man on May 03, 2016, 10:19:50 AM
Drumming is purely vocal...easy to do so yourself . Although they are generally in strut, and seem to "shake" a bit when drumming the sound is not from their feathers. You can't get that sound no matter how you rub feathers together! Years ago when scouting on a very cold morning, I had a jake walk by close...and he was drumming. It was neat seeing his mouth open and his breath coming out during the drum.
It sounds like it is deeper than a throat noise to me.
Spit and drum: Once thought to be humming of a gobbler's shimmying tail feathers, biologists now agree the spit and drum is a melodious, two-note vocalization forced deep from a gobbler's chest. A tom drums in the spring to attract hens. Depending on terrain, wind and foliage, you can hear drumming 60 to 100 yards away.
Google, cut, paste. This is my life as an old, retired dude with no more turkey tags!
I've had turkeys drumming in the past and it always seems like it's the ones you don't see at first for some reason. I've seen this maybe 3 or 4 times in 30 years of hunting turkeys..
I believe it was HS Strut that use to make a spit and drum call. I have one laying around here somewhere.
Quote from: TauntoHawk on May 03, 2016, 10:47:55 AM
Quote from: SinGin on May 03, 2016, 10:24:10 AM
I'd like to knw also. I killed a bird a few years ago that was drumming but wasn't strutting, first time I had ever heard it. I heard it again this weekend. The bird would drum right at the end of his gobble but I never saw him to see if he was strutting or not. Maybe someone should make a drumming call. If they do I want 10%.
I was just thinking I should give a natural voice spit and drum sound a try on a hung up bird sometime
Yes, it worked for me last week.
Quote from: yelpy on May 03, 2016, 11:14:58 AM
I believe it was HS Strut that use to make a spit and drum call. I have one laying around here somewhere.
Lohman made one. I can do it with my voice better, though.
In my opinion drum part of the spit and drum is just a long drawn out version of the gobble. If one gobbles very close you can hear the chest drumming quickly. DRUM DRUM Drum Drum ..drum....drum.......drum
Very interesting topic guys. Thanks for bringing it up! :icon_thumright: I've never "seen" a gobbler drumming that wasn't strutting. I've heard gobblers drumming out of sight, but whenever they came into sight they were strutting. Can one of you guys that do it naturally post a sound bite showing how to make drumming with your natural voice? I'd love to see that! :icon_thumright:
Come Heah tuh me turkey calls makes a nice spit and drum call
I've watched it on Facebook a few times
I've given thought to buying one never know when it could be what seals the deal.
Quote from: drenalinld on May 03, 2016, 02:40:36 PM
In my opinion drum part of the spit and drum is just a long drawn out version of the gobble. If one gobbles very close you can hear the chest drumming quickly. DRUM DRUM Drum Drum ..drum....drum.......drum
We call that throat rattling....
If I had to spell how the drum sounds it would be like this..
DDD'OOOOOOOOOVVVE.........LOL
I retired after a long career as a wildlife biologist and have been hunting turkeys for 53 seasons now and have always been very intrigued by the spit and drumming of the gobblers. Drumming is a low frequency vocalization that comes from deep inside the gobbler's chest; not from any kind of feather rubbing. Humans, depending on how good their hearing is, can hear some of the drumming sound to about 75 yards; maybe a little further. Some believe turkeys can hear (and maybe feel) much more of the lower frequencies (infrasonic) of the drumming than humans can and at much further distances (200-300 yards). Elephants and some other mammals communicate at long distances (5 miles) using infrasonic frequencies. Google "infrasonic animal communication' and open your understanding to some very interesting info re. that topic. I haven't looked in the last year or so to see if any research has been done re. wild turkeys and infrasonic sound.
Back when I had my pet wild turkey as a kid I would hold him in my lap and he would drum. I think he was trying to hold on to his manly image. Anyways I could actually feel it. It comes from deep in the chest. The spit is from the head and sounds almost like popping the cap off a bottled carbonated beverage.
Got nothing but opinions on this but every tom I have ever killed that came in while drumming ALWAYS had a craw inflated with air. Those that I observed drumming were always either strutting or doing the mean walk, breast feathers expanded. Always heard and thought it was sound made from breast muscles and craw due to those experiences. I've tried making the spit drumming sound with my natural voice on occasion to attempt to draw in toms hung up out of range. Am sure they have heard it at times but have yet had it work for me. May have more to do with hens with him than voice ability but really can't say for sure. Didn't spook them with it at any rate. I have a decent vid showing a drumming tom and breeding footage that I shot after the season here a couple years ago. Shows the quiver shake and such as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNHQpTgp2mA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNHQpTgp2mA)
I have never seen one drum that wasn't strutting either. I just figured it was part of it.
Quote from: Happy on May 03, 2016, 04:59:22 PM
Back when I had my pet wild turkey as a kid I would hold him in my lap and he would drum.
Like a boy with kitten :-)
Yeah kinda. He seemed to think it was rather undignified tho. :)
The sound of my safety going off
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The spit comes from the wings the drum comes from the throut, the shi# comes from my a## as I had one at 15 yrds. a week ago on my bad side. Didn't turn out good.
I believe a drumming gobbler is forcing air slowly out of his crop with his chest muscles to make the drumming sound. This is how I replicate it with my voice except it is my diaphragm pushing air out of my lungs. Push air out of the cop on a freshly killed turkey and you can get a Yelp or cluck. I figured this out by accident once and have repeated it many times.
I disagree about spit coming from wings. I have seen the fog come out of their beak when they do it. I believe it is a vocalization. Joe Slaton has said he can see spit com out of his pet gobbler's mouth when he does it.
Quote from: drenalinld on May 03, 2016, 09:58:29 PM
I disagree about spit coming from wings. I have seen the fog come out of their beak when they do it. I believe it is a vocalization. Joe Slaton has said he can see spit com out of his pet gobbler's mouth when he does it.
This seems to address the discrepancy of wing vs vocal.
http://wildturkeyzone.com/articles/michels2a.htm
I have seen many gobblers drum without strutting. A couple this year. It's all vocal no feathers involved. Spit comes out of his mouth, drum comes from deep in chest. I can hear the drum way further than most folks but have trouble coursing it.
Quote from: stinkpickle on May 03, 2016, 11:27:01 AM
Quote from: TauntoHawk on May 03, 2016, 10:47:55 AM
Quote from: SinGin on May 03, 2016, 10:24:10 AM
I'd like to knw also. I killed a bird a few years ago that was drumming but wasn't strutting, first time I had ever heard it. I heard it again this weekend. The bird would drum right at the end of his gobble but I never saw him to see if he was strutting or not. Maybe someone should make a drumming call. If they do I want 10%.
I was just thinking I should give a natural voice spit and drum sound a try on a hung up bird sometime
Yes, it worked for me last week.
Let's hear it!! :blob10: :blob10:
Quote from: WiLL B on May 03, 2016, 11:58:22 PM
I have seen many gobblers drum without strutting. A couple this year. It's all vocal no feathers involved. Spit comes out of his mouth, drum comes from deep in chest. I can hear the drum way further than most folks but have trouble coursing it.
Were those toms doing the mean walk (head tucked some and breast feathers puffed)? Were they drumming with their breast feathers all slicked down?
I think many here, like me, are just saying they have never heard drumming without seeing a tom puffing their breasts, at least. I know many older toms I've seen come in drumming didn't always do a lot of fanning. More like they'd just drop their wings for a second, tuck their head and puff/drum then come on in walking. I've also seen some two year olds that seemed would never come out of a full fanning strut.
As far as the spit, I know for a fact that the wings dropping make a "chic" sound while the toms make the spit sound with their throat. What I've seen makes me believe the spit is air being sucked in/some released as the craw is being rapidly compressed. Like taking a deep breath and immediately compress your chest with a violent squeeze. Figure those toms breast muscles are then being rapidly flexed to beat on that craw "drum" for the deep resonating sound. When I raised turkeys as a kid and they'd compete to fill up on feed and there were many times that a tom would have the side of his throat crammed with grain. They'd also make the spit sound taking air in during those times. I know this because I've handled those same turkeys while they were making it, felt the feed packed in the side of their throats and marveled how they stored it that way and kept breathing. Almost as if they could take on and store food quickly before it migrated to the craw. Guess that's why I've felt the spit sound could be made taking air in or out, but still a sound made with air through the beak and throat.
I don't know all the details of it but I know I'm lucky because I can hear it from 250 yards away on a calm day. Not very many can but it's certainly a blessing to be able to hear that frequency.
The bad part is that every time I hear a truck start in the distance, I think it's a bird drumming, and it wakes me up from my beauty naps.
Thanks for all of the comments fellas. A lot of good information and stories!
Quote from: drenalinld on May 03, 2016, 02:40:36 PM
In my opinion drum part of the spit and drum is just a long drawn out version of the gobble. If one gobbles very close you can hear the chest drumming quickly. DRUM DRUM Drum Drum ..drum....drum.......drum
yes they do make that deep sound when you hear them gobble up close. I guess the drumming comes from their vocal chords or maybe the whole body is what produces the sound
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:TooFunny: :TooFunny: :TooFunny: Aint it the truth though!?
Quote from: TerryLNanny on May 03, 2016, 09:48:34 PM
The spit comes from the wings the drum comes from the throut, the shi# comes from my a## as I had one at 15 yrds. a week ago on my bad side. Didn't turn out good.
Quote from: catman529 on May 05, 2016, 07:34:56 AM
Quote from: drenalinld on May 03, 2016, 02:40:36 PM
In my opinion drum part of the spit and drum is just a long drawn out version of the gobble. If one gobbles very close you can hear the chest drumming quickly. DRUM DRUM Drum Drum ..drum....drum.......drum
yes they do make that deep sound when you hear them gobble up close. I guess the drumming comes from their vocal chords or maybe the whole body is what produces the sound
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I believe they are slowly pushing air from crop through vocal chords or what ever their voice is just as you would try to imitate it.
Quote from: stinkpickle on May 04, 2016, 04:31:51 PM
The bad part is that every time I hear a truck start in the distance, I think it's a bird drumming, and it wakes me up from my beauty naps.
Stink it ain't the trucks that give me pause now. It's the friggin river bottom wood peckers on a big hollow tree that are just far away enough so that they resemble a booming distant gobble. I seem to chase some of those these days till I get close enough to distinguish them clearly. I always hear drumming when they are on top of me so it's rarely mistaken, more often I'm just simply caught unprepared when I hear it.
I've heard several turkeys "spit n drum" when they go into a hard strut. But I've only heard 2 birds actually sounded like a beat on an old Indian drum. And actual tune and booooom bump bump bump. And they continued this the whole time they strutted until they came all the way in. And could actually hear it from a good distance away. That's when I was like thaaaats drumming. I've never been able to hear that sound on a video of turkeys either.
Males also emit a low-pitched "drumming" sound; produced by the movement of air in the air sack in the chest, similar to the booming of a prairie chicken. In addition they produce a sound known as the "spit" which is a sharp expulsion of air from this air sack.
I can hear the psssst but I've never heard the drum. Got turkey's in the back yard. Can hear fine, must be a frequency thang.v
Quote from: THattaway on May 05, 2016, 10:22:30 AM
Quote from: stinkpickle on May 04, 2016, 04:31:51 PM
The bad part is that every time I hear a truck start in the distance, I think it's a bird drumming, and it wakes me up from my beauty naps.
Stink it ain't the trucks that give me pause now. It's the friggin river bottom wood peckers on a big hollow tree that are just far away enough so that they resemble a booming distant gobble. I seem to chase some of those these days till I get close enough to distinguish them clearly. I always hear drumming when they are on top of me so it's rarely mistaken, more often I'm just simply caught unprepared when I hear it.
LOL! I had an encounter with one such woodpecker today.
Does anyone else notice some turkeys drum loud and some hardly make any noise at all? For a while after I started hunting, I would only hear the spit. Then one day I heard one spit and drum, and then he showed up and put on a display before I shot him. Since then I have heard drumming in most toms, but a few still are silent except for the spit.
Yes some turkeys drum louder.
Quote from: SinGin on May 03, 2016, 10:24:10 AM
I'd like to knw also. I killed a bird a few years ago that was drumming but wasn't strutting, first time I had ever heard it. I heard it again this weekend. The bird would drum right at the end of his gobble but I never saw him to see if he was strutting or not. Maybe someone should make a drumming call. If they do I want 10%.
flextone make one, but its one big bulky lookin thing. I can drum good with just my natural voice and in my oppinion if you can hear him drumming he is probably in or close to gun range, so the only call I would make if I felt I had to would be leaf scratching and maybe some soft clucks and purrs
The first time I heard a bird drum, well actually I felt it. The Tom would gobble and the rocks behind me would vibrate. I would then hear this low frequency sound and the rocks again would vibrate. I thought at first it was an airplane shoaring overhead or a semi on the road, but then I was like "duh" he's drumming!
If you ever hear it one time and know for sure that's what it is. You'll hear it more often. To me its more of a sound you feel if that makes sense.
Quote from: J.D. Shellnut on May 06, 2016, 11:32:31 AM
If you ever hear it one time and know for sure that's what it is. You'll hear it more often. To me its more of a sound you feel if that makes sense.
100% agree. One time this season I heard one drum over 200 yards away in fully greened up woods! How do I know it was over 200? My buddy shot him and told me where he was. I only heard him drum that far away because I had sat down and was listening very hard and could barely hear/feal it.
https://soundcloud.com/drenalinld/vocal-drumming-attempt
This is my feeble attempt at replicating spit and drum with my voice.
When you learn recognize it you will be surprised how much you hear it. Then you start hearing it in the wind, at work in your sleep.... I need a therapist!
I can hear them spit but I cant hear them drum.
That sound just haunts me. I think I hear it every time somebody revs a truck in the distance. Even worse, there's some kinda bird that does the spit just like a turkey, and I get an unnecessary adrenaline rush. This kinda crap is the reason I go back year after year, and I hate that it makes me do it. It's soooo frustrating, sometimes...but I keep chasing that dream that THIS time it's actually a gobbler.
Quote from: stinkpickle on May 07, 2016, 11:05:53 PM
That sound just haunts me. I think I hear it every time somebody revs a truck in the distance. Even worse, there's some kinda bird that does the spit just like a turkey, and I get an unnecessary adrenaline rush. This kinda crap is the reason I go back year after year, and I hate that it makes me do it. It's soooo frustrating, sometimes...but I keep chasing that dream that THIS time it's actually a gobbler.
Great thread!
It actually made me finally join this site! Been lurking for years.
I killed my 20th longbeard this year after 4 hunts chasing him around. I finally killed him by getting tight to his roost tree and NOT calling until he hit the ground. I named him the Dump Truck Turkey after the 2nd or 3rd hunt... it seems he was possibly drumming WHILE he was gobbling? I dont know.. ive set up on a ton of birds over the last 10 years but this bird was different. It sounds like a dump truck taking off, about to catch 2nd gear while he was gobbling! It was so loud! Ive come to realize some birds have distinctive gobbles but I wish everyone could have heard this bird.
Does anyone have a similar story of a turkey possibly drumming while gobbling on the roost? I mean at the exact same time.
I do agree that every bird sounds different whether gobbling or drumming.
I always hear drumming when they gobble close. It is rapid thum, thum, thum,thum at the pace of their gobble. That's why I stated earlier I believe the same chest muscles and air sack that make the drumming noise make the gobble just at a rapid pace. JMO.
I think there is a whole lot about turkeys that we have yet to learn....
Quote from: Chilly on May 09, 2016, 10:31:43 PM
I think there is a whole lot about turkeys that we have yet to learn....
x2
Quote from: drenalinld on May 09, 2016, 09:46:17 PM
I always hear drumming when they gobble close. It is rapid thum, thum, thum,thum at the pace of their gobble. That's why I stated earlier I believe the same chest muscles and air sack that make the drumming noise make the gobble just at a rapid pace. JMO.
I never thought that was drumming.. I know what you are talking about.. but I always referred to it as the Rattle in his gobble.. "when you hear the rattle in his gobble you know he is close"
Quote from: wvboy on May 10, 2016, 11:53:36 AM
Quote from: drenalinld on May 09, 2016, 09:46:17 PM
I always hear drumming when they gobble close. It is rapid thum, thum, thum,thum at the pace of their gobble. That's why I stated earlier I believe the same chest muscles and air sack that make the drumming noise make the gobble just at a rapid pace. JMO.
I never thought that was drumming.. I know what you are talking about.. but I always referred to it as the Rattle in his gobble.. "when you hear the rattle in his gobble you know he is close"
Yeah, I've heard the rattle before, but it sounds different than drumming to me, too.
The rattling is a totally different sound than the drumming.
No sir, not the rattle. The rattle can be heard at 50 yards or less maybe even 70 with the right gobbler and weather conditions. Different sound. Depending on the gobbler, I can start to hear it 30 yards or less. Sounds like rapidly beating on a bass drum.