So here's my question. Do you think turkey hunters would be more successful if they learned to play two or three particular calls really well as opposed to playing a large variety of calls so so? I am not talking about types of calls. I am talking about individual calls. Could be two boxes and a trumpet, three pot calls ect. Personally I vote yes. I love having many calls as much as anyone but I am thinking if I really knuckle down and learned a few of my calls as well as I know my favorite diaghrams I would be better off.
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Interesting theory. For me, I think it might be as important to find the specific pot call that the turkey wants to hear on any particular day. That being said, my go to mouth call is a Hook's Enforcer. I use several different pots but I think I've gotten really good with all of them so it's hard to say. That's a lot of words to say "I don't know"! :goofball:
It definately won't hurt. But I think most hunters would benefit more from learning what makes for a killing spot (set-up) versus a this looks good spot. I'd choose a killing spot and one call I play pretty well over a good looking spot and ten calls I can play well.
YUP NOT A BAD IDEA BUT IM HOOKED ON THE 3 L's
LOCATION. LOCATION. LOCATION ..........
Quote from: guesswho on October 03, 2016, 09:31:07 PM
It definately won't hurt. But I think most hunters would benefit more from learning what makes for a killing spot (set-up) versus a this looks good spot. I'd choose a killing spot and one call I play pretty well over a good looking spot and ten calls I can play well.
This may be the single most common sense thing I've heard on this board to date.
As for the calls, I've got more than I could possibly use on any given day. You and I have hunted together enough that you pretty much know I'm bringing a box call with me for various reasons and that's a call I rely on when birds really get tight lipped. Having said that, I've got a couple pots I rotate but there's almost always one that comes out first and if any of you have paid attention to my posts, you know who made it. Also, there's one type of diaphragm that I feel I run very well so it stays with me as well. If those three calls are with me, we're in business so long as the bird wants to play a little.
I agree, i like using more than one call for sure..i like pot calls and box calls, my go to call is a slate call first...As far as calls i have more than i will ever use...i do like collecting calls...i have different box calls i use depend on weather and wind conditions. Pot calls i use the same way depending on weather and wind...woodsmanship plays a large part also in killing birds, a lot of the time a bird can tell you a lot about weather he's killable just by reacting to your calling or different calls...You have to have birds to kill birds and location is good...
Quote from: guesswho on October 03, 2016, 09:31:07 PM
It definately won't hurt. But I think most hunters would benefit more from learning what makes for a killing spot (set-up) versus a this looks good spot. I'd choose a killing spot and one call I play pretty well over a good looking spot and ten calls I can play well.
:agreed: :agreed: :agreed:
Quote from: guesswho on October 03, 2016, 09:31:07 PM
It definately won't hurt. But I think most hunters would benefit more from learning what makes for a killing spot (set-up) versus a this looks good spot. I'd choose a killing spot and one call I play pretty well over a good looking spot and ten calls I can play well.
I agree . This will kill a lot of the birds, even if you have average or less, calling ability .
I have around six callers that I carry (multiple variations of some) and that I am reasonably proficient with. Each caller has a call that it excels in producing. The trick is reading your gobbler to determine which call or combination is likely to tickle his fancy on a given morning. With some gobblers, if you make the wrong call or present the call with imperfection, he ain't a gonna come to anything that morning. I have accidentally discovered the best caller I have ever used and I have found the most charming, talented 87 year old man who has agreed to teach me to turn wood so that I can perfect the engineering and produce them. The caller is not going to call every gobbler that hears it, but it will always tell him that it is safe over there. Once perfected I will probably donate one to the site call contest.
"Woodsman-ship" & location aside... assuming you have already taken that out of the equation - you know when and where to set up. I'll agree with your assessment of perfecting a few is more beneficial than trying a lot. Confidence in the call and your ability to play it goes a long way. If you give out your best serenade from one of your top instruments, and you get little to no cooperation from Mr. Tom, then you know it's him and not you. Without that confidence, you'll leave the woods always wondering... "maybe shoulda tried X, Y, or Z call?"
The real fun comes with trying to master as many, and as many types as possible. Just because we can! ;D
I think so. I played around with calling contests (and still try to do one or two a year for fun) for a couple years and I learned a couple things: 1. I'm probably not going to win many contests (esp with mouth calls), but it's fun to hang around with other guys/gals that are turkey crazy, like me; 2) while there are differences in calling for judges/toms, there is equally as much over ap. My 1) getting more familiar with turkey vocabulary I had to 2) get to know my calls very well. A black sharpie marks my slate pots for different calls (like where to hold for a cutt vs cluck).
That's kinda where I am coming from. Sometimes where I hunt it is impossible to be in "the killing" spot due to it being on OPP, that is other people's property.
I am not one to trespass at all so my sucess hinges on calling more than woodsmanship in that situation. Now I will not disagree with the fact that woodsmanship kills a pile of birds but I also believe a good caller can make birds do things a so so caller cannot. At least occasionally anyhows. I have had decent success doing this and these areas have a decent amount of birds or I wouldn't bother hunting them. I just think to be the best caller I can be I need to know a few calls inside and out to really get the most out of them.
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Quote from: Happy on October 04, 2016, 04:19:41 PM
That's kinda where I am coming from. Sometimes where I hunt it is impossible to be in "the killing" spot due to it being on OPP, that is other people's property.
I am not one to trespass at all so my sucess hinges on calling more than woodsmanship in that situation. Now I will not disagree with the fact that woodsmanship kills a pile of birds but I also believe a good caller can make birds do things a so so caller cannot. At least occasionally anyhows. I have had decent success doing this and these areas have a decent amount of birds or I wouldn't bother hunting them. I just think to be the best caller I can be I need to know a few calls inside and out to really get the most out of them.
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agree
"Confidence in a call just breeds more confidence in the whole hunt." I too have many calls but mainly use four or five where I hunt. I do have confidence in my calls and call in Turkeys consistently. My question is how often do you practice? If you only practice just before the season it makes sense to master only a few. But I have Turkeys on the ridge behind my house most of the year and I am always calling to them. This presents the opportunity to play ( master) with many calls.
I must be missing something on the location thing. Never, had to have a special spot. I know where the Turkeys travel on the land I hunt or even in the mountains. Just find an area that looks good. I know that is contrary to some other opinions but that is how I hunt and its always worked.
I call year round. Have been running calls for over 20 years. Always think there is room for improvement. As far as "killing spots"go I have had a few. These are areas I know turkeys want to be. I have several spots that through experience I know I have really high odds of taking a bird. I know how they travel through the area, where they like to strut and most importantly where the hens like to hang out. It's been my experience that it is way easier to kill a Tom when calling from a spot he likes to frequent and where he expects hens to be. Based on where they are roosted I can usually get pretty close to where they are going to head after flydown. The spots I am resorting to relying more on calling are spots that I cannot legally get in the correct position on the tom. They roost about 50 yards onto private property and follow the Ridgeline to a small meadow. All of this is ground I don't have access to. I have to pull the Tom's about 100 yards out of their normal line of travel to kill them. A few have made the mistake of roosting on the side I can hunt and they have paid dearly for it. But that is not the norm. Most I have killed by pulling them out of their normal route a bit. I hope to one day be able to find "killing spots" just by looking at them and getting that feeling. Happens once in a while but I definitely haven't mastered it.
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Quote from: mtns2hunt on October 06, 2016, 09:55:35 PM
I must be missing something on the location thing.
You need to be where a turkey will feel comfortable in coming. While hunting the same property as Kenny Morgan in the 70-80s, there was one particular ridge road that gobblers just would not walk up on to. We would frequently call up hens, but the gobblers would absolutely refuse to come up on to that road. Kenny and I frequently mused about the reason why and we never came up with a reason that satisfied our questions. All I know for sure is that that road was not the location one wanted to sitting be if killing was the objective. We could kill them in the bottom on the east side of the road but not on the west side and the flora was identical. I still ponder that question. And insofar as calling was concerned, if Kenny Morgan couldn't call them there, it just wasn't gonna happen.
Quote from: silvestris on October 07, 2016, 05:37:52 PM
Quote from: mtns2hunt on October 06, 2016, 09:55:35 PM
I must be missing something on the location thing.
You need to be where a turkey will feel comfortable in coming. While hunting the same property as Kenny Morgan in the 70-80s, there was one particular ridge road that gobblers just would not walk up on to. We would frequently call up hens, but the gobblers would absolutely refuse to come up on to that road. Kenny and I frequently mused about the reason why and we never came up with a reason that satisfied our questions. All I know for sure is that that road was not the location one wanted to sitting be if killing was the objective. We could kill them in the bottom on the east side of the road but not on the west side and the flora was identical. I still ponder that question. And insofar as calling was concerned, if Kenny Morgan couldn't call them there, it just wasn't gonna happen.
I see what you are saying. There are areas more prone to attracting Turkeys then others and areas Turkeys tend to avoid. I do have areas that are better than others and sometimes fall back on them if the hunting is slow. But the way I look at a property is: hey I have never killed a Turkey in this field and I will then work extra hard to do so. I normally succeed. In the mountains it is a different story and I focus more on just finding Turkeys and have certain areas to focus on. Guess I am too fortunate hunting farm Turkeys as they are everywhere where I hunt.
Quote from: mtns2hunt on October 08, 2016, 05:22:29 AM
Quote from: silvestris on October 07, 2016, 05:37:52 PM
Quote from: mtns2hunt on October 06, 2016, 09:55:35 PM
I must be missing something on the location thing.
You need to be where a turkey will feel comfortable in coming. While hunting the same property as Kenny Morgan in the 70-80s, there was one particular ridge road that gobblers just would not walk up on to. We would frequently call up hens, but the gobblers would absolutely refuse to come up on to that road. Kenny and I frequently mused about the reason why and we never came up with a reason that satisfied our questions. All I know for sure is that that road was not the location one wanted to sitting be if killing was the objective. We could kill them in the bottom on the east side of the road but not on the west side and the flora was identical. I still ponder that question. And insofar as calling was concerned, if Kenny Morgan couldn't call them there, it just wasn't gonna happen.
I see what you are saying. There are areas more prone to attracting Turkeys then others and areas Turkeys tend to avoid. I do have areas that are better than others and sometimes fall back on them if the hunting is slow. But the way I look at a property is: hey I have never killed a Turkey in this field and I will then work extra hard to do so. I normally succeed. In the mountains it is a different story and I focus more on just finding Turkeys and have certain areas to focus on. Guess I am too fortunate hunting farm Turkeys as they are everywhere where I hunt.
I hunt nothing but fields , i don't hunt in the woods at all, way too many deer for running around in the woods...
Confidence in a particular call goes a long way
All that gobbler knows , is if you sound just like a another turkey ...or you don't ....
With that said I do my very best to sound as authentic as possible , if I can do it with just one call that's good , if it takes me 10 calls to do it , then that's what I'll do
Quote from: guesswho on October 03, 2016, 09:31:07 PM
It definately won't hurt. But I think most hunters would benefit more from learning what makes for a killing spot (set-up) versus a this looks good spot. I'd choose a killing spot and one call I play pretty well over a good looking spot and ten calls I can play well.
Agreed! I cut back on the calls I carry every year, but I do like having a variety of calls that sound differently. May just be a couple trumpets by different makers with different pitch or raspiness, but I have tried a call that was a winner in the spot the day before and get nothing, then switch to something a little different and have one hammer, sometimes it is just a striker change. Give me one good trumpet, one good pots with a couple strikers, and a good box and I have all the confidence in the world.
Good subject and good commentary.
Given the choices of turkey calls, and their quality, available today, there is no reason that any hunter should not be able to own a number of different types of calls that they can play well with any reasonable level of practice. Having a variety of different sounding calls which you can make a variety of different sounding and somewhat realistic "turkey noises" with will never be a bad thing for a hunter.
There are turkeys out there in the woods that, for whatever reason, respond better to certain sounding calls than they do others. The more variation a guy can have in the sounds he can produce with a single, or many, calls then the more likely he will be able to "hit" on the sound that any particular gobbler might want to hear.
Of course, the other variables in the hunt that have been mentioned,...positioning, set-up, etc.,...can often influence your success to a greater degree than the sound of your calls, but having the ability to effectively make a variety of different sounds on different calls will never be a disadvantage. Now, if someone sounds like a choking goose with one of his calls, then he should have enough sense to either work harder at learning to use it, or leave it at home. Again, however, there are just way too many good turkey calls (and resources available for learning how to sound like a turkey) on the market today for anyone to be in that position.