I've used every locator call you can think of from a plain crow to a coon squaller. Each and every one of them works, no doubt about it. However, a shock gobble isn't the end game for me. I have kept records of every hunt be it success or failure for 20 years and now hunt by my own statistics. I have found that if I find a bird using only turkey calls I am successful over 60% of the time. If using locators it drops below 25%. I'm in the turkey killin bidness and strongly believe that locators decrease your odds with the exception of an owl hoot with my voice, with a hooter my odds once again decrease significantly I have found. I think it may be because I can't hoot nearly as loud with my voice but could be the tone. So, if your only successful on 1 of every 4 hunts, consider ditching the locators and see if it helps your odds. I did not post this to be a smarty butt, I just believe it will add % to success.
Ok for starters locators can be a big advantage. Imo you're not thinking this through. Pre season. You can sit on a hill top and "wait for the woods to wake". Maybe the birds will gobble maybe not. If you shock em they will almost definitely gobble many times. Trying to locate gobblers which is what locators do is paramount to season success. The more birds located the more areas to try. You can stick n move quicker and cover way more area often by vehicle locating
During the season locating can take on dif forms. Say the morning hunt didn't pan out. Now you need to run and gun. How exactly you go about this can change your success ratio. Imagine you walk around yelping, cutting, etc but in general making turkey sounds to elicit a gobble. Who's to say a bird won't either come in quiet, come running in and catch you off guard or see you without you seeing it and become suspicious for days. I know I know, birds are stupid right? They won't remember if every time they come running to a turkey sound a hunter is there. What about areas w lots of guys pre season calling, are the birds easy or harder?
I can see the post where someone said crows scare gobblers cause everyone over uses those. So why would anything be different? Now say crow calls were over used can't you use a goose call? A woodpecker? Etc etc
Imagine each time a crow sounded off the whole flock just stopped gobbling. That doesn't even make sense.
Now imagine you have 2 days to hunt your wife's in laws farm. You can walk around n learn the lay of the land scouting one morning but in the process booger up the birds. You can try glassing but what would you not see or you can move along n try locating them audibly.
How bout roosting birds. Say a fly up cackle is used successfully is that not "locating" for tomo? I'd personally rely on an owl first but a fly up is a def option.,
You mention owl hooting w your voice. I've done it successfully. In fact it's often louder it seems but oftentimes it's not only the volume though that is important, it's the roll or laugh that sets birds off. You can't do that by mouth very easily.
Check my you tube link in locators to watch a Harrison hooter in action. Easy to run as well.
Locators if they aren't helping you, perhaps you need to learn proper usage. Take that as no disrespect.
A favorite saying of mine is we don't know what we don't know. That goes for everything in life.
Your success, if you walk to the same blind and plan on camping out there for the morning ,may def reflect your thoughts. In that case a locator is useless imo.
Use one once in a while. However I tend to let them gobble on their own. I have seen owl and crow calls shut birds down as well and I ain't big on making a bunch of noise blundering through the woods. I won't say they don't work. I will say I won't use them much.
I can relate a lot of my success % to locating birds, now what I am doing may be different than your approach. My "locating" is a lot more of " Learning a Bird(s)"
Our season opens mid April here in WI, I normally start locating birds pre-season in the first week or so of March dependent of weather, how spring is coming in and where we are in the "Winter Breakup Stage". Now a lot of this consists of driving the truck to some key areas and hitting the locator and starting to mark birds, I do this frequently on the farms I hunt and somewhat on the public areas I hunt. Any more my public land hunts are Run & Guns and use a locator more during the actual hunt instead of pre-season and pretty limited.
I do usually "locate" the night before on the next days planned hunt, after a mornings set if things haven't worked out I am back to plan B, C, D... And will "locate" again before I move in to my next set.
I will have 20-25 birds located each year and go from there throughout the season knowing where I have killed birds, I "locate" continually, but not much during a hunt, I also like to identify what bird was killed in the age/social structure of that flock (farm), being on private ground allows for this and have been doing this for the past 18 years or so and having great success with this.
I would guess everyones "ritual" is different, When I travel for a hunt I rely on locating to find birds then the boots hit the ground, simply do have the time/opportunity I do at home for learning birds.
MK M GOBL
Quote from: MK M GOBL on February 27, 2019, 06:32:29 AM
I can relate a lot of my success % to locating birds, now what I am doing may be different than your approach. My "locating" is a lot more of " Learning a Bird(s)"
Our season opens mid April here in WI, I normally start locating birds pre-season in the first week or so of March dependent of weather, how spring is coming in and where we are in the "Winter Breakup Stage". Now a lot of this consists of driving the truck to some key areas and hitting the locator and starting to mark birds, I do this frequently on the farms I hunt and somewhat on the public areas I hunt. Any more my public land hunts are Run & Guns and use a locator more during the actual hunt instead of pre-season and pretty limited.
I do usually "locate" the night before on the next days planned hunt, after a mornings set if things haven't worked out I am back to plan B, C, D... And will "locate" again before I move in to my next set.
I will have 20-25 birds located each year and go from there throughout the season knowing where I have killed birds, I "locate" continually, but not much during a hunt, I also like to identify what bird was killed in the age/social structure of that flock (farm), being on private ground allows for this and have been doing this for the past 18 years or so and having great success with this.
I would guess everyones "ritual" is different, When I travel for a hunt I rely on locating to find birds then the boots hit the ground, simply do have the time/opportunity I do at home for learning birds.
MK M GOBL
Much better spoken than what I said but relatively the same intent. Well put
If that's what works for you then keep on keeping on. I personally disagree and use a locator call for the exact purpose as the name implies, locating a gobbler. Once I locate him then I put the locator away and go into kill mode. That's when any one of the turkey calls I carry comes out and I carry on with trying to seduce him to the gun barrel. For those who walk or drive aimlessly down a road blowing on a owl, crow, hawk, coyote, coon, or whatever call numerous times while struggling to catch a breath in between then yes I can see where that would decrease one's chance of killing a turkey and shutting down his gobbling.
Do they hurt? I'm not sure, but I do not think so. I've just stopped using them. Instead, I've substituted patience.
I used to go out and owl, and then about mid-morning I'd switch to a crow call. It got results, but not in a big way. Over time I realized there were enough natural triggers in the environment that the gobs were sounding off. All I had to do was wait for it. I've got 200 acres. When I'm at the back of my property, I'm about a mile from the nearest road in all directions. There is still quite a bit of human activity and noise-- doors slamming, engines starting, etc. There are also cows, donkeys, the occasional peacock-- you get the idea. I get a bonus on weekdays because the school bus turns around at the end of our road, and that's almost a certain trigger.
Does not using a locator call help or hurt? I can't say. It probably helps in my case, because I'm prone to picking one of only a few setups. It would probably tip the gobblers off if there was always an angry crow sounding off from just those locations.
The other thing in my case is that whether the gobs sound off or not, I'm fairly certain of where they will be. If it is a dead quiet morning, I can just go to one of my setups, wait until 0900 or so and probably get a gobbler to sound off.
One other thing: Crows do a really good job of locating turkeys for me. If I suddenly hear the crows go off at certain times of the morning, it's often because they have spotted turkeys coming out into the field.
I'll go the entire season and may use one on a couple of hunts. And then it's an owl hoot with my voice. And usually when I do it's because I have a Kid with me and its more for their entertainment. I guess the reason I don't use one is I was brought up not knowing about locators. I was always bobcat'n around as quietly as possible, and continue to do so to this day.
I've stopped using them too. When I started turkey hunting, I also didn't know about them. Didn't even call. Just sat where i regularly saw them and hoped they came through, close enough. Then I learned about calls. Got real then!Then came locators. I had more locators on me than hen sounds for a while. It was part of every hunt. Get to the woods and open up with owls. Then crows. Then peacocks. Woodpeckers, coons, coyotes! If Primos or Quaker Boy came out with a big copper kettle that you beat with a wooden spoon and called it a locator, I would have used it. Right morning, right bird, that kettle would work! They could call it the "Copper Whopper Knocker". (Call me for the rights to this one). Then came public land. Guess what? I found a ton of people just like me! Running through the woods showing off their locator call skills! Realized what locators are good for on the public land I hunt... locating other hunters. Ditched the locator calls and changed my strategy. Do not have a single one in my vest now. I can appreciate those that use them successfully.
If I'm feeling frisky I may let out an owl hoot, but most of the time there are plenty of real and artificial owls in the woods already. I do use a crow call when I am hunting mid morning most of the time.
Don't care for them at all , never use a Owl hoot , i do sometime's use a cow call on up in the day .. I don't believe in walking around of a morning screaming on Owl hooter's or whatever else you want to use . I don't care to give my location away to the gobblers from the ground , how many OWL'S have you heard screaming from the ground ? I just let the woods wake up with good old mother nature ...
If you are killing 6 out of 10 birds than you are doing something right. May want to write a book someday. LOL
The variance in your percentages could be explained as a bird that is not readily gobbling on his own or in response to turkey calls might in fact shock gobble to a locator call but that doesn't mean he's in the mood but merely revealed his current location. Maybe that helps maybe it doesn't get you anywhere it's a start but the chances of success are still lower then if a bird is responding to every Yelp and cluck thrown his way.
You can spook a bird with about anything done too much or too loud but I firmly believe a turkey isn't deducting that a owl or crow is really a hunter seeking their where abouts.
Generally you are using locator calls on days where nothing is happening or nothing is working.
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Been chasing them for 30+ years, only locator I use it loud sharp cuts. Many times I have been working birds to have old Crow call Bob show up blow his calls, and the bird will not answer him. Crow call Bob moves off and the bird I'm working will start gobbling again. Long time ago I used a portable air horn, worked great. But dang thing was so loud I could never tell where the bird was, always had to have a partner standing 20 yds away when I used it.
If you have some knowledge of what you are doing, a locator call can help.
The problem I see is too many guys, especially on some of the public land I hunt, really don't know much about turkey hunting. Sure, they have every right to be there that I do, so there's no point in bellyaching about that. But what I hear is guys walking back and forth, well after flydown, with their owl hooters....the turkeys catch on. Most of the spots I hunt there are plenty of other noises that will make a gobbler respond (IF THEY ARE IN THE MOOD THAT DAY) gun shots, airplanes, crows, red-tail hawks, cows, sheep, chickens, car horns....so I don't bother anymore, why let them know you are there until you want to sound like a hen? But turkeys don't gobble all day long where I hunt, at least not like they used to.
If I am getting desperate and not hearing any gobbling on the roost, I'll probably try a coyote call or owl hoot once or twice, but that's it. And I may use a locator call at dusk to see if I can roost a bird for the next day.
I use locators hey sometimes they work sometimes not,,, for crows like i said other post get the real crows going also works at times ,,if they are gobbling on their own then they locators dont even come out ,,, if i get a response from locator ill move that way but then ill use some yelps or sharp cutting instead of locator ,, guys that say locators shut birds down got ask how many times are u blowing the thing lol Public land one or 2 gobbles is good enough for me to head toward a bird
Quote from: TauntoHawk on February 27, 2019, 09:08:41 AM
The variance in your percentages could be explained as a bird that is not readily gobbling on his own or in response to turkey calls might in fact shock gobble to a locator call but that doesn't mean he's in the mood but merely revealed his current location. Maybe that helps maybe it doesn't get you anywhere it's a start but the chances of success are still lower then if a bird is responding to every Yelp and cluck thrown his way.
You can spook a bird with about anything done too much or too loud but I firmly believe a turkey isn't deducting that a owl or crow is really a hunter seeking their where abouts.
Generally you are using locator calls on days where nothing is happening or nothing is working.
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Well said. Every bird is different.
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Quote from: TauntoHawk on February 27, 2019, 09:08:41 AM
The variance in your percentages could be explained as a bird that is not readily gobbling on his own or in response to turkey calls might in fact shock gobble to a locator call but that doesn't mean he's in the mood but merely revealed his current location. Maybe that helps maybe it doesn't get you anywhere it's a start but the chances of success are still lower then if a bird is responding to every Yelp and cluck thrown his way.
You can spook a bird with about anything done too much or too loud but I firmly believe a turkey isn't deducting that a owl or crow is really a hunter seeking their where abouts.
Generally you are using locator calls on days where nothing is happening or nothing is working.
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As someone who works with data for a living, this is exactly where my head goes as well. Rarely are two stats an apples-to-apples comparison. The mood of the bird is a big factor in his work ability and very well may be skewing your results.
Quote from: Vaughnrp2 on February 27, 2019, 09:05:22 AM
If you are killing 6 out of 10 birds than you are doing something right. May want to write a book someday. LOL
that's a 10 year average. Last year was 90%. 9 longboards in 3 states in 8 days. I think I should mention that I use locators preseason. Just not in a hunting situation.
Quote from: appalachianassassin on February 27, 2019, 12:17:02 PM
Quote from: Vaughnrp2 on February 27, 2019, 09:05:22 AM
If you are killing 6 out of 10 birds than you are doing something right. May want to write a book someday. LOL
that's a 10 year average. Last year was 90%. 9 longboards in 3 states in 8 days. I think I should mention that I use locators preseason. Just not in a hunting situation.
If you're doing that you don't need to be on here asking questions, you need to be writing books. ;D
:TooFunny:that I can remember I haven't asked a hunting related question on any board, I just Express my opinion. an opinion that most disagree with I might add. Several friends have asked me to write a book on hunting public ground turkeys in the Appalachian mountains. Someday when I'm bound to the rocking chair and memories are all I have left I may do just that. For now I just want to kill my turkeys and help a few friends kill thiers.
I'm not gonna give my opinion it's well known and I do not want to start hysterical fits of crying.
Surely everyone's experiences are different. You should also know that the ones that have stated they don't use locators or feel they shut Gobblers down are not part of some conspiracy to do away with locator calls. There giving there experiences about were they hunt. If the gobblers were you hunt respond to locators Crow, owl, Siamese cats, truck door slamming, doorbells, mail trucks, toasters or whatever count yourself fortunate. I know what does an doesn't work in my hunting area and really don't care what works in dateursister Arkansas. This is a forum which is nothing but a collection of people's opinions, if everyone only commented on things they agreed with there'd be about 5 of you patting each other on the back about the same ol thing everyday and the rest of us shaking our heads no.
If you do write a book appalachianassin I'd probably read it because I'll read anything about turkey hunting at least once and if I get to apart I don't agree with I won't get butt hurt about it.
If I had to cut back the number of things I take with me turkey hunting my owl and crow calls would be at the top of list. Mine rarely get used. When they do get used its a last ditch effort so if they don't work I don't hold that against them.
Locators have their place, and I use them at those times. Crow call can be priceless when changing position or set up on a gobbling turkey.
What I have found over the years hunting public ground is most guys haven't a clue what an actual crow or owl sounds like, and probably a strong correlation to those who believe locators don't work.
There are many ways to look at this issue,...and we have covered most of them at one time or another. I suspect those of us that use locators will continue to use them,...and those that don't will continue not to.
One point that hasn't been mentioned that is one of many reasons I use locators is this: you can often get a gobbler to tell you where he is roosted much earlier by using a locator call than you can by waiting for him to gobble on his own. The earlier a gobbler tells you where he's at, the earlier you can get to him and get set up. Those extra few minute of low light conditions can often let you get a much better set-up on a bird than you can just a few minutes later on.
I couldn't even begin to guess how many gobblers (and those I hunt with) have killed just by being able to get in tight on a roosted bird by getting him to gobble ten or fifteen minutes earlier than he would have on his own,...and being able to approach closely and establish a great set-up under the cover of darkness.
Quote from: GobbleNut on February 27, 2019, 08:08:48 PM
and being able to approach closely and establish a great set-up under the cover of darkness.
If I'm running out of darkness I just close my eyes. Helps it stay dark a few more minutes which allows me to get set up without being seen.
Quote from: guesswho on February 27, 2019, 08:22:38 PM
Quote from: GobbleNut on February 27, 2019, 08:08:48 PM
and being able to approach closely and establish a great set-up under the cover of darkness.
If I'm running out of darkness I just close my eyes. Helps it stay dark a few more minutes which allows me to get set up without being seen.
:TooFunny: :TooFunny: Good strategy. Unfortunately, I'm pretty much in the dark all the time with or without my eyes closed. :toothy12:
I ain't going to argue that fact. :D
Quote from: GobbleNut on February 27, 2019, 08:33:57 PM
Quote from: guesswho on February 27, 2019, 08:22:38 PM
Quote from: GobbleNut on February 27, 2019, 08:08:48 PM
and being able to approach closely and establish a great set-up under the cover of darkness.
If I'm running out of darkness I just close my eyes. Helps it stay dark a few more minutes which allows me to get set up without being seen.
:TooFunny: :TooFunny: Good strategy. Unfortunately, I'm pretty much in the dark all the time with or without my eyes closed. :toothy12:
:TooFunny:
Depends on the situation. Sometimes I want to know where he's at with out making a turkey noise because I'm not in a situation to be in position to set up.
Quote from: Happy on February 27, 2019, 05:05:49 AM
Use one once in a while. However I tend to let them gobble on their own. I have seen owl and crow calls shut birds down as well and I ain't big on making a bunch of noise blundering through the woods. I won't say they don't work. I will say I won't use them much.
Have saved several hunts by hitting them with a locator. In fact I believe a Tom can be at times fired back up from a locator.
I raise Easterns. The pen will be calm with none of the 52 Toms strutting or gobbling. A locator can change the mood among them in a hurry.
The higher the pitch the harder the punch. I sell the Ferocious Shock Locator a mouth blown air horn that makes them talk even when they really don't want to.
I only use them in the evening to locate a Tom for morning. They don't hurt my hunts at all.
I hv and old primos owl hooter that works well first thing in morning. Last year I called in a bird that only gobbled at the owl cool from roost... Never tree gobbled and never gobbled when he hit the ground and came in silent to just a few tree yelps. I may hv never known that bird was there if not for owl call.
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I will hoot first thing in the morning or last thing in the evening if nothing has sounded off from the roost. Other than that, I VERY rarely use a locator mid-day while hunting easterns. Just have so little success with it. There has been a couples times its helped over the years, but not many at all.
Rios and Merriams? Break out the locators! Love me a coyote howler. I'll cover a ton of ground and hit that thing any time of day.
I hoot (by mouth with no call) pretty much every single morning I hunt (unless I know where a bird is roosted and I slip into position early). I use a crow call during the mid-morning and rest of the day (does not often elicit a response but sometimes it does!).
I have also heard turkeys go crazy over peacock calls (a fella had a peacock in his yard near the WMA I hunted and turkeys responded to that thing almost every time).
Two years ago I chased a bird for two hours and all he would respond to was my owl hooting! This was all the way to 0930!
Locators are just tools in the shed. Sometimes I use them, sometimes I don't. Depends on the situation. I always have them with me, scouting and hunting. Like most things in turkey hunting, experience is the best teacher. Whatever works best for you.
Quote from: mudbug_4 on March 01, 2019, 04:15:24 PM
Two years ago I chased a bird for two hours and all he would respond to was my owl hooting! This was all the way to 0930!
that's kinda the point I'm trying to make. I wouldn't have wasted the time on a turkey like that.
Quote from: appalachianassassin on March 01, 2019, 05:47:38 PM
Quote from: mudbug_4 on March 01, 2019, 04:15:24 PM
Two years ago I chased a bird for two hours and all he would respond to was my owl hooting! This was all the way to 0930!
that's kinda the point I'm trying to make. I wouldn't have wasted the time on a turkey like that.
Totally give me that turkey. Every time.
In my opinion the birds I chase now are very different from the birds I chased 32 years ago. When I first started doing this,locator calls worked incredibly good for me. Birds have evolved apparently, and don't seem to shock gobble as much as they used to. I not only talking about my calls, but calls from the real thing in nature. They seem to be more quiet and realize they are giving themselves away. This may be due to the lesser amount of gobbling birds in my area. I still use locators but my hunting strategy has evolved along with the birds I hunt. I am more quiet in the woods and use things like gobble tubes , turkey wings and scratching in the leafs to get the results I'm looking for.
:popcorn:
Quote from: idratherb on March 02, 2019, 02:58:09 PM
:popcorn:
I've never understood what this means ... :TooFunny:
Quote from: paboxcall on March 01, 2019, 06:26:16 PM
Quote from: appalachianassassin on March 01, 2019, 05:47:38 PMmy goals are too high to waste the time.
Quote from: mudbug_4 on March 01, 2019, 04:15:24 PM
Two years ago I chased a bird for two hours and all he would respond to was my owl hooting! This was all the way to 0930!
that's kinda the point I'm trying to make. I wouldn't have wasted the time on a turkey like that.
Totally give me that turkey. Every time.
my goals are too high too waste the time. I want to see 20+ longboards die per season. 3 years in a row I have done just that and hope to do it again in 2019. Best of luck....el sicario.
Quote from: appalachianassassin on February 27, 2019, 01:03:47 PM
:TooFunny:that I can remember I haven't asked a hunting related question on any board, I just Express my opinion. an opinion that most disagree with I might add. Several friends have asked me to write a book on hunting public ground turkeys in the Appalachian mountains. Someday when I'm bound to the rocking chair and memories are all I have left I may do just that. For now I just want to kill my turkeys and help a few friends kill thiers.
Can I be your friend??? :funnyturkey:
Quote from: dayna105 on March 03, 2019, 07:28:31 AM
Quote from: appalachianassassin on February 27, 2019, 01:03:47 PM
:TooFunny:that I can remember I haven't asked a hunting related question on any board, I just Express my opinion. an opinion that most disagree with I might add. Several friends have asked me to write a book on hunting public ground turkeys in the Appalachian mountains. Someday when I'm bound to the rocking chair and memories are all I have left I may do just that. For now I just want to kill my turkeys and help a few friends kill thiers.
Can I be your friend??? :funnyturkey:
absolutely... be glad to take any1 hunting too
Just have to wait till I tag out and I don't let ppl shoot jakes.
I rarely ever use them. I like to let them gobble on their on. A coyote call will usually get more results where I hunt. Best shock call I have witnessed was thunder.
Won't go to the woods without one. PERIOD!
Where I currently live, the tracts of land I can hunt are smaller than average and definitely not what I'm used to. You can hear everything on these farms and blundering aimlessly to a location in the dark is going to mess you up real fast. It's best, in these situations, to locate the bird first. Once I know where he's at, I then know where he's going. Just gotta get between me and that location. Once I've done that, calling is merely a matter of getting him to commit my way just a bit before he decides to cross over to the neighbors plot. And, often times, it lets me know if I'm wasting my time there and need to drive to the next location to try again. Obviously, ymmv.
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Personally, I find them quite helpful. I can pretty well pinpoint where the hunter is "located", that is using them. I just politely move off to another area.
( hush ), Sir, your post is absolutely hilarious. I need a little humor every now and then.