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This question may have been ask before, but how far can a turkey hear you call to them, and how far can a turkey see a decoy in a open field. I have hunted turkeys for a long time but never heard anyone talk about this before. sorry this may sound like a dumb question. Thanks in advance.

Far

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My neighbor has a couple tame turkeys and last spring while I was hunting they would gobble at me and I would guess us at 1 mile or a touch over away from each other and I wasn't calling loud at all. My father in law had a tame gobbler and that turkey new the sound of his brothers car and would go out by the end of the drive way an wait for him to show up. His brother would torment the turkey and gobble at him. My father in law said that turkey would start heading for the highway and a couple minutes later his brother would show up. I would think that would be a couple miles away.

VERY far!! Not only that, but they can pinpoint where noises come from. Twice now I've called hens in from across a huge field, and had them walk up to the palmetto blind I built, stick their head through, and look around inside the blind. It was super tough trying to pretend to be a tree and not laugh at the same time!!
So yes, they can hear from a long way off and pinpoint the exact location. It's pretty amazing.

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Perfect conditions and location a fuzz over a mile. That's with nothing but air in between us

I was always told by the old timers if you can hear him , he can hear you..

Quote from: Greg Massey on April 25, 2020, 01:20:48 PM
I was always told by the old timers if you can hear him , he can hear you..

I believe that to be true. I could BARELY hear a bird gobble earlier this season and yelped, not really that loudly, to him on an aluminum pot. I`m about 90% positive it was a bird I`d been in conversation with earlier, much closer, that went off with hens. 10-15 minutes after I yelped, he gobbled not 30 yards behind me. I`m pretty sure it was the bird I`d heard from a distance because he was right on the same line.

HIS  eyes and ears are about equally matched, if that tells you anything.

It takes sound 4.6 seconds to travel one mile, call it roughly 5 seconds.  Gobblers often gobble as soon as they hear a yelp, at least within a second.  So, if the gobbler answers in one second and it takes 11 seconds for you to hear the gobble after the yelp begins you can assume it's about one mile away. Use that info to estimate distance to the gobbler. Once, I was showing my buddy how loud I could call with a box and we heard a distant gobble.  We were in the Black Hills of WY right on the border and the gobble came from SD. We experimented and figured he was about 1.3 miles away across a deep canyon because we'd hear the gobble 14 seconds (by our watch) after I started my yelp. We were talking for a few minutes and he said , "Try that again and let's see if we can hear him again." The gobble came back faster and I said, "I think he's coming to us!" We timed it and it was taking 10 seconds. We started looking with our binocs and saw 3 gobblers coming at a fast trot and down into the canyon about a mile away. As they came closer we kept watching them gobble and timing the answers and guessing the distance with our eyes to confirm our distance estimates right up until they popped into sight on top of our side about 200 yards away.  Saved us the expense of buying a SD licence and tag. Over the years we did that a couple more times.  I like calling turkeys in from adjoining states.  ;) When calling from a boat on a large reservoir I've done the same distance estimating. Sound travels great over water. Sometimes we've boated up the reservoir and spotted the gobbler on shore.

Quote from: idgobble on April 25, 2020, 04:10:54 PM
It takes sound 4.6 seconds to travel one mile, call it roughly 5 seconds.  Gobblers often gobble as soon as they hear a yelp, at least within a second.  So, if the gobbler answers in one second and it takes 11 seconds for you to hear the gobble after the yelp begins you can assume it's about one mile away. Use that info to estimate distance to the gobbler. Once, I was showing my buddy how loud I could call with a box and we heard a distant gobble.  We were in the Black Hills of WY right on the border and the gobble came from SD. We experimented and figured he was about 1.3 miles away across a deep canyon because we'd hear the gobble 14 seconds (by our watch) after I started my yelp. We were talking for a few minutes and he said , "Try that again and let's see if we can hear him again." The gobble came back faster and I said, "I think he's coming to us!" We timed it and it was taking 10 seconds. We started looking with our binocs and saw 3 gobblers coming at a fast trot and down into the canyon about a mile away. As they came closer we kept watching them gobble and timing the answers and guessing the distance with our eyes to confirm our distance estimates right up until they popped into sight on top of our side about 200 yards away.  Saved us the expense of buying a SD licence and tag. Over the years we did that a couple more times.  I like calling turkeys in from adjoining states.  ;) When calling from a boat on a large reservoir I've done the same distance estimating. Sound travels great over water. Sometimes we've boated up the reservoir and spotted the gobbler on shore.

Done the same but only less then half mile. But never timed it that was cool thanks

Papa, all this is pretty accurate as to how far that ole bird can hear. I seldom do anything but clucks and purrs...scratching in the leaves...and I know they can hear any sound I make doing this from way further than you can hear them gobble. Called many birds across pastures, fields with hundreds of acres and many of them would come in directly to me....like 20-30 yards out from at least half a mile away. Ole timer told me many years ago "they can hear you thinking and see you change your mind"....not quiet true but close enough that you better not think it or change your mind.

Not sure exactly how far but a long ways. The amount of leaves on the trees, wind & other factors play a major role also. What amazes me more than their hearing ability is like some others have mentioned is how accurately they can pinpoint where sound comes from. They might be off more than a dime but definitely no more than a quarter.  ;D

I can't believe how well turkeys can see! Amazing eyesight.

I've always wondered if a hen can hear a gobbler spit n drum a lot farther than we can. I've called at gobblers from hundreds of yards and watch them through the binoculars. They immediately strut when they hear me call, but don't gobble.

Quote from: guesswho on April 25, 2020, 03:37:45 PM
HIS  eyes and ears are about equally matched, if that tells you anything.

Exactly. If I can hear them in the distance, safe to assume they've been hearing me for much longer.

Quote from: Pluffmud on April 29, 2020, 12:00:23 PM
I've always wondered if a hen can hear a gobbler spit n drum a lot farther than we can. I've called at gobblers from hundreds of yards and watch them through the binoculars. They immediately strut when they hear me call, but don't gobble.

You can bet your last dollar that a hen can hear that spit and drum waaaay farther than we can.