Trumpets???

[zelmo1]

The trumpet can be played very softly, which is not my thing, and gives a different tone to anything I use. I am the absolute worst trumpeter here, but I will continue to work at it and use it in the field till I never get a response. I am a get one and learn to play it guy. Enjoy your journey. Z

[bbcoach]

Sounds as if many of us have taken on a PROJECT!  I personally enjoy learning new things.  I have only been at this sport about 15 years, and with the help I've received from each of you, I have learned woodsmanship, box, pot and mouth calls and have gotten into trumpets.  I must say, there is a WEALTH of Knowledge here.  By keeping an open mind and applying the knowledge that many of you have shared, I have come a long way in this sport.  Thanks to ALL of you! 

[bbcoach]

Since I have only had a trumpet for a couple of months, I consider myself a novice.  I do have the basics down and have been watching videos from some of the GREATS (Zach Farmer, Mark Prudhomme, Del Crow, Marlin Watkins and Ted Pete Peters to name a few.)  I am still experimenting with many different techniques but feel very comfortable with the trumpet.  I'm really looking forward to this season, to try the trumpet on live birds.  They will give me the feedback I'm looking for.  As with all my calls, I only want to be able to call in a bird to the end of the gun barrel not win contests.  This site and you guys make this sport, SO ENJOYABLE!  Thanks Shannon and ALL of you that SHARE so much!

[ScottTaulbee]

Since I have only had a trumpet for a couple of months, I consider myself a novice.  I do have the basics down and have been watching videos from some of the GREATS (Zach Farmer, Mark Prudhomme, Del Crow, Marlin Watkins and Ted Pete Peters to name a few.)  I am still experimenting with many different techniques but feel very comfortable with the trumpet.  I'm really looking forward to this season, to try the trumpet on live birds.  They will give me the feedback I'm looking for.  As with all my calls, I only want to be able to call in a bird to the end of the gun barrel not win contests.  This site and you guys make this sport, SO ENJOYABLE!  Thanks Shannon and ALL of you that SHARE so much!

I sent you a PM the other day BB, have you received it?.


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[bbcoach]

Since I have only had a trumpet for a couple of months, I consider myself a novice.  I do have the basics down and have been watching videos from some of the GREATS (Zach Farmer, Mark Prudhomme, Del Crow, Marlin Watkins and Ted Pete Peters to name a few.)  I am still experimenting with many different techniques but feel very comfortable with the trumpet.  I'm really looking forward to this season, to try the trumpet on live birds.  They will give me the feedback I'm looking for.  As with all my calls, I only want to be able to call in a bird to the end of the gun barrel not win contests.  This site and you guys make this sport, SO ENJOYABLE!  Thanks Shannon and ALL of you that SHARE so much!

I sent you a PM the other day BB, have you received it?.


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I got it and have responded via text

[Dtrkyman]

I mostly have wing bones I make myself and one I call a bone and brass hybrid, they just have a different tone than any other call and just flat sound like turkeys!

First guy I ever used one I called in a nice late season tom, talk about a confidence booster!


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[EZ]

I quit worrying about "why" yelpers (Wingbones, Jordans, Trumpets) work so well in the turkey woods and am just satisfied knowing they are killer calls. Turkeys just like them. Anyone that puts an honest effort into learning and using these instruments will absolutely come to that conclusion.

I'm a turkey hunter first and foremost and use a variety of really good calls and all of them work great, but over the years, the yelpers have risen to the top as my "always go to" calls. That wasn't always the case, even when I first started making wingbones, it was a novelty to me (wish I could say different, lol). I was intrigued by the history and the coolness factor, but had no idea what killer calls these yelpers were. It was a slow process to learn and discover how much I didn't know back in the days of no internet and really very little info on much of anything, let alone the yelpers.

Fast forward to today and I will still tell anyone that there is no "magic wand" turkey call, but, a good yelper is the closest thing I've found. My first trip to Unicoi there was a "Round Table" of Trumpet and Yelper men. Someone in the crowd asked that very question as to "why" these yelpers were so effective. One of the men responded with the very popular answer that it was because so few folks use them and it's something different to the turkeys. Mr. Billy Buice interrupted..."That's wrong.....it's not that they don't hear that sound....it's the sound that they hear everyday!!!"

I believe that is 100% true.

[bbcoach]

One of the men responded with the very popular answer that it was because so few folks use them and it's something different to the turkeys. Mr. Billy Buice interrupted..."That's wrong.....it's not that they don't hear that sound....it's the sound that they hear everyday!!!"

I believe that is 100% true.
[/quote]
EZ, I LOVE this!

[BullTom]

Bit of an unpopular opinion here...

I don't believe that trumpets are ultra-realistic. I also dont believe that they elicit some near magical response from a wild turkey any more or less than any other call. Let me elaborate, but before i do, here are a few disclaimers. I say what I am about to say as someone that loves trumpets and wingbones. Ive hunted with them since the early 2000s when I was a teenager. At my current stage in my hunting career, my wife and I kill between 10-15 birds a season, all called in with either a trumpet or a mouth call (a tiny handful with a box call). I acknowledge that what im about to say may well be very wrong. Perhaps confirmation biased or perhaps ive just missed somthing that others have been able to identify.

Now, to my first claim that trumpets and wingbones are not ultrarealistic- I can think of maybe 2 or 3 guys that can run a trumpet and make it sound like a real wild hen turkey. A bunch of guys can sound sort of like a turkey (I put myself in this category) and the vast majority sound more like a chipmunk than they do a hen. I know of dozens of guys that can run a mouth call and sound like a turkey, many many more that can run a box or a pot call well. So, the claim that trumpets are so "effective because its what turkeys hear every day", I just cant get on board with that. For most, they are the least realistic turkey call in their arsenal. Now, that said (and this is the magical part), despite sounding more like a chipmunk than a hen, turkeys still do respond and even come in to those calls on occassion (just the same as they do poor calling on a mouth, box, pot call, etc. on occasion). Which leads me to my next claim...

Trumpets and wingbones do not elicit some response from turkeys that is any different than any other type of call. Over the last 20+ years I have called to and called in dozens and dozens of wild turkeys of all subspecies in every region of the US. I have done so with just about every type of turkey call you can imagine. In the last 10 years or so, I have used mostly trumpets, wing bones, mouth call and on rare occasion my trusty long box (when I know im gonna be out of breath). In all of this experience, if i remove my confirmation bias to the best of my abilty, turkeys do not respond any differently to trumpets than they do any other type of call. Ive called to birds with a mouth or box call and heard crickets only to have him run in on a string when i switch to the trumpet or bone. But i have had the opposite experience as many or more times as well. Like I said in an earlier post... the trumpet is another tool in the bag, but on any given day, its no more or less effective than any other call type. If i didnt feel this way, I wouldnt use any other type of call besides a trumpet.

I like trumpets because it is so difficult to make it sound like a real hen. Combined with the uniqueness of the call styles and woods and other materials, they are special to me, but not because they are extra good at striking or calling in turkeys.

Just one turkey hunters (drastically outnumbered lol) opinion. YMMV

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[davisd9]

Trumpets are a waste of time. Lots of better, easier calls out there. Definitely more realistic ones the turkeys prefer.


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[Tail Feathers]

I'm mostly in agreement with BullTom.  I've never heard a trumpet that I didn't know was a trumpet by the sound.  Hearing guesswho on a Rivercane Yelper may be the exception.
Not that they don't sound good, just not 100% real turkey.  I've heard a few mouth callers who did sound 100% real turkey.  I've heard a couple of boxes that were 98%.  Most of the time I can tell what kind of call I hear in the woods, including trumpets.
They are a solid choice for hunting, but for the time it takes to master one I don't blame someone who chooses not to use them. 
Me?  I have some, and decidedly have not mastered them tho.  But I'll keep after it.  I want to call in a bird with one soon.  They are another good call to have in your arsenal, but I don't think they are genuinely the best or most "real turkey" sounding.

[crow]

Some of you all must be  hanging with the wrong type of trumpet players.
I've heard some yelper men that sound all turkey to my ear.

I've also seen success rate go up with yelpers on hard hunted public land compared to other types of calls.


But that's not stopping me from working on a lightweight call that sounds like a sack of corn being poured on the ground, I'm getting close.

[BullTom]

Some of you all must be  hanging with the wrong type of trumpet players.
I've heard some yelper men that sound all turkey to my ear.

I've also seen success rate go up with yelpers on hard hunted public land compared to other types of calls.


But that's not stopping me from working on a lightweight call that sounds like a sack of corn being poured on the ground, I'm getting close.

That may well be true!

However, I will say that even the most highly regarded trumpet players dont sound super realistic to me. Dont get me wrong, they sound dang good and it inspires me to get better every day. I have listend to the popular sound files from these guys on repeat for years. But, compared to the most highly regarded mouth call guys, it's not even close. I think the trumpet has all the elements of realism, its just very difficult to put them together in a compelte, realistic package (if that makes any sense). The roll over isnt quite right and its very hard to get the shrill front end with a throaty, raspy, honky back end and then put it all together with the correct cadence. A handful of guys get close (I like to think myself included), but never as close as even just above average mouth callers.

Thats pretty sweet that you have a public land secret weapon! The majority of birds I hunt are on public land. Unfortunately for me, that hasnt been my experience. I have killed or almost killed birds on public that I dont believe I would have if not for the trumpet. That said, generally the realism and versatility of the mouth call wins for me. If i could only take one call to hunt heavily pressured public land birds, its gonna be a mouth call almost all of the time. Certainly open to the fact that this may change in the future.

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[EZ]

Some good points brought up. Everyone's experiences may vary. I remember decades ago, famed turkey biologist, Lovette Williams, studied the sounds made by turkeys and sounds made by turkey calls using equipment that measured sound wavelength. Wingbones and trumpets were nearly identical to that of real turkeys.

[bbcoach]

Gentlemen, this is the type of responses I expected to hear.  I personally have come to the same conclusion that trumpets really don't have that hen sound, that we hear from other calls, even played by those we hold in HIGH regard as GREAT trumpet players.  Maybe it's my ear or my lack of experience with the trumpet, but as many have said, they definitely get responses and they definitely bring birds to the end of the gun barrel.  I don't want this thread to get into a P------ contest but the trumpet has its place and DEFINITELY fools birds.  So why the response, in your opinion?  Wavelength as EZ stated?  Just questions to mull over and talk about sensibly until we can ALL get in the woods.  HAPPY NEW YEAR to ALL!