Trying to locate a gobbler strategy

[Mossberg90MN]

So Im still very much a green Turkey hunter that's beginning to find his way. Which leads me to a question.

When your out trying to locate a gobbler, do you go point to point, or to a strategic spot that casts your calls down into a drainage?

I've recently began getting to strategic points where my calls can go into the drainages and I can cover that whole drainage.

My thought process is.... if there's a willing gobbler In that drainage, he will sound off when he hears my calls. I don't need to travel point to point calling if my calls are just going to go down into the same drainage.

Or am I wrong here and I need to go point to point because maybe the fact that I may be closer to the gobbler could be what will get him to sound off.

I'm kinda thinking If there's a gobbler in that drainage that's wants to play, he will gobble.

What do you guys prefer to do?


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[paboxcall]

Couple things - one, don't call unless you are ready to immediately set up - have a tree in mind. You will have times a bird hammers close, and comes quick.

Second, start soft - again, bird might be close by. Don't blow that bird out with calling too loud.

Last, a hen doesn't stand in one place and call, so calling every now and then and you are cruising adds realism.

[Mossberg90MN]

Couple things - one, don't call unless you are ready to immediately set up - have a tree in mind. You will have times a bird hammers close, and comes quick.

Second, start soft - again, bird might be close by. Don't blow that bird out with calling too loud.

Last, a hen doesn't stand in one place and call, so calling every now and then and you are cruising adds realism.

Cool yea, I'm doing all of those. Always have a decent tree picked.

And yes, I start with some clucks and soft yelps and eventually ramp it up before I decided to move on. I'll stay at that tree for a few minutes before I decide to move on.

I've had them gobble to my calls a few minutes after my last sequence, so I now stay out for a little before moving on.


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[GobbleNut]

Much of how I approach trying to locate a gobbler depends on a number of factors,...time of day, weather conditions, the terrain, and my familiarity with the area and its resident turkey population. 

Early in the morning on a calm day, I will always start with low-key calling and work up from there.  Once I get out of that early morning period, my strategy turns more towards getting a shock response from a gobbler, often by using a loud cutt/yelp sequence to elicit that involuntary shock gobble.   Generally, those responses will come from birds that are relatively far away, and once I get that initial response, I will move in and go back to more reserved calling tactics. However, I have killed many a gobbler that would only respond and come to really aggressive calling tactics,...and conversely, would lose interest if I faded back into more passive calling.

Personally, I would state that I have located and killed more gobblers using that aggressive, long-distance approach over the years than I have the passive calling approach. However, there is no "cut and dried" calling strategy that is foolproof,...and again, a lot of it depends on the conditions you are hunting under. If I was to make a single statement regarding your question, I would say don't be afraid to get very aggressive with your calling,...and especially in using loud, cutt and yelp sequences, when you are trying to locate gobblers.  Your strategy of doing that from locations where your calling will carry the farthest is sound, as well.

I can't tell you how many times I have located, called, and killed gobblers by just cutting and yelping into the woods as loudly as I could do it to get them to respond and then moving in on them.  Again, it isn't a foolproof strategy, and there are no doubt gobblers that will not be impressed,...but from my experience, you will also find those birds that are.   

[Mossberg90MN]

Much of how I approach trying to locate a gobbler depends on a number of factors,...time of day, weather conditions, the terrain, and my familiarity with the area and its resident turkey population. 

Early in the morning on a calm day, I will always start with low-key calling and work up from there.  Once I get out of that early morning period, my strategy turns more towards getting a shock response from a gobbler, often by using a loud cutt/yelp sequence to elicit that involuntary shock gobble.   Generally, those responses will come from birds that are relatively far away, and once I get that initial response, I will move in and go back to more reserved calling tactics. However, I have killed many a gobbler that would only respond and come to really aggressive calling tactics,...and conversely, would lose interest if I faded back into more passive calling.

Personally, I would state that I have located and killed more gobblers using that aggressive, long-distance approach over the years than I have the passive calling approach. However, there is no "cut and dried" calling strategy that is foolproof,...and again, a lot of it depends on the conditions you are hunting under. If I was to make a single statement regarding your question, I would say don't be afraid to get very aggressive with your calling,...and especially in using loud, cutt and yelp sequences, when you are trying to locate gobblers.  Your strategy of doing that from locations where your calling will carry the farthest is sound, as well.

I can't tell you how many times I have located, called, and killed gobblers by just cutting and yelping into the woods as loudly as I could do it to get them to respond and then moving in on them.  Again, it isn't a foolproof strategy, and there are no doubt gobblers that will not be impressed,...but from my experience, you will also find those birds that are.   

Cool sounds good! Appreciate the response, thanks GobbleNut


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[PNWturkey]

In my experience, sometimes far off gobblers won't respond even if they can hear your call.  The closer the better, IMO.

I have experimented with this before in areas where I can see turkeys from some distance (they were all over my farm when I was growing up, so lots of practice!).

Try this for yourself.  Spot some turkeys far off in a field or on a distant ridge.  Try to get them to gobble, either to a locator call (my preference) or to loud cutting/yelping as GobbleNut does.  See if it works.  If not, sneak a little closer and try again.  Keep repeating until they (hopefully) gobble.  Try this a few times and see if you can get calibrated on the best distance for them to respond.  This will help inform your strategy in the woods when trying to locate toms.

I have also had the experience where I have been working a bird or two throughout the morning, and a distant car drives by on the road, stops, and lets out a loud yelp, crow call, etc.  Often the gobbler I'm working stays silent.  I'm certain he hears the call since I can too.  Maybe he knows its a hunter (car door, etc), but maybe it is also too far away and not in his "bubble".

Food for thought...

[Mossberg90MN]

In my experience, sometimes far off gobblers won't respond even if they can hear your call.  The closer the better, IMO.

I have experimented with this before in areas where I can see turkeys from some distance (they were all over my farm when I was growing up, so lots of practice!).

Try this for yourself.  Spot some turkeys far off in a field or on a distant ridge.  Try to get them to gobble, either to a locator call (my preference) or to loud cutting/yelping as GobbleNut does.  See if it works.  If not, sneak a little closer and try again.  Keep repeating until they (hopefully) gobble.  Try this a few times and see if you can get calibrated on the best distance for them to respond.  This will help inform your strategy in the woods when trying to locate toms.

I have also had the experience where I have been working a bird or two throughout the morning, and a distant car drives by on the road, stops, and lets out a loud yelp, crow call, etc.  Often the gobbler I'm working stays silent.  I'm certain he hears the call since I can too.  Maybe he knows its a hunter (car door, etc), but maybe it is also too far away and not in his "bubble".

Food for thought...

I have wondered this as well, I think it's something to consider because if the hen is just to distant he may not feel it's worth his time.


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[TRG3]

During the last Illinois turkey season (last week of April-1st week of May), two gobblers sounded off at daybreak. One was about 300 yards away across a creek and the other was barely in hearing distance, both being about 180 degrees in the opposite direction from each other. Using my gobble tube along with hen yelps, I answered them and then all went silent after fly down. A couple of hours later, I was ready to gather up my stuff and leave when I heard a gobble about 200 yards away coming from the direction of the far off tom. Within a minute or so, he had closed the distance and was only 60-70 yards away with his outstretched neck eyeing my Funky Chicken. He soon charged the decoy and caught a load of #5 Longbeards. I figured that the far off tom had no hens and it was worth his effort to travel the distance to either steal the new hen he had earlier heard or to whip the intruder tom, or both. From that experience, I determined that a gobbler will travel the distance necessary to meet the criteria that he deems reasonable given the circumstance he's operating under. Do I understand it? No, but that's what makes turkey hunting both fun and sometimes frustrating.

[silvestris]

Turkeys will advertise on their own (that is what they naturally do) if everyone would just give them time.  One could then set up properly and call most of them in.  However, most hunters love to hear themselves call and makes everyone's task that much more difficult.