How much to call?

[bornagain64]

I know everything depends on the situation. And there is no right or wrong answer.
I am concerned that I may be calling to much. I was talking to my buddy, and he said he clucks and purrs and just clucks %90 of the time. Every 15 minutes he will cluck a few times and put the call down.
I am not talking about running and gunning, I am talking about setting up for 3 or 4 or more hours in an area you have either scene sign or birds in the past.
Tell me what you would do for these 3 scenarios?

1. You know there is a gobbler near. You have either heard him gobble that morning or scene him in that area before?

2. New or old spot, not sure if there is a gobbler around?

3. You either see or here a hen in the area? You are not sure if there is a gobbler?

   Thanks, John

[FireFly908]

You will probably get as many different answers to this as replies you get.  Also, what works for one person one time may not work for that person in the same situation the next time.
Now, for my answer, I'm an aggressive caller.  At least until I get tired of calling.  I've called some turkey in and killed them but I have no idea how many I didn't call in because I didn't call enough or how many I didn't get to come in because I called too much.  I've even had hung up gobblers that I was "talking" to and couldn't get to budge when a bystander gobbler came in and was introduced to some lead.
You never really know since a lot of the time a silent gobbler can come in or a silent gobbler can either get frightened or bored and leave.  So, it's all a big experiment.
The big thing is to just do what you would like to do and HAVE FUN doing it and hopefully bag a turkey while doing it.

[TrackeySauresRex]

I usually call every 3,000 Mississippi's  ..

Ans. to #1..If I here him, I no he's there, I will call to whare,I know he has heard me. If he don't answer,I play his game. I do the soft call,sctatch,cluck. Sit still as long possible. If he answers...you know the rest. 
#2&3 New spot might call agressive with some cutting and try to yank a gobble out of one. Call again. No answer,play his game. Once again.. soft call scratch and cluck. Sit still as long possible. If he answers... you know the rest. 

[TennLongspur]

There is no right or wrong way to answer this, but this is just my opinion - and you know what they say about those.

If you think you are calling too much, you probably are. Also, if you are hunting on public land, I always go with the "less is more" theory. You've got to imagine they get hammered at by hunters all year long. On heavily pressured birds, I like to yelp a little bit to let him know I am there.  if I get a response, even better. But then I shut up. I may cluck every once in a while, but if I know he is nearby and heard me yelp, the only thing I can do by hammering at him is cause him to hang up because he expects the hen to go to him, make him gobble, while fun, only attracts hens and other hunters which can both ruin your day.

If I don't know for certain that he is anywhere in my zip code, I get a little more aggressive. I want to sound like a fired up hen and hope to get a gobble. Once I do ... see answer above.

On private land, where I am pretty certain they haven't been pressured and aren't too many other hunters to mess me up, if he gobbles when I yelp at him, I pour it on. We all like to hear him gobble. There is nothing like a hot bird coming in strutting and shaking the leaves off the trees, but sometimes that isn't the smartest move.

Over calling is probably the most common mistake hunters make. I know I have certainly been guilty of it, so take these opinions with a grain of salt.

[WVhuntEER]

Less is more IMO.   I have always heard if you call from a hole in the the ground a turkey can hear well enough that he could find the hole and stick his beak in it.   If I get one interested I normally will play hard to get UNLESS you have competition from another hen and then I kick it up a notch.   Once again, this is just my opinion.

[Flydown]

Tough question to answer. Some days they like loudmouths and some days they dont. If they are with hens, I usally get pretty aggressive and call a lot but hey its different in so many situations and that why I like to hunt every day because they can chage overnight. Good luck this Spring everyone!

[barry]

There is no "right" answer, if there was it wouldn't be as fun and frustratingly addictive as it is.
Play it by ear, literally, let the bird tell you what he wants.
How will you know what he wants?
That will come with both success and failure....in other words experience.
Have fun and good luck!

[bornagain64]

Thanks for the replies.
I am also in Florida hunting osceolas, which I have been told are a quiter bird.
And am also hunting public land, which probably makes the biggest difference.

          John