what to say

[younggun08]

i think i am well on my way to mastering all the various calls (purrs, yelps etc.) but something i feel isnt discussed much in the turkey hunting world is when, and in what situations do you make these calls. i feel like this is just as crucial as executing the call correctly. i would appreciate any advice on some general rules or principles on when to make the various calls or just calls you all like to use in certain situations. for example, when a bird is still on the roost, do you purr, cluck, yelp? or maybe when a bird is hung up, or when you first get a response. like i said, i know how to talk, im just not sure what to say and when. any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

[jakebird]

It has a lot to do with the mood of the turkeys, the timing of the season, and what exactly you want to say. Are the birds henned up, looking for love, or ready to hang out with their bro's again? Do you want to sound like a contented, feeding hen, an excited one ready to breed, an agitated one, a lost one, a jake, a subordinant gobbler, or a boss tom? There are no hard and fast answers to your questions, and you may hate this respsonse, but its such an involved question i just have to say that knowing what language to speak only comes through a lifetime of experience, but "taking a bird's temperature" would be your first step if you are deciding to speak softly and passively, or get more aggressive. Beyond that, its going to be personal preference based on experience.

[mikejd]

I'm going to have to agree with jakebird on this one. Onlything I will add is to listen to the birds hens,gobblers all of the birds and see how they repond to each other and you will learn when and were real turkeys use specific sounds.

[redleg06]

It has a lot to do with the mood of the turkeys, the timing of the season, and what exactly you want to say. Are the birds henned up, looking for love, or ready to hang out with their bro's again? Do you want to sound like a contented, feeding hen, an excited one ready to breed, an agitated one, a lost one, a jake, a subordinant gobbler, or a boss tom? There are no hard and fast answers to your questions, and you may hate this respsonse, but its such an involved question i just have to say that knowing what language to speak only comes through a lifetime of experience, but "taking a bird's temperature" would be your first step if you are deciding to speak softly and passively, or get more aggressive. Beyond that, its going to be personal preference based on experience.

Agreed.

There are just way too many variables to really answer the question and every hunt is different.

One general rule that I will mention is about calling too much when they are already coming in. If they have gobbled a few times at you and are obviously heading your way, I generally dont call any more unless I feel like they are getting off course. They have an amazing ability to pick out where you are, based on sound alone. I rarely use decoys and I dont want them to pin point the source of the sound, while they are still out of shooting range, and hang up because they dont see anything at the spot they know they hear the calling coming from.

I about slapped one of my buddies the other day when I got one fired up and coming in and as soon as he sees the bird at about 75 yds off, he starts calling to him. I told him to quit, and thankfully the bird came on in. Every time you call like that, you're increasing the chance of that bird locking in on you visually and seeing that something isnt right with that big blob sitting at the bottom of the tree.  Even if they cant see you, yet, calling too much when they are already coming in isnt helping anything.... If they are headed your way then the call has served it's purpose so put it down unless something happens to make you need to give him a little more encouragement.

[hotrod49er]

Well said redleg.