Gobbler Contact Clucks

[vthokie7227]

Hello everyone! After lurking here for a long time I thought I'd finally ask you folk more knowledgeable than me how do you handle gobblers that come in clucking? I was out on Saturday and had two toms come in to about 10 yards behind the tree I was set up on.  I'd seen them out of the corner of my eye and didn't want to move and spook them. They came in silent but once they got close I could hear them clucking and purring. One of them let out a loud cluck, walked a few yards and clucked again. Then he just stood there for a few mins. After about 5 minutes of this they both went back from the direction they came from. I could tell they were looking for the hen they couldn't see and wanted confirmation she was there, but, me not being the best with a mouth call, I didn't want to spook them as a grabbed my pot. How would y'all handle this?

Thanks!

[GobbleNut]

This is one of the best examples of why learning to use a mouth call can, at times, be important.  Whether it would have made any difference in this particular case is debatable since the gobblers were so close.  It is likely that they would have departed anyway at that close range.  However, knowing how to produce a serviceable "bubble" cluck in those circumstances can definitely be a difference maker in some scenarios. 

An easy alterative to using a mouth call to produce that cluck is to use your natural voice.  With a bit of practice, you can reproduce that sound pretty accurately. 

Of course, the most obvious solution to your dilemma might have been to have a decoy out, or some other visual aid on hand....

[Happy]

Typically I shoot them  . In all honestly as long as they are still headed my way I let them keep coming. If they are stalled out and clucking then I give them a few of the same. Prefer to set up so they are in range as soon as I see them.

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[fallhnt]

If they were 10 yrds and you clucked back on any call ,they would have you pinned. You won but they lived to see another day.

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[MickT]

The cluck is basically the turkey asking the bird it heard to reveal themselves. I have let them wander off, got adjusted, and called them back before. Any noise with them that close and they would have pegged you.


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[Marc]

That searching putt is a tricky issue...   I feel that "searching putt" or "bubble-cluck" is a nervous searching call.  The bird is nervously looking for the hen that should be there.

In the past, I always answered it in kind...  They putt at me, and I putt at them.  The terrain I hunt, I generally hear that sound before seeing the bird, and will generally answer when the bird is not yet in sight or after he is behind a bush or tree.

Working a lot of jakes this season, my impression has changed...  This year, I have experimented, and when I answer with a contended quiet yelp or cluck, the birds coming in stop putting, but generally come in much more relaxed.  If I answer in kind, they often continue forward motion, but they continue putting and are obviously nervous.  In other words, yes, you need to answer that bird, but I no longer believe you need to answer with that same nervous "bubble-cluck" he is giving to you...  As stated above, I prefer a mouth call for these close encounters, as the birds are close, and friction calls can be a disadvantage here.

The two sounds I have really learned to listen for while turkey hunting is the "bubble-cluck" or drumming...  Oddly, I have found it more difficult to get that drumming bird to come closer...  He is drumming to let that hen know he is there and I suppose he expects her to come to him...  That is a bird I am more likely to try my own "bubble-cluck" on, or maybe some quiet (and disinterested) clucks and purrs...  I have heard several birds drumming this season that I never saw, but have had eyes on almost all the birds that I heard "bubble-clucking."

I am still learning myself, and would appreciate any feedback on my observations (as limited as they are).

[Ozarks Hillbilly]

That cluck is basically the gobbler asking where are you.  He knows that he is in close proximity to the hen he is searching for. He doesn't have a visual conformation so he will cluck trying to get a vocal response like the hen may have drifted off. With birds coming in directly behind you not much you can do but let them drift off and reposition and try to call him back.

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[paboxcall]

Soft yelps and clucks, or leaf scratching if I think I can get away with it.

Just out of curiosity, and of course assuming private ground and no other hunters, if that searching gobbler clucked and not seeing a hen then walked away, what would you expect his response be if you gobbled at him sight unseen?

[saverx]

Where I hunt a gobbler cluck means one thing to me.. He is in range! Don't move a muscle and give him a very low yelp or two. It also means he is about to leave. Sometimes a low yelp will make him look a little longer and possibly give me a shot. More often than not he will retreat about 100 yards and gobble his head off for another hour and a half. Either way its a lot of fun! Gobblers that get behind you are hard to deal with. Mainly if you don't move or spook him you are still in the game no matter what he does. And if he does spook just skip work and go back the next day and get after him again,

[vthokie7227]

Thanks for the great replies! I really appreciate the insight. Thinking back to how I was set up, I realize I could have done a better job positioning myself. I was set up looking out on a relatively open creek bottom. Should have know the birds would be "smarter" than to walk through the open like that. Now it's time to keep practicing with my mouth calls and get back out there!

[Marc]

Just out of curiosity, and of course assuming private ground and no other hunters, if that searching gobbler clucked and not seeing a hen then walked away, what would you expect his response be if you gobbled at him sight unseen?

Dominant bird, I would expect might come charging in...

A bird that has been getting his but kicked would likely skedaddle.

Unless the bird is walking away (despite more hen calling), I would avoid making a gobble at such a bird...  He has already let you know his interest by coming as far as he did, and is now looking for that hen (albeit nervously).

[paboxcall]

Just out of curiosity, and of course assuming private ground and no other hunters, if that searching gobbler clucked and not seeing a hen then walked away, what would you expect his response be if you gobbled at him sight unseen?

Dominant bird, I would expect might come charging in...

A bird that has been getting his but kicked would likely skedaddle.

Unless the bird is walking away (despite more hen calling), I would avoid making a gobble at such a bird...  He has already let you know his interest by coming as far as he did, and is now looking for that hen (albeit nervously).

I concur with your logic there; thanks for the response.