Gobbler " Wildcat" Call/ Your Thoughts.

[quavers59]

 In reading the Book- The Turkey Hunter's Guide/1962 by Leon Johenning- the Author explains that this call is given by Gobblers just before Dark to let other Gobblers  know where he will be Roosted. In reading what he wrote- this is a Fall Turkey Hunting Situation.
   The Gobbler " Wildcat" Call- The author describes as follows--. 2 or 3 lonesome-QUE-E-E-E--ICK. QUE-E-E-E--ICK High Pitched Whines.
  On hearing this call- other Gobblers will quickly fly to the Gobbler making the call or have the Location so " spotted" that they will fly there at the crack  of Dawn next morning.
    Now not everyone  here Hunts Fall Turkeys- but for those that do- what do you think  that the Gobbler " Wildcat" call is? Or does it exist at all?
    I can see it being an Adult version of the Kee- Kee-Run without that 1 Yelp at the end and possibly  only 2 whistles as opposed to 3 that we hear in the Fall Turkey Woods.
   It must be a call that is very seldom made except in the Fall + Winter when Gobblers are together. I have heard on 1 occasion in the Spring as,I was walking around this huge Boulder and a Tom Gobbled just as ,I appeared on the other side of the Boulder. The last part of the Gobble was replaced with a high pitched Whine or Scream. Obviously- both the Gobbler and ,I had no idea the other was very near. Up North- there are plenty of Boulders of all sizes knocking about in the Woods.
   Your Thoughts on the Gobbler " Wildcat" Call-- Legend or very seldom heard call??

[dzsmith]

I dont know about the wild cat call per say. But there have been other authors talk about a unique/rarer to hear call that a gobbler does make. Cant remember what it is called. As to whether or not this is fall specific, ive know clue because i dont fall hunt. I have however, heard a very unique sound made by a gobbler twice in my life, once was while right before being attacked by an owl in a fresh clear cut in the late evening before the gobbler took off flying. I also heard a gobbler make this exact sound when i had to run one down one time....probably means nothing, but it was definelty not normal turkey vocabulary and ive only heard it those 2 times...im sure they can spit out gibberish just as we can under the right circumstances.

[crow]

I have only heard this wildcat call once and yes it was in the fall.

It was one series of three, just like kee Kees, I called back with a gobbler cluck, then Jake yelps and finally gobbled back at him with no response to any of them.

An hour later I headed over to the screams and found 3 of the biggest piles of turkey poop I've ever seen, abnormally big, and all had the classic gobbler "jay" shape.

Broke them apart with a stick and they were just packed full of gizzard stones, my theory is the passing of these stones has to be somewhat painful and rare, which would explain people seldom hearing this particular call

[Greg Massey]

I have only heard this wildcat call once and yes it was in the fall.

It was one series of three, just like kee Kees, I called back with a gobbler cluck, then Jake yelps and finally gobbled back at him with no response to any of them.

An hour later I headed over to the screams and found 3 of the biggest piles of turkey poop I've ever seen, abnormally big, and all had the classic gobbler "jay" shape.

Broke them apart with a stick and they were just packed full of gizzard stones, my theory is the passing of these stones has to be somewhat painful and rare, which would explain people seldom hearing this particular call

[tal]

  You're being bad again

[Turkeybutt]

Crow good theory! I can relate to that and here I thought it was just when I ate Mexican. I might need a stick!

[Sir-diealot]

lol Crow. I am just 2 Fall seasons in, I have not heard it but will keep an ear out for it though. Seems somebody else would have written about it or it would have been caught with audio/video by now if it existed. Of course they have yet to find Bigfoot.

[ferocious calls]

8 years of raising Easterns and we still hear new sounds every so often. The growl is very unique and is very seldom heard.

[ChesterCopperpot]

8 years of raising Easterns and we still hear new sounds every so often. The growl is very unique and is very seldom heard.

I've only ever heard it once. Last year I had two gobblers and three jakes coming in at once and I heard one of the gobbler's growl. Having never heard it before I was absolutely dumbfounded. You could tell it was a bird noise but it was certainly something unlike any sound I'd ever heard a turkey make before or since.


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[Tail Feathers]

I haven't heard the growl or the wildcat call but I heard the controversial GRONK call once.
I would guess it was a very tired gobbler yelp.

[GobbleNut]

I think the problem for a lot of us might be that we don't know the sound that is being called the wildcat call.  I have heard gobblers make noises that caught my attention in that I had never heard that sound before, but I have no clue about whether someone in the past has defined that sound as being the fabled "wildcat call". 

I have heard odd sounds from turkeys on a few occasions, but not often enough to make the statement that they were something other than a random sound that came out of a turkey beak.  Whether those random noises had any meaning,...or even if that turkey or another one could reproduce it "on demand",..is debatable.

On the other hand, on one specific occasion on a spring hunt while set up very closely to a flock of turkeys (gobblers, jakes, and hens) on an early morning roost, I definitely heard a repeated sound from multiple turkeys that I would best describe as some sort of modified, owl-sounding hoot.  I only heard this sound coming from multiple places where I was also hearing gobbles, so I assumed it was being made by gobblers only.  It was also repeated enough times, and from enough different places, where I am certain it was intentional. 

Over fifty-plus years of turkey hunting, that episode has been the ONLY time I have ever heard that sound.  Was it the elusive "wildcat call"?  I have no idea.  Personally, I would never have defined that sound as anything resembling what I would expect to come from wildcat,...but WHOOOO knows for sure?...   

[quavers59]

   Leon Johenning- must have heard this on a number of occasions  for him to write about it in his Book that,I outlined above.
   

[Rapscallion Vermilion]

This topic comes up every few years.  I've never heard it myself, but have a rough idea of how it sounds from this soundfile (of Leon Johenning calling) that silvestris put up a few years ago.  Leon's example of a wildcat call starts are around 4:33.   silvestris remarked at the time that he has heard something very similar.

https://soundcloud.com/user-788295847/leon-johenning

[GobbleNut]

This topic comes up every few years.  I've never heard it myself, but have a rough idea of how it sounds from this soundfile (of Leon Johenning calling) that silvestris put up a few years ago.  Leon's example of a wildcat call starts are around 4:33.   silvestris remarked at the time that he has heard something very similar.

https://soundcloud.com/user-788295847/leon-johenning

Good info, Mike.  That sound is close enough to what I heard as described in my post above that I would say that it was what those gobblers were doing.  Maybe it was made in the Merriam's gobbler dialect such that I thought it sounded more like an owl hoot at the time. 

Still not sure why the original "definer" would have described that sound as a "wildcat call", but I guess the first describer can name something whatever they want to.  Kind of like people discovering a new species being able to give it whatever scientific name they choose, I suppose.  I think I would have called it the "locomotive whistle call" myself...   

[Paulmyr]

If I have heard that call in Leon Johenings audio while turkey hunting I most likely passed it if as a wood duck and may have on a couple occasions