Switching from a pot call to a mouth call

[YoungGobbler]

What's your take on switching from a pot call to a mouth call when you have a gobbler that is answering you and coming your way?

Let's say you are hunting solo, so you are the caller and the shooter, and you start calling with a pot call because, let's say... You like how it sounds, you want to reach some distance... (those would be my reasons to use a pot call)... And after a few calls, you have a gobbler answering you. You engage the conversation and you talk and he starts coming closer to you... At that point what would you think about changing calls and use your mouth call instead of your pot call, to have your hands free and put them on your gun...? My first though is : it's a no no... Because my experience as a hunter tells me that if you start calling an animal with one sound... You can't change the sound and expect the animal to keep coming... My experience tells me that the animal would get suspicious and he will most probably stop coming... But what about turkeys? Would you do this, have you done this?

I guess the simple answer is: start right away with a mouthcall. But don't you loose some distance? And I haven't yet find a mouthcall that replicates (to my hears) he perfect sound of a turkey... I could search for one, that could be an other subject of you can give me some suggestions here if you like... Lots of questions...

[GobbleNut]

Good questions, YoungGobbler.  Good to see you posting them...

I think your concerns about switching sounds is a valid one...and I suspect there would be times when the results of doing so would be negative.  The first point I would make is that, if you have a gobbler coming to a specific sound, stick with it as long as you can.  However, there is a point...usually pretty close...when movement to call becomes an issue.  It is at that point when it is advantageous to be able to make a call without that movement.  Of course, that need only applies in circumstances where a gobbler is close enough to be able to see you...and he has balked at coming closer to you for whatever reason.  That is when being able to make subtle sounds with a mouth call might become important to drawing a gobbler within range. 

On the other hand, there might also be times when a gobbler is coming to a certain sound you are making and balks well away from you.  That may be because he has become distracted by something...or more likely, he has reached a point where he is going to wait for you, the hen, to come the rest of the way to him.  That is not at all an unusual scenario in turkey hunting. 

That is also often when "the rubber meets the road" in bringing him that final distance needed.  Changing calls, or calling tactics, may be the ticket...or using other tactics such as "scratching", wing adjustment sounds, or even dead silence may bring him on...or most likely, a combination of those tactics. 

To summarize my advice regarding your question:  If a gobbler is coming to your calling, stick with the "one that brung him" as long as you can, but be prepared for those instances where a gobbler is going to hang up.  Having a mouth call ready is part of that...as well as being prepared to do those other subtle things that make him think you are the real deal.   

[Paulmyr]

If a gobbler responds to your calling from a pot call and is coming your way the simple answer is stop calling. He's doing what you want and calling to him at this point may only mess things up whether it's with the original pot call or switching to a mouth call.

If, at some point, he hangs up or veers away than refer to gobbnlenuts great points. In my experience,  calling to a gobbler on his way to you may have 2 negative impacts.

One; It attracts the attention of one or more of the local hens and induces a jealous response from her where she intercepts the gobbler and leads him away.

Two; tells the gobbler your interested making him hang up and wait on you....well.... because your telling him your interested, why wouldn't you go to him like your supposed too.

If I call and get a response from a gobbler I'll keep at it until I know he's coming. When he comes my direction my calling work is generally done. It becomes a waiting game. I want him to come looking for me. The balls is in his court.  If I call at this point he knows I'm still there and I should be showing up at any moment because that's how it works. He gobbles to attract hens to him.

Its hard for me not to call to a gobbling turkey and usually I call pretty aggressively. I still get caught up in all the excitement and let an unwarranted call slip out with neg consequences because I'm trying to fire him up. I'm much better at it than I used to be. The trick is knowing when you got him and letting him do the rest.

It doesn't always work out. I'm tending now to error on the side of caution and it seems to work better than trying to call them all the way to the gun like I tried when I was a greenhorn.

As far a switching calls I can't speak much on that. I started hunting with pot calls and made the transition to mouth calls fairly quickly. When that happened the pots went to the wayside. Coming out mainly in high wind conditions.

I hear people talking all the time about switching through their bag of calls and finally getting a response from gobbler. I've never had that happen. Probably because my call selection was limited. 2 maybe 3 pots when I started. After my transition to mouth calls it was basically 1.

Limiting myself to 1 mouth call I found changes in dialect would be similar to the response some get from switching through their call bag.
What I mean by this if a standard yelp isn't working for me I'll pick up the tempo and intensity. Trying to sound more pleading or excited if you will and progress into cutts and cutt yelp sequences. Mind you this is mostly done to birds already gobbling but not responding to me. I'll be waiting on his gobble and hit him right  away, cutting him off if I'm quick enough. I'll test him every so often to see if he responds to me all the while waiting on his gobble so I can answer immediately. When I get his attention I'll  stick with what got it until he starts coming my. When that happens I let him come looking. No calling until he's not coming any longer. If he goes quiet, I'll wait as long as I can stand it for him to show up and than I'll force myself to wait some more before checking on him. Usually checking on him is not needed at some point he'll show up or gobble letting you know where he's at.

When there's no gobbling going on I'm not saying much, mostly listening. Light calling from what I feel is a good position every half hour maybe longer. I don't want to burn through my repertoire until the time is right.

Sorry. That was a pretty long winded way of saying. Don't call, let him come.

[YoungGobbler]

Good questions, YoungGobbler.  Good to see you posting them...

I think your concerns about switching sounds is a valid one...and I suspect there would be times when the results of doing so would be negative.  The first point I would make is that, if you have a gobbler coming to a specific sound, stick with it as long as you can.  However, there is a point...usually pretty close...when movement to call becomes an issue.  It is at that point when it is advantageous to be able to make a call without that movement.  Of course, that need only applies in circumstances where a gobbler is close enough to be able to see you...and he has balked at coming closer to you for whatever reason.  That is when being able to make subtle sounds with a mouth call might become important to drawing a gobbler within range. 

On the other hand, there might also be times when a gobbler is coming to a certain sound you are making and balks well away from you.  That may be because he has become distracted by something...or more likely, he has reached a point where he is going to wait for you, the hen, to come the rest of the way to him.  That is not at all an unusual scenario in turkey hunting. 

That is also often when "the rubber meets the road" in bringing him that final distance needed.  Changing calls, or calling tactics, may be the ticket...or using other tactics such as "scratching", wing adjustment sounds, or even dead silence may bring him on...or most likely, a combination of those tactics. 

To summarize my advice regarding your question:  If a gobbler is coming to your calling, stick with the "one that brung him" as long as you can, but be prepared for those instances where a gobbler is going to hang up.  Having a mouth call ready is part of that...as well as being prepared to do those other subtle things that make him think you are the real deal.   

Thanks for taking time to answer the questions I post, I do appreciate it!

[YoungGobbler]

If a gobbler responds to your calling from a pot call and is coming your way the simple answer is stop calling. He's doing what you want and calling to him at this point may only mess things up whether it's with the original pot call or switching to a mouth call.

If, at some point, he hangs up or veers away than refer to gobbnlenuts great points. In my experience,  calling to a gobbler on his way to you may have 2 negative impacts.

One; It attracts the attention of one or more of the local hens and induces a jealous response from her where she intercepts the gobbler and leads him away.

Two; tells the gobbler your interested making him hang up and wait on you....well.... because your telling him your interested, why wouldn't you go to him like your supposed too.

If I call and get a response from a gobbler I'll keep at it until I know he's coming. When he comes my direction my calling work is generally done. It becomes a waiting game. I want him to come looking for me. The balls is in his court.  If I call at this point he knows I'm still there and I should be showing up at any moment because that's how it works. He gobbles to attract hens to him.

Its hard for me not to call to a gobbling turkey and usually I call pretty aggressively. I still get caught up in all the excitement and let an unwarranted call slip out with neg consequences because I'm trying to fire him up. I'm much better at it than I used to be. The trick is knowing when you got him and letting him do the rest.

It doesn't always work out. I'm tending now to error on the side of caution and it seems to work better than trying to call them all the way to the gun like I tried when I was a greenhorn.

As far a switching calls I can't speak much on that. I started hunting with pot calls and made the transition to mouth calls fairly quickly. When that happened the pots went to the wayside. Coming out mainly in high wind conditions.

I hear people talking all the time about switching through their bag of calls and finally getting a response from gobbler. I've never had that happen. Probably because my call selection was limited. 2 maybe 3 pots when I started. After my transition to mouth calls it was basically 1.

Limiting myself to 1 mouth call I found changes in dialect would be similar to the response some get from switching through their call bag.
What I mean by this if a standard yelp isn't working for me I'll pick up the tempo and intensity. Trying to sound more pleading or excited if you will and progress into cutts and cutt yelp sequences. Mind you this is mostly done to birds already gobbling but not responding to me. I'll be waiting on his gobble and hit him right  away, cutting him off if I'm quick enough. I'll test him every so often to see if he responds to me all the while waiting on his gobble so I can answer immediately. When I get his attention I'll  stick with what got it until he starts coming my. When that happens I let him come looking. No calling until he's not coming any longer. If he goes quiet, I'll wait as long as I can stand it for him to show up and than I'll force myself to wait some more before checking on him. Usually checking on him is not needed at some point he'll show up or gobble letting you know where he's at.

When there's no gobbling going on I'm not saying much, mostly listening. Light calling from what I feel is a good position every half hour maybe longer. I don't want to burn through my repertoire until the time is right.

Sorry. That was a pretty long winded way of saying. Don't call, let him come.

Thanks for your time! You don't have to be sorry, I enjoyed the lenght of your comment. I think I will have to try to call less, to wait more.

I see many guys using only a mouthcall... I will search for one that have good reviews and that replicates  realisticaly the sounds of turkeys... I will search through this forum for older treads on this and I might start a tread on this question...

[GobbleNut]

I see many guys using only a mouthcall... I will search for one that have good reviews and that replicates  realisticaly the sounds of turkeys... I will search through this forum for older treads on this and I might start a tread on this question...

I am one of the guys that uses mouth calls almost exclusively.  If you are not an experienced mouth call user, you will likely find out that relying on the advice of others about what call brands or call construction to use will be a very frustrating exercise for you.  You will probably get as many recommendations at there are mouth call users on this site.   

My basic advice would be to get some inexpensive calls with varying reed construction and cuts to begin with.  From my experience having taught quite a few folks how to use mouth calls, I would recommend some basic two and/or three reed calls made of thinner latex materials and with cut designs based on the basic "center V-cut" design.  That design can be modified and "personalized" better than just about any other call design. 

If you would like some more specific ideas on call designs that I think you should start with, just ask.  However, I am pretty certain you will get a lot of other recommendations from others here.

...You might also take a look at the mouth call section on the site.  Lots of good information there.

[mountainhunter1]

If a gobbler responds to your calling from a pot call and is coming your way the simple answer is stop calling. He's doing what you want and calling to him at this point may only mess things up whether it's with the original pot call or switching to a mouth call.

If, at some point, he hangs up or veers away than refer to gobbnlenuts great points. In my experience,  calling to a gobbler on his way to you may have 2 negative impacts.

One; It attracts the attention of one or more of the local hens and induces a jealous response from her where she intercepts the gobbler and leads him away.

Two; tells the gobbler your interested making him hang up and wait on you....well.... because your telling him your interested, why wouldn't you go to him like your supposed too.

If I call and get a response from a gobbler I'll keep at it until I know he's coming. When he comes my direction my calling work is generally done. It becomes a waiting game. I want him to come looking for me. The balls is in his court.  If I call at this point he knows I'm still there and I should be showing up at any moment because that's how it works. He gobbles to attract hens to him.

Its hard for me not to call to a gobbling turkey and usually I call pretty aggressively. I still get caught up in all the excitement and let an unwarranted call slip out with neg consequences because I'm trying to fire him up. I'm much better at it than I used to be. The trick is knowing when you got him and letting him do the rest.

It doesn't always work out. I'm tending now to error on the side of caution and it seems to work better than trying to call them all the way to the gun like I tried when I was a greenhorn.

As far a switching calls I can't speak much on that. I started hunting with pot calls and made the transition to mouth calls fairly quickly. When that happened the pots went to the wayside. Coming out mainly in high wind conditions.

I hear people talking all the time about switching through their bag of calls and finally getting a response from gobbler. I've never had that happen. Probably because my call selection was limited. 2 maybe 3 pots when I started. After my transition to mouth calls it was basically 1.

Limiting myself to 1 mouth call I found changes in dialect would be similar to the response some get from switching through their call bag.
What I mean by this if a standard yelp isn't working for me I'll pick up the tempo and intensity. Trying to sound more pleading or excited if you will and progress into cutts and cutt yelp sequences. Mind you this is mostly done to birds already gobbling but not responding to me. I'll be waiting on his gobble and hit him right  away, cutting him off if I'm quick enough. I'll test him every so often to see if he responds to me all the while waiting on his gobble so I can answer immediately. When I get his attention I'll  stick with what got it until he starts coming my. When that happens I let him come looking. No calling until he's not coming any longer. If he goes quiet, I'll wait as long as I can stand it for him to show up and than I'll force myself to wait some more before checking on him. Usually checking on him is not needed at some point he'll show up or gobble letting you know where he's at.

When there's no gobbling going on I'm not saying much, mostly listening. Light calling from what I feel is a good position every half hour maybe longer. I don't want to burn through my repertoire until the time is right.

Sorry. That was a pretty long winded way of saying. Don't call, let him come.

Amen - Paul is giving you wise counsel. I too try to call as little as possible. If he is coming, I just tend to leave him alone. He is spot on though, the more you talk, the more likely another hen gets involved and often that is not a good thing.  Put down the pot and be on the gun so that you don't get busted if he sneaks in with very few gobbles towards the end of his approach. My bottom line - You can always call more - but don't be in a hurry to do so.

If it is after 10:30-11:00, and even more so after lunch, if he gobbles at your calling - he will more times than not be over to check you out soon enough without any need of an additional set of calling. Later in the day like that, he will generally come much faster than early morning, so have your head on a swivel and don't get busted if you can help it.

While I will always have a diaphragm in my mouth in case I have to do something hands free at the end of the dance, more times than not, - if you want to switch sounds while he is on his final approach, then scratching in the leaves will probably work better than changing from a pot to a diaphragm as far as sound. He can hear leaf scratching further than most realize.

[g8rvet]

All good points.  I too like a pot call's sounds, but some of the ugliest sounds I have heard have come from a hen.  Had one on the limb this year, roosted over water, that called so much and so often if that was a hunter, I would have said they were crazy.

I worked one this year that I knew heard me on flydown, answered me once 90 minutes later, gobbled once on his own to some hens probably another 90 minutes later.  I very softly called to the hens and stopped.  The last gobble I heard was when he stepped in to range.  He knew there was a hen there the whole time and his last gobble was 'Here I am sweet thang, where are you?"   He was never more than a couple hundred yards away, if that, and finally decided to come on in.  He was just working on turkey time and not my time and I had the patience to wait.  I never even needed a mouth call, but I always have one in and ready. 

Like I have heard with ducks, call to arses and elbows.  If your enemy is doing what you want, let him do it!   

[Greg Massey]

Whatever call he's responding to is the call i will stick with, with a mouth call in my mouth if i think i will need it to get him to stop and stretch his head up if needed.  And also to cut down on movement, but as always just listen to him and let him tell you what he needs for you to close the deal on him... He could come straight to you or he could circle you, it's gobblers being gobblers ... IMO .... He could also just be giving you a courtesy gobbler or two with no intention of closing the deal ...That's why i enjoy chasing them, you have to defeat them on his ground...

[YoungGobbler]

I see many guys using only a mouthcall... I will search for one that have good reviews and that replicates  realisticaly the sounds of turkeys... I will search through this forum for older treads on this and I might start a tread on this question...

I am one of the guys that uses mouth calls almost exclusively.  If you are not an experienced mouth call user, you will likely find out that relying on the advice of others about what call brands or call construction to use will be a very frustrating exercise for you.  You will probably get as many recommendations at there are mouth call users on this site.   

My basic advice would be to get some inexpensive calls with varying reed construction and cuts to begin with.  From my experience having taught quite a few folks how to use mouth calls, I would recommend some basic two and/or three reed calls made of thinner latex materials and with cut designs based on the basic "center V-cut" design.  That design can be modified and "personalized" better than just about any other call design. 

If you would like some more specific ideas on call designs that I think you should start with, just ask.  However, I am pretty certain you will get a lot of other recommendations from others here.

...You might also take a look at the mouth call section on the site.  Lots of good information there.

I think I will try to get a 3 reed call, because I have a 2 reed one and it doesn't seem very natural... I like Your suggestion of getting some and try them!

[bbcoach]

Use both!  Act as if you are 2 different hens calling to that gobbler, when he gets inside 100 or so you can finish him with the mouth call, hands free, if you need to.  But as others have said, going silent or scratching in the leaves is a very effective way of finishing your gobbler.

[YoungGobbler]

I'm very curious about going silent... To me it sounds unnatural to stop communicating to an animal that you started a conversation with...

[GobbleNut]

I'm very curious about going silent... To me it sounds unnatural to stop communicating to an animal that you started a conversation with...

Excellent point (and question), YoungGobbler.  It seems counterintuitive to stop doing what a gobbler is responding to and is coming your way...and that is correct in some circumstances.  The problem we all face at times...and quite often...is a circumstance where a gobbler comes to a certain point and will not come any closer.  That is the type of situation we are referring to above where you have to adopt a different strategy to get those gobblers to decide to come all the way to you. 

From my experience, the most common time when you have to switch tactics is when a gobbler gets close enough that he expects either to see the hen that is calling to him...or reaches a point where he expects the hen to come towards him rather than him coming that final distance.  Those birds will often "hang up", as we like to call it, and that is when using other "non-verbal" tactics like "imitation leaf-scratching become critical.  These are also situations where having a "visual aid" such as a decoy can be an important asset. 

In your turkey hunting, you will face off with a number of different types of gobblers.  There will be those that come marching right in to your calling without hesitation...usually two-year-old gobblers that have not had any experience with turkey hunters...and there are gobblers that will balk at approaching your calling in some fashion (usually the older, more experienced longbeards). 

In summary, every encounter with a gobbler will provide you with different levels difficulty in terms of eventually having the opportunity to give them a ride home.  Knowing which tricks to use and how to use them is important...and those tricks often just come with experience in hunting all those different types of gobblers.

In the meantime, we are all hoping the gobbler we start calling to is one of those gullible two-year-olds.  They can make all of us feel like we are "experts".   

[g8rvet]

I'm very curious about going silent... To me it sounds unnatural to stop communicating to an animal that you started a conversation with...

Also, if you understand that Mr Tom is more driven to find the hen than the hen is to find him, it helps to use that in your arsenal. Calling in a Tom in the fall when his mind is not on love requires much different tactics.

[bbcoach]

Well put Gobblenut!  This GAME will drive you NUTS most days but when things go your way, it's MAGICAL.  This is why we ALL Love this sport!