Bad Calling - Advantage or Disadvantage

[Greg Massey]

Personally, I don't think any of us has the slightest idea of what GOOD calling is.  I'll explain.  We are human beings and are hunting a wild animal.  For the most part, we all have that Perfect Hen in OUR HEAD.  We try to immolate that hen.  We buy calls because of that hen.  We have calling contests, entered by humans and judged by humans and award what those judges think is the World Champion based on this bias.  To me, there is only one judge we should rely on and that is that Gobbler we are trying to bag.  It is evident, all of us has bias on this forum, because everyone of us agree to disagree of what we think the Best call is.  We ALL get beat, even World Champions, every day of the season.  I believe calling and woodsmanship play a very Big part in calling in that gobbler and it depends on what that gobbler has in his HEAD on any given day.  Carry a bunch of different calls every hunt and see which one will get in HIS HEAD.  You may be surprised.

Good Point ...

[Happy]

Bad calling is never an advantage. However, most people haven't listened to a lot of turkeys. Growing up, I was around them constantly. You learn things if you pay attention. I have no aspirations of being a competition caller. However, I am better than average, and more importantly, I feel completely at home calling to them. In the woods, I can typically pick out a hunter on the first series of calls I hear from them. Probably 90% accurate. I have been 100% on box calls for some reason. I know they are very effective, but so far, I can pick them out in the woods every time. I have run into a few that were good on diaphragms that had me guessing. Being able to replicate the sounds of a turkey is one thing. Being able to call like one is another beast entirely.

[Gooserbat]

Cadence is king.  Sure you got to have a turkey tone but it's very secondary.

[tal]

Cadence is king.  Sure you got to have a turkey tone but it's very secondary.

I tune my tube calls to male tones and it's the cadence/rhythm. When conventional wisdom has them call shy and people say you can't call, I've been the oldest, hottest, bossiest hen in the woods to good effect. An old turkey man once told me if you are sounding EXACTLY like a turkey, the worst thing that can happen is he just ignores you. Good thread and as most know on here you reach a point you're not making calls anymore, you're trying to talk with them. Almost ain't good enough on pressured birds. As Happy pointed out, they do a lot more than yelp.

[eggshell]

Bad calling is never an advantage. However, most people haven't listened to a lot of turkeys. Growing up, I was around them constantly. You learn things if you pay attention. I have no aspirations of being a competition caller. However, I am better than average, and more importantly, I feel completely at home calling to them. In the woods, I can typically pick out a hunter on the first series of calls I hear from them. Probably 90% accurate. I have been 100% on box calls for some reason. I know they are very effective, but so far, I can pick them out in the woods every time. I have run into a few that were good on diaphragms that had me guessing. Being able to replicate the sounds of a turkey is one thing. Being able to call like one is another beast entirely.

Dang, it hurts me to say this, but I completely agree with Happy. I have argued many times with my buddies over this. I remember one day in a national forest I heard a bird hammering and we slipped across a ridge to listen. I told my buddy I bet someone was set up on him. When we got about 300 yards above the gobbler I sat down to listen. My buddy exclaimed, I hear a hen, maybe we can cut him off". I said, "it's a hunter calling" and he insisted it was a hen. I told him we were not moving an inch, but we'd hang out for the shot. I offered to bet dinner but somehow he declined. About 10 minutes later, boom and silence. I jabbed him in the ribs and told him, "never doubt me again".  I probably have exceptional hearing for my age, but it doesn't help me that much. It's all in the tone and cadence and knowing the language, as Happy said. There's sort of a hollow yet complete tone to a real turkey and most hunters don't have it. I hear it best off mouth calls, but there are some good friction callers too. Now for the meat, gooserbat is right, cadence is king. The queen is knowing what to say when. Most hunters approach a turkey hunt like a teenage girl at a sleepover, I got to talk over everyone else and say more, and throw in a few giggles. The girl that leaves the bar with the guy gave him a coy look and smile and a sweet hello, my name is horny. Since we can't give him that look and smile from afar, we best learn to say, want to come over to my place as sweet and sexy as possible. Fortunately most gobblers are like horny teenage boys and ready to hump anything that'll hold still, so mediocre calling will do most of the time. But if your trying to coerce  the pastor's daughter to slip out of church with you, I suggest  you talk sweet and low and be convincing. Oh yeah, location is a big plus. Your chances of getting the pastor's daughter out of that church aren't good, but a bar or party increases your odds. Find out where old tom goes to party and your gonna score more often. The moral of this teenage girl rant is, good calling scores more gobblers, but it ain't everything. I say there's four factors associated with success and you need to meet at least three of them to kill him:
Location
Gobbler's mood
Making the right call at the right time
Calling quality (cadence and tone)


Like poker, there are wild cards; A decoy will trump at least one of the above. Competition is the other wild card, that's why reaping is deadly.

[ruination]

Confirmation Bias.

[runngun]

That "Hollow" sound eggshell talks about is exactly the word that I was looking for. Just my opinion, that is why a trumpet call "can" be effective.
This thread is slam full of knowledge and wisdom.

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[paboxcall]

Almost ain't good enough on pressured birds. As Happy pointed out, they do a lot more than yelp.

Public ground, have heard many times a better caller pull a gobbler past a mediocre caller. Maybe ignore that mediocre caller might be a better term, never answering once on the way in.

[runngun]

Also I never Cutt LOUD!!! Because once you turn it loose, you can't take it back!!!
Progressive!!! More than car insurance.
I have a kind of bag thing that Preston Pittman gave me I think that he calls it "Flap and Scatch" or something like that. Sounds exactly like scratching in the leaves. I fold it up and put a rubber band around it when it is in my vest. Could possibly be the bestis "call" I have.

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[g8rvet]

I try to sound like a 2 pack a day, morally degenerate woman that drinks brown liquor.

Less is more, until more is more, but usually less is more. 

2 years ago I called in a bird that never answered my buddy's call, only mine.  The very next day, he called in a bird that never answered my call, only his.  These birds are crazy.

[EZ]

All other things being equal.... woodsman ship, turkey knowledge, terrain knowledge.....being a good caller, meaning striving to understand turkey vocabulary, their feelings and how to convey that message with any and all your particular calls, will always pay dividends over time.

When you get to the point that you don't even think about how to call or what call to make, you just react to the given situation, you've learned well.

That being said, sitting on a turkey rich farm with no hunting pressure trumps a lot of bad calling, lol!!!

[WV Flopper]

 There's a lot in this post I can agree upon, especially the brown liquor.

Out of a 100 times good calling and calling technique will far surpass the success of bad calling and technique, guaranteed!

I really only have one thing to say, and it has already been said.

Don't show your hand all at one time, work into calling a turkey slow. As said: you can't take it back. I enjoy calling to turkeys, very much. But, I have killed a nice pile of turkeys that have heard no more than three soft yelps from me!

[Spurs Up]

Personally, I don't think any of us has the slightest idea of what GOOD calling is.  I'll explain.  We are human beings and are hunting a wild animal.  For the most part, we all have that Perfect Hen in OUR HEAD.  We try to immolate that hen.  We buy calls because of that hen.  We have calling contests, entered by humans and judged by humans and award what those judges think is the World Champion based on this bias.  To me, there is only one judge we should rely on and that is that Gobbler we are trying to bag.  It is evident, all of us has bias on this forum, because everyone of us agree to disagree of what we think the Best call is.  We ALL get beat, even World Champions, every day of the season.  I believe calling and woodsmanship play a very Big part in calling in that gobbler and it depends on what that gobbler has in his HEAD on any given day.  Carry a bunch of different calls every hunt and see which one will get in HIS HEAD.  You may be surprised.

Great Thread Greg.  I think we will see some great comments.

Yep.  It ain't bad if it works.

[GobbleNut]

I do know some of you don't watch YouTube, but i do know you hunt public and private ground and have heard some pretty bad calling and some pretty good calling.

Agree with most everything already said before.  I would reinforce some of those comments about calling by seconding the quote above from Greg.  If you want to really see the relative importance...or lack thereof...of calling, just take the time to watch some of the lesser-known videos.  It is amazing what a gobbler that is looking for love (and wants to get killed) will come to in terms of calling. 

Conversely, I have also watched a number of videos made by "contest-level" callers that just didn't know when to shut up.  It does little good to impress yourself...or other hunters you are with...with great calling when the gobbler ain't buyin' it because you didn't know when to shut your yapper.   

In summary, be the best you can be with a turkey call...but that is really only a part of the "success equation".  Granted, sometimes it is a bigger part than some of the other factors involved, but very often those other factors are at least as important, if not more-so.   

[Zobo]

I try to sound like a 2 pack a day, morally degenerate woman that drinks brown liquor.

My kind of lady!