OldGobbler

OG Gear Store
Sum Toy
Dave Smith
Wood Haven
North Mountain Gear
Gooserbat Game Calls
North Mountain Gear
turkeys for tomorrow

News:

registration is free , easy and welcomed !!!

Main Menu

Trumpets???

Started by bbcoach, December 22, 2025, 03:35:47 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Ranger

1- Huge difference in just using this type of call in the woods, and working and practicing enough with it to be able to communicate and call up gobblers to kill with it consistently.  And then another thing to sound as much like a hen turkey as any in the woods, so keep in mind just because were all talking baseball that some are 5 tool players and some can barely catch.

2- If you're primarily focused on making long drawn Farmer yelps than anything else in the woods, that may be more to do with why you're not seeing the success that's been talked about with trumpets. More of what's being said than what its being said with.

3- The man talked about is simply the best caller alive with a trumpet. And yes he's better than Mark even though that shouldn't be important. There was a recording going around from Billy's shop a few years back and if you heard it then you know. 
"One can work for his gobbler by learning to communicate with him, or one can 'buy' his turkey with a decoy.  The choice is up to the 'hunter' " --William Yarbrough

crow

The first spring i hunted with a wingbone, i had a "hen" answering and coming in strait behind me. Her yelps were clear with zero rasp. I was convinced it was somebody making fun of me  :D sounded like somebody on an old single reed diaphragm.

This was 1 week after a an old turkey hunter got shot twice on public about a mile from where i was so I wasn't moving around much. A real hen finally circled in front still yelping clear as a bell. 

Kept her there as a live decoy for 20 min or so and she never had a hint of rasp in her yelps, she also didn't call a gobbler in either,  :TooFunny:
Don't know if she was imitating me yelping or if that was just her normal yelps, but it was the clearest yelps i can remember hearing

tal

 I wanna ask crow about the sack of corn call...

crow

Quote from: tal on January 04, 2026, 02:31:36 PMI wanna ask crow about the sack of corn call...




That's the call that replicates a sack of corn being poured into a trench. Still in development, working on getting it lighter in weight.

Going to call it the "Shake and Bake"


Ranger

Also something that needs to be said is that this whole trend of recommending guys to get one trumpet and practice with only one trumpet couldn't be anymore nonsense. If you're serious about hunting with a trumpet you're going to practice and have to practice a lot, but not all trumpets are the same and some have been making them for as many decades as some have months or years. And what Cornbread does on a Jerry white trumpet, another man will use a Ralph Permar 45 for, and another on a Buice with a #2 mp, and another on a Cox or Stowe. A man should try as many as possible and as early as possible in my opinion.

Secondly, just because a man has a huge trumpet collection and talks slick, that doesn't mean much.  Many don't hunt them, can't hunt them, and don't have blood or feathers on any of them. Talk to killers and men that have been making them for decades. ESSE QUAM VIDERI

"One can work for his gobbler by learning to communicate with him, or one can 'buy' his turkey with a decoy.  The choice is up to the 'hunter' " --William Yarbrough

TrackeySauresRex

Quote from: redwad on January 02, 2026, 05:00:32 PM
Quote from: EZ on January 01, 2026, 06:40:28 AMSome good points brought up. Everyone's experiences may vary. I remember decades ago, famed turkey biologist, Lovette Williams, studied the sounds made by turkeys and sounds made by turkey calls using equipment that measured sound wavelength. Wingbones and trumpets were nearly identical to that of real turkeys.
I think there's something to this and would love to dig into this deeper with someone who has more knowledge. One thing that is worth adding to this thread is my dogs reaction to the trumpet. His ears will twitch and he will turn his head. He will even come up to me and give me the impression that it hurts his ears. I can play a pot call or box call as loud as I want and he is so accustomed to it and he won't even acknowledge it. But a trumpet will drive him crazy. I wonder if our ears aren't hearing the trumpet to the full effect of other animals ears.
[/qu
Quote from: redwad on January 02, 2026, 05:00:32 PM
Quote from: EZ on January 01, 2026, 06:40:28 AMSome good points brought up. Everyone's experiences may vary. I remember decades ago, famed turkey biologist, Lovette Williams, studied the sounds made by turkeys and sounds made by turkey calls using equipment that measured sound wavelength. Wingbones and trumpets were nearly identical to that of real turkeys.
I think there's something to this and would love to dig into this deeper with someone who has more knowledge. One thing that is worth adding to this thread is my dogs reaction to the trumpet. His ears will twitch and he will turn his head. He will even come up to me and give me the impression that it hurts his ears. I can play a pot call or box call as loud as I want and he is so accustomed to it and he won't even acknowledge it. But a trumpet will drive him crazy. I wonder if our ears aren't hearing the trumpet to the full effect of other animals ears.

This is my take as well. Tone, deflection and decibel level that they put out. It almost sounds hollow to me. 
"If You Call Them,They Will Come."


Zobo

Quote from: EZ on January 03, 2026, 10:23:24 AMThe one thing you can garner from watching (and listening) to accomplished callers, is how little effort they put into it...the "less is more" factor.

Yup 👍
Stand still, and consider the wonderous works of God  Job:37:14

Zobo

#67
Quote from: EZ link=msg=1237801
IMHO, turkeys don't care one iota whether it's raspy or clear or in between.
/quote]

Hens make all those kind of sounds, there's really no right or wrong in the field as long as the bird comes in. I think a lot of this only matters in calling contests
Stand still, and consider the wonderous works of God  Job:37:14

Zobo

Quote from: appalachianassassin on December 23, 2025, 09:40:23 AMBiggest POS call made is extremely deadly in the RIGHT hands.

I kind of agree with this too
Stand still, and consider the wonderous works of God  Job:37:14

Will

From a different perspective and I mean no criticism towards anyone with their comments on this topic. I believe the trumpet call derived from the wing bone call made by Native Americans. I can't imagine they critiqued their calling and methods this much. The design, being an air suction caller, has a proven history of being a turkey killer.       

ol bob

#70
One thing everyone is missing in this discussion, is the assumption that turkeys hear the same thing we do. I spent years studying the sound each call makes including several hours in a recording studio and I came to the conclusion the they don't. I think its not the sound we hear but how the sound is made. Just the rambling of a old wore out call maker.

bbcoach

Bob, I have always wondered about what you just posted.  I posted about Redwad's dog post, wondering what the dog hears, and I've always wondered if turkeys gobble to a certain frequency.  We always talk about the hen in our heads so...  IMPO, I get a lot of gobbling from calls that have a thump in them like a Bass has.  Just my observations. 

EZ

Quote from: ol bob on January 05, 2026, 08:31:27 AMOne thing everyone is missing in this discussion, is the assumption that turkeys hear the same thing we do. I spent years studying the sound each call makes including several hours in a recording studio and I came to the conclusion the they don't. I think its not the sound we hear but how the sound is made. Just the rambling of a old wore out call maker.

Lot's of wisdom in those ramblings!!!

Yoder409

Quote from: EZ on January 05, 2026, 10:10:19 AM
Quote from: ol bob on January 05, 2026, 08:31:27 AMOne thing everyone is missing in this discussion, is the assumption that turkeys hear the same thing we do. I spent years studying the sound each call makes including several hours in a recording studio and I came to the conclusion the they don't. I think its not the sound we hear but how the sound is made. Just the rambling of a old wore out call maker.

Lot's of wisdom in those ramblings!!!

Yessir !!!  :icon_thumright:

Another thought I've had over the years .....and it applies to ALL calls.  Not just trumpets.  But, "that one call" that just had a tom eating it up ??  Going berserk ??  Is it because "that one call" has the tone qualities (whether WE can hear it or not) of a particular REAL hen that he knows ??  Some "local gal"....

Dunno.  If I DID know, I'd write a book and become rich and famous....instead of poor and infamous. 
PA elitist since 1979

The good Lord ain't made a gobbler I can't kill.  I just gotta be there at the right time.....  on the day he wants to die.

ScottTaulbee

Quote from: Yoder409 on January 05, 2026, 11:46:09 AM
Quote from: EZ on January 05, 2026, 10:10:19 AM
Quote from: ol bob on January 05, 2026, 08:31:27 AMOne thing everyone is missing in this discussion, is the assumption that turkeys hear the same thing we do. I spent years studying the sound each call makes including several hours in a recording studio and I came to the conclusion the they don't. I think its not the sound we hear but how the sound is made. Just the rambling of a old wore out call maker.

Lot's of wisdom in those ramblings!!!

Yessir !!!  :icon_thumright:

Another thought I've had over the years .....and it applies to ALL calls.  Not just trumpets.  But, "that one call" that just had a tom eating it up ??  Going berserk ??  Is it because "that one call" has the tone qualities (whether WE can hear it or not) of a particular REAL hen that he knows ??  Some "local gal"....

Dunno.  If I DID know, I'd write a book and become rich and famous....instead of poor and infamous.
I've often thought the same thing. When you go through your call line up and never get a response and then you pull out a particular one and a gobbler comes unglued and seemingly appears out of the sky, if that call sounded like a local hen he's been gallivanting with.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk