Practicing your calling?

[RutnNStrutn]

David, every year I tell myself that I'm going to start practicing my calling early.... but then LIFE happens!! This year is no different with the wife having medical issues. One of these years I'll make it happen!! Good luck this spring!! Please tell LT and Joe I said hello!!

[GobbleNut]

...but the best sounds you can learn from are from the real hens themselves.

Sorry to again get a little bit off the subject...but sometimes things need to be said... 

The above statement is true...but anybody that has listened to very many hen turkeys should be aware by now that, just like us humans, turkey voices vary a LOT. The consensus in the turkey hunting world seems to be that you should try to produce that "box call yelp" that so many contest judges want to hear. Gobblers in the woods are generally not nearly as particular about whether that hen they hear sounds like that or not.

At times, however, they can be very particular about what that hen they hear is saying to them...no matter what voice that hen is saying it in. In summary, you can practice your calling until you are "blue in the face"...but if you get out in the woods and say the wrong thing, even with that perfect "box call yelp" that those contest judges love, that gobbler you are calling to ain't necessarily gonna buy it!   

[Greg Massey]

Knowing what to say and how to sound like a turkey is always a big challenge, so always practice your cadence, first start off soft and add volume as needed ... Learn the basics of calling etc, I always say if you have hunted and listen to enough turkeys you can almost tell within a few minutes if that turkey is killable that day ...if not it's up to YOU to convince him you are the best HEN in that area.

I totally agree, not all hens sound the same, but they all have a similarity in sound... that's the same with calls, they are all made with a similar sound / tone ... So again practice as much as you can with good yelps, cluck, purr etc and put it all in a cadence... Nerves / adrenaline in the heat of the battle can cause you a big problem within that battle. So why not practice and sound the best you can... IMO

[Tail Feathers]

David, every year I tell myself that I'm going to start practicing my calling early.... but then LIFE happens!! This year is no different with the wife having medical issues. One of these years I'll make it happen!! Good luck this spring!! Please tell LT and Joe I said hello!!

I sure will.  Look for a PM.

[mountainhunter1]

...but the best sounds you can learn from are from the real hens themselves.

Sorry to again get a little bit off the subject...but sometimes things need to be said... 

The above statement is true...but anybody that has listened to very many hen turkeys should be aware by now that, just like us humans, turkey voices vary a LOT. The consensus in the turkey hunting world seems to be that you should try to produce that "box call yelp" that so many contest judges want to hear. Gobblers in the woods are generally not nearly as particular about whether that hen they hear sounds like that or not.

At times, however, they can be very particular about what that hen they hear is saying to them...no matter what voice that hen is saying it in. In summary, you can practice your calling until you are "blue in the face"...but if you get out in the woods and say the wrong thing, even with that perfect "box call yelp" that those contest judges love, that gobbler you are calling to ain't necessarily gonna buy it!   

I'm glad someone on here finally said it. I have sat by trees in the spring woods for nearly 40 years and virtually never hear that "stage talk' from real hens in the mtns where i hunt during the spring turkey season. All that highly and over emphasized roll over you hear in a guy running his pot call on facebook like he is the babe ruth of turkey callers, I personally have never heard that in the woods from an actual live hen during the spring turkey season.

The worst calling I ever heard was from a live hen. Most birds in the mtns around here have very little roll over in their calling and they sound like they are dying of emphysema from smoking the last five years. More importantly - they tend to call rather soft and they do very little of it. Oh yea, occasionally a hen will get agitated and go off for a few moments, but 99% of the time, she just gives a few plain yelps or clucks to let the other birds know what she wants them to know. I know what someone is going to say - She will do small talk all day long, purring and tiny clucks and such, but you have to be in bow range to hear most of that. 

Here is the truth - way before turkey season, you will hear a lot of that hen talk as they set up pecking order and preparing to breed - but by the time that the spring turkey season begins in most states, she is going to be like I just described her above. So my suggestion - as you practice - why not plan to do sound like "she" is going to sound during the spring turkey season - which is soft and subtle 99% of the time.

[mountainhunter1]

Here is another thought as one prepares to go to the woods - I have yet to see any turkey call, that if played correctly and all other factors being equal, that the soft stuff on it did not sound a whole lot more like a hen than the loud stuff on the same call. True on some calls more than others (trumpet/wingbone especially), but true on all calls without exception.

Practice with this in mind - soft is the secret sauce. 

But I do have a great friend on here who calls like the turkey is in the next state, and he will be by here likely shortly to tell me that I am all wrong. LOL And - he kills ALOT of turkeys. But I have often said, "As good as he has done, just imagine what he would have killed had he not being blowing their ear drums out the whole time."

[Dtrkyman]

I will say this, I sound a lot better at the end of the season than I do at the beginning!

After all these years calling and listening to turkeys I really believe turkeys recognize the sound of other turkeys, and sometimes we hit that note and things come together quickly.

[Greg Massey]

I will say this, I sound a lot better at the end of the season than I do at the beginning!

After all these years calling and listening to turkeys I really believe turkeys recognize the sound of other turkeys, and sometimes we hit that note and things come together quickly.

I will also say in most cases it's easier to kill a turkey in the spring than the fall... IMO

[GobbleNut]

Well, now that we have completely hijacked the thread...might as well continue on...   

I'm sure each of us that has hunted turkeys a good deal tends to develop a calling strategy based on what has been successful where we hunt. I think we all gravitate towards whatever strategy that might be. Another of my "theories on turkey hunting" is, if it works, keep doin' it...until it doesn't (which most certainly has happened on occasion).

If loud, aggressive calling from somebody has resulted in gobblers getting a ride home in the truck, I say have at it. However, I agree that doing that without knowing when to tone it down has probably kept a bunch of gobblers from taking that ride. Again, knowing what to say...and how to say it...and that includes volume, inflection, and cadence, as well as choosing the right combination of turkey sounds to be made...are all just as important, if not more so, than having a yelp, cluck (or whatever) that makes a contest judge happy.

I suppose my point is that, in my opinion, focusing on trying to get a very specific, perfect sound out of a call is nowhere near as important as making the right sound...even if it is not "perfect"...at the right time when dealing with a real, live gobbler.

Now, on the other hand, being the best caller you can be is always a good thing. Don't discount that. However, anybody that thinks THAT is what kills most gobblers is focusing on the wrong priority in the hierarchy of what gets them killed (again, in my opinion...which, with about ten dollars, will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks). 

[GobbleNut]

I will say this, I sound a lot better at the end of the season than I do at the beginning!

After all these years calling and listening to turkeys I really believe turkeys recognize the sound of other turkeys, and sometimes we hit that note and things come together quickly.

Totally agree...on both counts.    It is uncanny how, on my first set-up on a gobbler each spring, I end up asking myself..."How did you forget how to use a turkey call between yesterday and today"? 

I also totally agree that more often than we think, just sounding like a hen that a gobbler is familiar with is what gets them killed more than anything else we do.