Turkey Locator, How important is it and how effective???

[El Pavo Grande]

While I am certain air horns will sure enough make them gobble, for my sanity I hope not too many around here catch on to that.  Man that could get annoying real quick if in the wrong hands!!!  I've heard a few honk their car horns, usually so often they couldn't even hear one if it gobbled.

[stinkpickle]

The crows are thick around here, so the birds don't gobble at them much.  My crow call worked well on Texas Rios, though.  Missouri and Iowa Easterns...not so much.

[gob09]

crow callers wont work on these public land turkeys
around here on our public land the crows are horrible on several morning rick and i were hunting on P.L.i bet there were 50 crows sounding off at the same time i started once to shoot a few
they were so loud we could'nt even talk to each other much less hear a turkey gobble

[WildTigerTrout]

WildTigerTrout , Thats one of the reasons it doesnt work in San Diego county too many people pushin birds around and hitting them with every standard locator on the market. Also to yote population is also high. Thats why I've gone to the extrem and use elk,snow goose and duck calls. I might have to get a peacock call to try it out,since there is a farm that has them and I hear turkey sound off to them. Im not to sure if it will work,but Im always willing to try it out...

Coyote calls don't work here because it scares the s__t out of the turkeys! We have alot of coyotes here and breeding season or not I don't think the Old Gobbler wants to end up as some coyote's dinner. If I use anything other than a crow call it's a hawk or maybe a pileated woodpecker call. Both are effective here in Pa.

[deltaeta]

I carry a few, but mostly just let the owls crank them up.

[Basin_hunter]

Great Post ! I am not a turkey guru by any means but I have never had luck using a locater call on the public land easterns I hunt. I had ONE gobbler ever answer my owl call ! He musta been a 2 year old because he liked to gobble. Two years ago on opening day somebody came flying down the gravel road I was hunting off of. Every bottom he would get to he would lay on the horn. A bird actually sounded off about 80 yards from me but the dude on the horn didn't hear him and continued hauling a** down the road.

[gooblnfever]

i owl hoot with mouth in morning with great success and box call later in the day

[timberjack86]

I absolutely use a locator call.  That crow isn't always where you want him when you want him.  i don't use it first thing because the crows are cruising and sounding off a bunch.  But if I need to keep track of a bird while I reposition I use one.  I also use them during scouting.  Before I'll cross a field or come over a ridge top I will hit a crow call to make sure I don't bump one.

I've also had success with a peacock call.  Recommend them after the turkeys have quit gobbling.  That annoying sound would make me mad enough to yell back if I was a gobbler...   

And yes they work.  I could credit them for many birds that I may have spooked or walked past.  The two rules to remember is don't over use them and don't assume they will get a response every time.  If you are where you think the turkeys want to be but don't get an answer to your locator, don't just move on.  Hunt it as you would if you didn't have the locator. 

[northern wind]

I've tried them all: crow, woodpecker, peacock, goose, owl, name it, even the "H.s. strut squealing hen" and never had a single gobble.
The only answer I can get is using a box call or a gobbler shaker but it's not always a good thing locating them using turkey sound 'cause I don't necessary want them to go toward where I'm calling from when trying to locate them...

If I could make them to shock gobble like you guys are doing it would make my life so much easier...

[gobbler777]

in my experience, locator calls are like turkey calls ie they all don't work all the time. The locators I carry are: crow, owl w/ my voice, goose and a piliated woodpecker. When one elicits a gobble I stick with it to get into position. Use them sparingly. Sometimes none of em work.

[gunnerj]

I have used most of the locaters with the success of making a tom gobble. I believe that all of them have worked at one time or another. We are talking about turkeys, not very smart, but very paranoid. I put the owl away after I here the first crow, and pretty much use a crow call the rest of the day. I use a shaker as a call, not as a locater. Same with a box call. You'd better have a good sitting spot picked if you are using them. 

[trkehunr93]

This kind of goes along with the post Guesswho made about roosting birds. There was a time, when I started turkey hunting here in the 70's, that it was easy to get a gobble using a gobble call, even after flydown ( I know, but there weren't many hunters, and it was private land). Now, that is basically a waste of time.

Then, for many years, I located, and subsequently killed, probably a couple of dozen birds at least, using an old no-name crow call I have that is quite loud. I rarely used it early, but if I didn't hear a bird on the roost I often would after hearing some real crows sound off, or, more importantly, later in the morning.

Now, now being the past few years, I rarely use the same call anymore strictly as a locator, because I just got tired of blowing the damned thing and not hearing anything, especially when I'm hunting in the South. I don't know if others have noticed this or not, but in my experience, birds just don't seem to shock gobble nearly as easily as they did 3 decades ago. I have no clue as to why not, but I honestly don't believe they do. In some ways, it is a plus, because we all know a bird that shock gobbles isn't necessarily receptive to calling in, so if you do hear a gobbler sound off on his own, it is probably more likely you will be able to seal the deal. Neill

I agree about birds not responding to locator calls like they used to, I carry my owl hoot and crow call but rarely use them.  I taught myself how to hoot and crow call using my voice so if I do it I usually just do it with my voice.  We have so many crows, barred owl's and pilleated woodpeckers in my part of VA that I think they are just used to it.  I may look into a peacock call or hawk call just for something different.  I think the best locator for mid morning is a box call, especially if you cut real loud.  My 2 cents.

[cahaba]

Now, now being the past few years, I rarely use the same call anymore strictly as a locator, because I just got tired of blowing the damned thing and not hearing anything, especially when I'm hunting in the South. I don't know if others have noticed this or not, but in my experience, birds just don't seem to shock gobble nearly as easily as they did 3 decades ago. I have no clue as to why not, but I honestly don't believe they do. In some ways, it is a plus, because we all know a bird that shock gobbles isn't necessarily receptive to calling in, so if you do hear a gobbler sound off on his own, it is probably more likely you will be able to seal the deal. Neill

I couldn't agree more.

[hunts4ever]

Locator calls are just that, they help you get a bird to gobble if you dont already know where theyre at. saying that, i dont rely on them but like anything else their are times when they come in handy and i always carry an owl and crow call.  They're never a replacement for good old fashioned scouting. good luck

[joker]

would not go into the woods without a crow call.