Using a turkey call while scouting

[jblackburn]

"Was I woried about boogering him?  Sure, but only if I let him know exactly where I was at when he got within 100 yards or so, which I did not and would not do prior to the season."

This is exactly my point.  You CAN condition them to not respond (meaning come in) to calls be calling too much before season (or during the season).  The first post was about calling on a WMA, who knows how many other people have or will go out with there calls and try to get a gobble and not know to back out and not bump the bird.  I am not arguing that turkeys are smart or that they "learn"  but, they are programed to 1) Reporduce and 2) Survive. So we are able to kill gobblers when they are "love drunk".  The same tom that is walking around like an idiot in April is a much more difficult bird to kill in the fall, we all know that. 

As far as the comment about calls. Yes practice is important, in fact it is the most important thing you can do.  And you are right, decent rasp can be achieved with a lot of styles of calls, but rasp really is not that important.  The variouse cuts and stretches of calls affect pitch and tone as much as rasp.

[mightyjoeyoung]

In the fall, they aren't looking for er, um...tail?     They're looking for food and can be just as easy to kill in the fall as the spring if you have them patterned.  In fact, ime, they can be very easy to find in the fall as they will still roost in the same general areas.  They will still feed in the same general areas, all be it on different types of forage.  What I think most guys come accross in the spring is that when they say that that bird wouldn't commit or hung up or just looked and then ran is that they are dealing with and seeing the birds' natural breeding responses.  We as hunters try to get the toms to do the exact opposite of what they are programed to do...come to the "hen" rather than gobble and wait for the girls to come to them.  How it manages to work so well is beyond me but I know one thing.  When birds are henned up, I don't even try to call to the toms.  I try to call to the hens in hopes of pulling them in and the gobbler just follows along.  I have spooked birds by getting antsy or shifting from a sore but or just getting up to move to a new set and heard that PUTT!!  Did I eat my hat and give up on that bird?  Hecks no!  I gave him a couple of days and went right back after him and more often than not put my tag on his leg.  Turkeys are wary yes...SUPER WARY for sure, but they have short memories imo.  One experience or a couple run ins isn't going to change how they respond.  Sure you might not see that bird for a few days but they'll be around eventually.  Thing is we have to learn not to do the same stupid midtakes over and over...and over.  I here the same complaints from the same hunters too often because they don't seem to wana learn to be quiet, and patient, and learn how and when to call and how to set up, etc...  They just keep making the same goofs and sure that bird isn't gonna stick around, but it also doesn't mean that if you give him time and then get after him again and DON'T MAKE THE SAME STUPID MISTAKES, you have a good chance of scoring.  Sure, some birds are wired a bit tighter than others and it doesn't help to have every idiot weekend warrior and their brother tromping around the public property, spooking the birds and bumping them over the next ridge, but it certainly doesn't mean they aren't killable.  I've done it often, where the guys I just left as they were headed out of the woods shaking their heads because that bird just wouldn't come in and I just get in when they're at work on a wednesday and smoke that bird within 200 yards of where they said they were set up...

[jakebird]

When i was a kid i would do this, even call em in to watch em strut. I was always phobic they would "remember my voice"  when season came in. I cant say thit this was ever the case, had years i killed and years i didnt. Calling a bird and spooking it wouldnt be something i would intentionally do, but if u pulled it off without him seeing u or busting you, he prob assumed the hen had moved on or found other company. Probably happens often in the woods. Its not a recommended practice, though, but in your case maybe it was th exception to the rule. Best to avoid turkey calls preseason and not take the chances, usually. Good luck in your hunt!

[DMP]

There really isn't a right or wrong answer but personally I don't do it.  When scouting I want to get in and get out without drawing any attention to myself.  Calling does just that and can end up causing you to spoke birds.  Will they remember it, who knows but I had rather not take that chance.  I've heard to many stories of guys calling while scouting and having birds sneak in never making a sound and getting busted. 

[Frankinthelaurels]

Under no condition should call in the areas your planning on hunting unless you want to bone yourself!! We had a group of young punks a few years back in the 80's that used to drive around calling on areas they didn't hunt and educating them until a couple of conflicts caused them to stop doing it.

[mightyjoeyoung]

Well I have hunted in 7 different states and killed close to 100 birds with the majority here in PA and in that time I have never once felt like I was "educating" birds by calling to them, all be it sparingly yes in the pre season.  Every single one of those birds but 3 or 4 were 2 years old or older and I knew where they were going to be, usually at least 2 weeks prior to the opener.  The MONSTER That came in this past Friday I have no doubt I could turn right around and kill the very next morning after calling him in the day before...  Every body has their way of doing it and to say one way is wrong over another way is just closed minded and ignorant.  The way the birds work in your area could be completely different just a mile or two down the road, let alone in another state or time zone...

[FttFttVroom!]

I call to them all the time.......seems to do more good than bad in my case.  It keeps them nearby and curious.  My dad calls them into his backyard and they are there a week before season till it's well over.  Doesn't hurt a thing IMHO.

[okiegobblers]

I call to them all the time.......seems to do more good than bad in my case.  It keeps them nearby and curious.  My dad calls them into his backyard and they are there a week before season till it's well over.  Doesn't hurt a thing IMHO.

Wow that's good stuff. I like things that go against conventional thought. I think it must boil down to a guys opinion on turkey behavior. Those opinions I'm sure come from encounters with these birds. If a bird does one thing it's going to make a guy think a certain way. So there is no right or wrong on this topic just different experiences.

[mightyjoeyoung]

I call to them all the time.......seems to do more good than bad in my case.  It keeps them nearby and curious.  My dad calls them into his backyard and they are there a week before season till it's well over.  Doesn't hurt a thing IMHO.

Wow that's good stuff. I like things that go against conventional thought. I think it must boil down to a guys opinion on turkey behavior. Those opinions I'm sure come from encounters with these birds. If a bird does one thing it's going to make a guy think a certain way. So there is no right or wrong on this topic just different experiences.

You got it!     

[redleg06]

I dont buy the "call shy" theory but I do think increased human presence will spook the birds enough to slow down gobbling activity and make them get a little more spooky than they would have been otherwise.

I also dont buy into the idea that if you call a bird in and he doesnt see a hen, he gets wiser to anything. I would almost guarantee you that this happens lord knows how many times in any given week to a turkey during the spring when he is looking for real hens...he goes to an area he heard a hen, and by the time he gets there, she's moved on and he cant find her. I just dont see turkey ever "putting this all together" and somehow associating this kind of stuff with hunters. 

That being said, I usually try not to use hen calls when scouting because I think turkey are better at seeing us in the woods than we are them, in most cases, so when you use that hen call, you are asking them to look for you and if one does it silently and then you bump him (maybe even without knowing you did it) he's a little more on edge that people are in the woods. I still dont know that he realizes you were doing the call but I do think if this happens repeatedly, they will be less relaxed in these area's and start feeling "people shy".

[redleg06]

I agree they are not smart, but they can be conditioned to be wary of extra loud mouth hen calling. Just like any animal can be conditioned to do (or not do) something. I.e. pavlov's dog experiment

I just have a hard time believing that in the relatively short lifetime of a 2-3 year old turkey, they can learn all this conditioning over a 6 week turkey season... 

Ive watched too many turkey walk up and down a 3 strand barb-wire fence, that they've likely crossed lord know's how many times before,  because they cant figure out how to go over,under or around it.... 

[WildTigerTrout]

I never make any kind of turkey sounds when scouting before the season. I don't even carry a turkey call. I look for sign and I listen ALOT. I do carry a crow call though.

[Lenny870]

Leave the call at home if it worried you but like someone else said if your season is along ways away I wouldn't worry too much but I deffinatley wouldn't try to call them in