Calling Em Up vs Down

[Triple Gobble]

I was wondering if y'all have had better
Luck calling turkey's to you up a hill or down
One?  I started thinking back on it and I've
Actually called more down a hill.  I know
I've always heard they're more likely to
Come to you up a hill or to you when your
On the same level, but it seems like
I've had way more hang up on right before coming
Over the lip of a ridge. What's been y'all's
Experience?

[jwhunter]

up hill for me.

but where i hunt the roads are on top of the ridges so i approach from high ground normally.

[Gobble!]

IMO they come up better than they go down.

[drenalinld]

I have great luck getting them to downhill if I set up above and uphill if I set up below!

[jakesdad]

I try to call em up the hill.At a bare minimum I like to at least be on the same level with em

[tomstopper]

Uphill for me as well....

[silvestris]

I think that they will approach downhill almost as well as uphill.  However, they have a great visual advantage when approaching downhill.  I often wonder how many stood at the top until they saw the hen that was calling or saw me because of their greater range of vision.

[born2hunt]

I have great luck getting them to downhill if I set up above and uphill if I set up below!

I had to read it twice but I got it.

[Marc]

I am hunting some hilly/steep country...

I have had them come down to me, but they are far easier to call up for some reason.  And, they seem to want to hang up more when coming down hill as well...

If I can get above a gobbling bird I will...  Last year, I worked my tail off to silently get above a bird...  Called him into 5 yards away, and it had to be the most mature sounding Jake I have ever heard...  Bellowing gobble for such a young bird...

Frankly, I have always been a bit jealous of guys hunting birds on flat ground.

[shaman]

My theory on this is just that, a theory.  I'd open to debate on it.

I have always had a problem with calling turkeys downhill, so much so that I gave up trying to call turkeys in what seemed like a very productive creek bottom.  I tried for 3 years and finally gave up, started hunting on the ridge top above and immediately started having better luck.

One thing I noticed in those three years is that between sun-up and about 0900 I was always getting cold, much colder than when I was on the ridge-top.  My guess is the turkeys are feeling the same thing.  When the sun comes up, there is a period where the temperature continues to drop down in the bottoms as the cold, humid air continues to sink.  After a couple of hours, the sun starts to heat the air on top of the ridge and begins sucking that cold air back out. If a turkey is cold from roosting all night, the first thing he probably wants to do is warm up.  Therefore, he is going to head uphill and start catching the warmer drier air at the top.

What I've found is that, when hunting ridges and hollows, most turkeys want to roost on the side of ridges that protect them from the wind , and then pitch down and work uphill  to where they are about level with the height they picked to roost, and then either get out in the field to catch the sun and warm themselves (in a very cold conditions) or along the ridge at that same level to feed.

The only days where I see turkeys working downhill off the roost is warmer cloudy mornings where there is no great difference between the conditions on top of the ridge and the bottom.

Bottom line:  Downhill  for a turkey means colder and more miserable. A hen calling from below is just assumed to be on her way up.

[jblackburn]

The few seasoned turkey hunters I learned from were always firm that 1) you cannot call one past a fence and 2) you cannot call them downhill.  I tend to heed this advice, but after thinking about this here are my conclusions:

1) if they would not cross fences, then you could just run them in a corner and lop head off with a corn knife

2) If they didn't go down hill  I think they would have become extinct long ago.

After think some more, I realize that this is very good advice because:

1) For what ever reason a gobbler will get "hung up", sometimes they will hang up where you just watched an entire flock cross.  This happened to me a couple years ago, it was like a force field was applied that only let hens come to me.  I was near a property line, so I did not have the option to cross the fence.

2) as far as the hills go, I think of it as a tactical advantage.  A gobbler walking up hill gives you a better chance to see his vitals and get a shot before he sees you.  A bird going down hill has a full field of view under him, if he sees you or doesn't see his "hen" then you may have trouble.

So whenever possible I try to get above the birds.

[WildTigerTrout]

I have called them up,down and around hillsides. If he is ready he will come.

[stinkpickle]

They tend to go from where they can't see to where they can.  If it's thick in a bottom and clear on a ridge top, it's easier to bring him uphill.  If it's thick on top and open in the bottom, it's easier to call him downhill.

[West Augusta]

If they are in the mood, they will go up hill, down hill, across creeks and roads to get to the hen.
Seems they just aren't in the mood very often. 

[buck_hunter21]

I have done both, but I prefer calling them uphill to me 100 fold.