Locator

[Brantley]

just wanted to see what you guys think about locator calls. I carry on owl hooter, not sure why, it rarely elicits a gobble. I can blow one just fine, but in all the years I've been hunting turkey, I've only ever gotten them to hammer at an owl when I was really close to them. Never enough luck with a crow call to make carrying one worth it. Does anyone have better luck with them? I think I'm done bothering with them all together.

[Life of Riley]

I heard ray eye say that he uses a box call to locate turkeys because they sound good and are loud. I think he was speaking to locating them in the roost the evening before a hunt which makes sense to me. I always assumed an owl or crow call are to be used right before daybreak or while out in the field, allowing you to locate a gobbler without moving him until you are set up in a position to call him in and shoot if he gets close enough. I'll also be interested to hear what more experienced hunters say as I'm contemplating if I should purchase some locator calls for next season.

[Bowguy]

Owl calls work great, seems calls that laugh/roll like the Hootin stick work best for me. I like the Gibson crow for crow calls. Surprised when I hear someone say they don't work.
Goose is another good one, don't like coyote. Coyote sounds work but they eat turkeys.
Now turkey sounds especially fly ups work great to roost. Using turkey sounds to run/gun will cause you to get caught sooner or later. Sometimes birds come in quiet. For that though if I did it Id prob cutt

[Bowguy]

......

[Happy]

Carry a crow and an owl. Didn't use the owl at all and the crow maybe 5 times. I don't mess with getting them to shock gobble on the roost. If I do my homework then I am usually in striking distance when they decide to talk.

[Bowguy]

Happy is correct but assuming you may be a new hunter, homework can be done night before by roosting once you know locations. You'll hear more birds making em gobble than hoping to hear one.
Pre season I personally don't sit on a hill n wait for gobbling. I'll pull up to area make em sound off, mentally log location move on this way as many birds as possible are located. It's to your benefit to know the whereabouts of many birds as possible in order to move of your morning set didnt pan out. Again youd either be striking them or sitting n hoping. Season by me is short so Id get after em.
Bear in mind you gotta be subtle n discreet in order not to screw an area up. Dumb birds are easier to kill

[TauntoHawk]

Owl call works awesome in the morning if I don't have a bird roosted, I have great success with crow calls all day long. those are all the locators I carry but my buddy uses a goose call but doesn't carry an owl. If I coyote howl its natural voice and only in the evening

[wvmntnhick]

I use a crow call quite often. It just works for me more than anything. Getting ready to send the money for a Gibson crow call. Should have already but got too busy last week. I'll only use an owl call early in the morning. And once the bird is located, I put it away. No need to use it more than needed.

[silvestris]

Owl can be used 24 hours a day.   "Oooh Ahhhh".  The crow should only e used after you have heard the first crow.  You should sound realistic with both and neither should be overused.  If he gobbles, get a fix on him and act accordingly; he has already been located, put the locators away.

[GobbleNut]

Having been a dyed-in-the-wool locator call user for five decades,...and having used them in many different locations and under many different conditions,...I can confidently state that there are places and conditions where the use of locators is unnecessary,...and there are places/conditions where they are almost essential for success.  The trick is knowing how and when to use them in the places they are needed. 

First, let me state that my use of locators is strictly for locating birds on the roost,...that is, right at dark in the evening, and right a first light in the morning.  Once a gobbler is on the ground, my locators are put away for the most part.  That's not to say that certain locators will not work then, but their value is less important.

Secondly, in roost applications, my experience suggests that the loudness of a locator is the most important factor, not the realism of a call.  Roost gobbling, in particular, is triggered by instinctive response,...or "shock gobbling", if you will.  A gobblers first instinct when he hears a loud, abrupt sound is to gobble.  That is why they will very often respond to sounds like thunder, or gunshots, or any number of other loud, abrupt noises.  It is an involuntary shock response that is programmed in a turkey gobbler's genetic makeup. 

There are many nuances in the use of locator calls that greatly influence their effectiveness. Perhaps the one general rule that is very important to remember is that roost gobbling at first light in the morning is invariably more consistent and reliable than that in the evening.  There are also very specific "windows" of time where locators are going to work much better than outside those times. 

This is a topic that we could go into much greater detail on,...but I suspect this post is lengthy enough that I have lost many readers already.

[Ihuntoldschool]

Yes they can work sometimes.  No, I do not use any of them.  Mother Nature is better at locating than any imitation.  While it is true that coyotes will eat turkeys on the rare occasions that they are successful in capturing a turkey, let us not forget Owls hunt and eat turkeys, especially during the night, crows frequently locate turkey nests and eat the eggs, and hawks eat turkeys as well. 

[Bowguy]

Owls, Hawks n crows don't hunt full grown turkeys, least not where I live.
Where I live also locators often work as good or better than the real thing guess it's dif by ihuntoldschool.
Imo
During the season typically were trying to shock gobblers n they couldn't care less about what's happening/who's raiding a nest.
They are super quiet when coyotes on the prowl though I did shoot one last spring n as it death whimpered the turks went nuts but they stopped coming in.
Guess it depends where you're at.

[Brantley]

Maybe it's more about how close you are when using an owl or crow call. i know it's probably not the most popular thing, but I use a mouth call to roost birds. At night and early before fly down. Just enough to figure out where he's at. I'm don't run through my whole line up. Maybe I'm just horrible on a hooter and crow call, but I don't ever have much luck with them. I appreciate the feedback on the topic. I always wondered if it was just me... Looks like it mostly is, lol.

[Marc]

One of my hunting buddies swears by and uses a peacock call.

I hunted a ranch that had a large wild peacock population, and there is no doubt but that a peacock call will light up birds on the roost...  Not sure if it would make them nervous in an area without peacocks...

Hunting the foothills, honkers are a common visitor...  I have had some luck with a honker call in locating birds on the roost....  Minimal success with an owl call, and the few responses I have had have been very close birds, but still better than not knowing they were there.

[fallsflight]

Secondly, in roost applications, my experience suggests that the loudness of a locator is the most important factor, not the realism of a call.  Roost gobbling, in particular, is triggered by instinctive response,...or "shock gobbling", if you will.  A gobblers first instinct when he hears a loud, abrupt sound is to gobble.  That is why they will very often respond to sounds like thunder, or gunshots, or any number of other loud, abrupt noises.  It is an involuntary shock response that is programmed in a turkey gobbler's genetic makeup. 

Yep!  I don't usually go out in the evenings much anymore to roost, once in awhile, but when I used to roost in the evenings more often, I would bring along one of my goose calls.  I would just wail on it making a long drawn out sound with it, nothing like a goose sound at all.   Or I would just use the truck horn.  I would turn the truck off with the window down or standing outside of it and lay on the truck horn.  Birds would shock gobble, I'd note the location and off I would go.



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