How well do you really think they hear?

[Farmboy27]

Farmboy, you been hunting lot of jakes....you need to up your game LOL.

Nope. Just being realistic!  It's a lot easier to say that turkeys have super powers than it is to admit that we made a mistake when we don't kill one. I've had longbeards within 5 steps of me while wearing orange in rifle season. They don't have super powers. They are well adapted to surviving, just like any other thriving animal. So I hunt them like an animal, not like a PhDs, psychic, genius.

[Uncle Tom]

Few years back, had one jump on me while i was purring....thought i was a hen sitting there all camo up....like to beat me to death with those wings. No..he was racing his buddy to see who could get there first...got 3 shots off at both of them...never touched a feather. Never forget it...felt like a fool. Ole Tom Kelly said in one of his books you can never bring back a mistake when you make it...how true. I took my eyes off what i was doing...messing with a little match box call and that bird was in my lap before I knew it. Sorry for long rant...but this was one of best examples of how they can make a fool out of you and you just sitting there minding your own business.

[Marc]

I wish I could recall the forum member who made this statement:

"Turkeys are not all that smart, but they have keen hearing and vision and one foot on the panic button!"

No doubt they can hear you whisper or talking for distances that would likely surprise most of us...  They can likely hear a cell phone ring for extreme distances, and even likely hear it in vibrate mode (although I doubt they would interpret that as danger)...

I would guess how they react to those noises is largely dependent on hunting pressure (both from humans and critters).  The more people or critters after them, the more firm that foot is on the "panic button."

As I stated earlier, I have seen birds book out from whispering, and seen them come in with rather loud whispering as well. 

Heck, I am still looking for a "purring turkey" ringtone for turkey hunting, as well as a "greenwing teal whistle" for duck hunting...  Might not help, but certainly seems like it would cause less damage than a standard annoying ring-tone...

[Life of Riley]

If the turkeys can hear so well what is the point of tree calling and fly down cackles? Wouldn't that seem fake to the Tom since there is a hen sitting on the forest floor making noises they only make while high above in the roost?

[guesswho]

If the turkeys can hear so well what is the point of tree calling and fly down cackles? Wouldn't that seem fake to the Tom since there is a hen sitting on the forest floor making noises they only make while high above in the roost?

I'm probably in the minority but I never do the tree calling routine.   In fact I usually don't make a call until I feel confident I'm in the right spot to kill him. Sometimes that may be two or three hours after he's on the ground.   The states I hunt have all day hunting so I can afford to be a little more patient in the calling game than someone who has a noon cut off.

[dirt road ninja]

I'm probably in the minority but I never do the tree calling routine.   In fact I usually don't make a call until I feel confident I'm in the right spot to kill him. Sometimes that may be two or three hours after he's on the ground.   The states I hunt have all day hunting so I can afford to be a little more patient in the calling game than someone who has a noon cut off.
[/quote]

I've been trying hard to adopt that method and try not to call at all when I know he is still in the tree.

[Marc]

If the turkeys can hear so well what is the point of tree calling and fly down cackles? Wouldn't that seem fake to the Tom since there is a hen sitting on the forest floor making noises they only make while high above in the roost?

Well, I ain't gettin' up in the tree to call, and I certainly am not going to jump out of said tree while flapping my arms (to sound like wings) while doing a fly-down cackle.

As I mentioned, I do not think they are all that smart.  I do NOT believe they have the intellectual capacity to logically reason that it seems "fake."  I do not think they know what "fake" is.  Obviously the more unnatural the situation, the more their "panic" defenses are alerted though.

Personally, I think that the biggest risk with tree-calling, is causing competitive hens to go in and steal that tom, or creating a situation in which the tom expects the hen to come to him.

[Happy]

I don't get hardly an chances to hunt all day. Our Md season allows it the last two weeks but other obligations prevent me to take advantage. I often only have about a two- three hour hunting window so I do my best to kill them quickly. I will call to birds on the roost but it's situational and dictated by gut feel. 90% of the time I am faced with a Tom that is with hens or within sight of them. I have had decent luck getting them fired up on the limb and shutting up, doing a little leaf scratching to add to the cold shoulder approach. If I can get him on the ground before the hens pitch out then it's pretty well over for him. Sometimes it works and sometimes it don't. I prefer to not be in sight when calling to a bird on the limb though. I do think any time a Tom KNOWS that he should see the hen he gets antsy. Having the option of shadowing a Tom until he becomes more vulnerable is a great tactic. I unfortunately don't get that option very often. As long as I don't bust him I am ok pushing things and being more aggressive. Course sometimes that results in busting them sometimes also. What I have observed is a turkey will use his eyes to confirm his what his ears have heard. He will not wait for his ears to confirm what his eyes have seen.

[silvestris]

I am surprised that no one has touched on the subject of brain waves.  In the early part of my turkey hunting career, I had several instances of gobblers tucking tail and running for no perceptible reason.  I changed my predator mindset and began to think of baseball once I decided that he understood my call and all of that tail tucking came to an end.  Insofar as hearing is concerned, they can hear a soft call from an almost unbelievable distance.

[crow]

I am surprised that no one has touched on the subject of brain waves.  In the early part of my turkey hunting career, I had several instances of gobblers tucking tail and running for no perceptible reason.  I changed my predator mindset and began to think of baseball once I decided that he understood my call and all of that tail tucking came to an end.  Insofar as hearing is concerned, they can hear a soft call from an almost unbelievable distance.

I do believe in the brain wave theory for all animals,

many times before putting shoes on a horse I will stare them in the eye for a minute, sending a brain wave message that I know how to get them to the Alpo dog food factory if they don't stand still.
this works for all but the most stubborn of horses 

[g8rvet]

Best way I have heard it put, "Turkey ain't smart, they just live with one foot on the panic button".

Brain waves!  lol

[silvestris]

I was standing in a long line at Sam's a few years ago, about baseball time.  There was a lady in front of me with one of those CD stands with shelves in her shopping cart.  I began to think really hard, "you really don't want that CD stand; you don't need that CD stand, etc.". As she got to the cashier, she took the CD stand from her cart and siet it to the side.  Coincidence?  Maybe.

[g8rvet]

The other day, I saw Salma Hayek on TV.  I started thinking really hard that she should show up at my house, nekkid and in a good mood. 

Still waiting.


Coincidence?  Maybe. 

[silvestris]

Brain waves decrease with distance and usually are more detrimental with a lone gobbler.  High winds also seem to cause interference.

[renegade19]

If you don't want to be bothered with someone say a panhandler, as they approach stare straight ahead and think "Die, Die, Die".  Works sometimes.