Have you used Ray Eye's Johnson Mountain University?

[rblake]

Has any one heard of/tried/have experience with this?

http://www.eyesontheoutdoors.com/about-calling-is-everything

Robert Blake

[Bowguy]

I think Ray Eye is great but Id venture you can get just as much information from folks on here. You gotta know who you're taking advice from but some on here is great, fact I might say most.
Ray Eyes videos are cool but he's using scenes to prove a point. Sometimes things work out just the way they're supposed to n sometimes we just don't talk about our day. 
I'm sure he has some of those. Also remember celebrities get access to property most just don't.
If you can afford the course, maybe it'll give you food for thought but what else could he cover that hasn't been already?
I'll say this on other terms. Take Lee n Tiffany, do you think you couldn't kill the same deer if hunting the same property? Id bet it's def yes. Anyone consistantly taking decent bucks that flee "just because" could sure do damage on deer that don't seem ever to be spooky, mature or not. Less pressure makes hunting easier. You can recite how great you are over n over for the camera.
Just my opinion

[silvestris]

I agree with one statement he makes, " Calling is everything".  I just don't think one can learn to communicate properly in a classroom.

[Happy]

I believe raye eye is one of the better ones out there. Experience will always be the best teacher but he can shorten the learning curve a little. I have several of his videos and watch them more for entertainment but I love his aproach. You don't need fancy camo or a sack of decoys and blind. Just a shotgun and a call. Heck 90% of the time he is in a pair of bib overalls. Yes I understand he hunts prime ground a lot. I have also watched him do the same on public ground. Also he will freely admit that there are days you just get your butt whipped and that's just part of the game. I can handle him a lot better than most "professional" turkey hunters. He doesn't have many sponsors. Not sure why? And yes I have seen him use blinds and decoys while guiding. His personal choice is just a call tho.

[TRG3]

I credit Ray Eye's sharing of turkey hunting information for most of the turkeys I've taken over the past decade. I went from previously taking a tom about every three years trying to sound like a hen (perhaps I'm just not a good caller, but I learned from Ben Lee tapes) to annually taking three Illinois gobblers more often than not with my Primos gobble tube. All of this was by simply taking advantage of the peck order that exists in both the gobblers and the hens. By using my gobble tube, I respond to the real gobbler, often cutting him off and giving the impression that I'm new to the area and I'm challenging him.  I set up within 200 yards of a gobbler on the roost and three separate times this spring, he came in to my gobble tube challenge and was taken at 20 yards when the real bird got in the face of my decoy (Pretty Boy, Funky Chicken, or foam jake over a hen on the ground). This technique also works when the boss gobbler and hens are already in the field by pulling off the sub-dominate birds to challenge what they perceive as a new gobbler. I've learned a lot by reading his books and watching his YouTube videos. There's some really good information through sources already out there.

[wvmntnhick]

Ashamed to admit, other than hearing the name from time to time, I'd never known anything much about the man until this spring when Happy produced the videos at the camp. Enjoyed watching them more than any other as far as honesty was concerned. Wasn't the most flashy videography and lacked some of the fine tuning but it was cool to see a fella show up in his work clothes and hammer birds. Made me feel as if I'm trying to overcompensate by a country mile. Also alleviated some of the pressure at times thinking to myself, if Ray can do it this way, so can I. I didn't, but it made me feel as if I could've. Furthermore, he readily admitted that you're only seeing the hunts that work out well. They don't show all of the blown hunts or things that didn't pan out. Gotta respect a guy for that. And if you've not seen the oscillated turkey hunt when he shot the bird running by the blind, you need to. I don't know what that load was but I want it in my gun next spring. 

[Marc]

I watched some of the videos on youtube...  Seems like he has a wealth of information, and it also seems that he is not at all modest about this fact...

Personally, I would like to see the videos that were not successful and hear is input on why.  I can tell you why (or how) I killed the birds I did, but I am often flummoxed as to why I did not kill many of the birds that have eluded me.

Two scenarios I would like some input on... 
1)Having more success on henned up birds.
2)Birds that come almost all the way in and leave.

I would consider his "class" if I thought he could help my learning curve on these two situations...

[guesswho]

Although I doubt it would happen, if I ever came across that guy on the public ground I hunt, I would politely ask if I could see(in my hands) the call he was running that day. I would then proceed to smash it to pieces right in front of his face. I would then simply just walk away. I have no use for him or his calling stlye

Just curious.  Why would you smash the mans call to pieces right in front of his face?

[1iagobblergetter]

Although I doubt it would happen, if I ever came across that guy on the public ground I hunt, I would politely ask if I could see(in my hands) the call he was running that day. I would then proceed to smash it to pieces right in front of his face. I would then simply just walk away. I have no use for him or his calling stlye Although they will occasionally kill a gobbler, there is nothing worse than an idiot blowing down the woods on public ground. On a positive note, it is because of these googans that I will always have well educated gobblers to hunt

Dang.....sounds like someone could use a hug..

[Happy]

I watched some of the videos on youtube...  Seems like he has a wealth of information, and it also seems that he is not at all modest about this fact...

Personally, I would like to see the videos that were not successful and hear is input on why.  I can tell you why (or how) I killed the birds I did, but I am often flummoxed as to why I did not kill many of the birds that have eluded me.

Two scenarios I would like some input on... 
1)Having more success on henned up birds.
2)Birds that come almost all the way in and leave.

I would consider his "class" if I thought he could help my learning curve on these two situations...

On the videos I have he does show some unsuccessful hunts and explains where they went wrong. I have no idea on whether or not he has an ego but I haven't picked up on it with my limited exposure. Planning on getting some more dvds in the future but personally I learn more on my own. Maybe I am not to swift but I tend to catch on quicker when I do it myself.

[Old Gobbler]

Lol , I don't think I'll be smashing anyone's calls


Calling in my opinion ...is important , but not everything in the aspect that it will provide everything for you , being a great caller in addition to being a good woodsman will elevate your hunting success / enjoyment exponentially - in order to be good at turkey hunting you need to be quite skilled at quite a few things ,but good calling will certainly increase your ability , it seems to be that extra thing that always makes a difference

[GobbleNut]

Like just about everything else in life, if a person dedicates enough time and effort to doing something, they will most likely get good at it.  Ray Eye is certainly one of those people.  I have no doubt that there are dozens here on OG that are probably equally knowledgeable and skilled at turkey hunting. 

There are some basic "ABC's" of turkey hunting that everybody should know,...and those can be taught through a media format.  Once those basics are learned, however, experience in the field becomes a major player in this game.  After that, success or failure is dependent a bunch on where and how much a person hunts to a large degree,...and in individual encounters any one gobbler, that gobbler's mood and circumstances he is in at the time,...as well as his "experience" with hunters, often plays the biggest role in success or failure, all other things being equal. 

As someone else once said, I will put my money on a less-experienced hunter calling a "less-experienced gobbler" any time than I will on a highly skilled turkey hunter calling to an "experienced" gobbler.   

[fallhnt]

I enjoy talking to Ray when I see him at shows. He has done more for the sport than all of us put together on this site and I doubt any of us keyboard experts can come close to his ability.

[Marc]

I watched some of the videos on youtube...  Seems like he has a wealth of information, and it also seems that he is not at all modest about this fact...

Personally, I would like to see the videos that were not successful and hear is input on why.  I can tell you why (or how) I killed the birds I did, but I am often flummoxed as to why I did not kill many of the birds that have eluded me.

Two scenarios I would like some input on... 
1)Having more success on henned up birds.
2)Birds that come almost all the way in and leave.

I would consider his "class" if I thought he could help my learning curve on these two situations...

On the videos I have he does show some unsuccessful hunts and explains where they went wrong. I have no idea on whether or not he has an ego but I haven't picked up on it with my limited exposure. Planning on getting some more dvds in the future but personally I learn more on my own. Maybe I am not to swift but I tend to catch on quicker when I do it myself.

Do not get me wrong, from the webinars on youtube he seems like a nice guy...  It is apparent that he is a smart an experienced turkey hunter, but he is not afraid to tell you how good he is either...

I am skilled and confident in my own profession as well, and there is nothing wrong with confidence.

I'd love to have a beer with the man...  Seems like a nice guy with a good sense of humor.

This turkey school does intrigue me, as it seems it could be a means of getting indirect experience.  As it is, when I am watching a turkey hunting video on youtube, I often try to consider what I would have done the same or different in a given situation...  I am often surprised at some of the successes I have seen on youtube "home videos" (given excessive movement, talking, or poor calling).

I do not have the means, access, or time to garner vast amounts of experience turkey hunting, and a video compilation of hunts would seem to me the next best thing to being in the field...  Could give me something to watch in the duck shack during duck season as well.

He specifically mentions "henned up toms" and I would love to see his take on this...  I have yet to have success stealing a tom from live hens (although I have irritated hens to coming in with the toms).  If he addresses this situation with success, you could probably talk me into his video series.

[rblake]

Thanks for your input. I have read a couple of his books and watched a few DVD's/YouTube Videos. I have learned a great deal, especially the ABC's of turkey hunting early in my turkey hunting. I also have gained a few nuggets of info that have helped me take mature Toms. I was hoping that someone had some "consumer use" so that I could determine if the University info was above and beyond the books/dvd's. I want to learn and understand as much as I can to make the most of each turkey hunting situation.   

RB