Locator calls... Do they help or hurt.

[Spitten and drummen]

Use one once in a while. However I tend to let them gobble on their own. I have seen owl and crow calls shut birds down as well and I ain't big on making a bunch of noise blundering through the woods. I won't say they don't work. I will say I won't use them much.

[ferocious calls]

Have saved several hunts by hitting them with a locator. In fact I believe a Tom can be at times fired back up from a locator.

I raise Easterns. The pen will be calm with none of the 52 Toms strutting or gobbling. A locator can change the mood among them in a hurry.

The higher the pitch the harder the punch. I sell the Ferocious Shock Locator a mouth blown air horn that makes them talk even when they really don't want to.

[Ctrize]

I only use them in the evening to locate a Tom for morning. They don't hurt my hunts at all.

[GregN]

I hv and old primos owl hooter that works well first thing in morning.  Last year I called in a bird that only gobbled at the owl cool from roost... Never tree gobbled and never gobbled when he hit the ground and came in silent to just a few tree yelps.  I may hv never known that bird was there if not for owl call.

Sent from my SM-G892U using Tapatalk

[deerhunt1988]

I will hoot first thing in the morning or last thing in the evening if nothing has sounded off from the roost. Other than that, I VERY rarely use a locator mid-day while hunting easterns. Just have so little success with it. There has been a couples times its helped over the years, but not many at all.

Rios and Merriams? Break out the locators! Love me a coyote howler. I'll cover a ton of ground and hit that thing any time of day.

[mudbug_4]

I hoot (by mouth with no call) pretty much every single morning I hunt (unless I know where a bird is roosted and I slip into position early). I use a crow call during the mid-morning and rest of the day (does not often elicit a response but sometimes it does!).

[mudbug_4]

I have also heard turkeys go crazy over peacock calls (a fella had a peacock in his yard near the WMA I hunted and turkeys responded to that thing almost every time).

[mudbug_4]

Two years ago I chased a bird for two hours and all he would respond to was my owl hooting! This was all the way to 0930!

[Chordeiles]

Locators are just tools in the shed. Sometimes I use them, sometimes I don't. Depends on the situation. I always have them with me, scouting and hunting. Like most things in turkey hunting, experience is the best teacher. Whatever works best for you.

[appalachianassassin]

Two years ago I chased a bird for two hours and all he would respond to was my owl hooting! This was all the way to 0930!

that's kinda the point I'm trying to make. I wouldn't have wasted the time on a turkey like that.

[paboxcall]

Two years ago I chased a bird for two hours and all he would respond to was my owl hooting! This was all the way to 0930!

that's kinda the point I'm trying to make. I wouldn't have wasted the time on a turkey like that.

Totally give me that turkey. Every time.

[turkaholic]

In my opinion the birds I chase now are very different from the birds I chased 32 years ago. When I first started doing this,locator calls worked incredibly good for me. Birds have evolved apparently, and don't seem to shock gobble as much as they used to. I not only talking about my calls, but calls from the real thing in nature. They seem to be more quiet and realize they are giving themselves away. This may be due to the lesser amount of gobbling birds in my area. I still use locators but my hunting strategy has evolved along with the birds I hunt. I am more quiet in the woods and use things like gobble tubes , turkey wings and scratching in the leafs to get the results I'm looking for.

[idratherb]

 

[Greg Massey]

 

I've never understood what this means ... 

[appalachianassassin]

my goals are too high to waste the time.

Two years ago I chased a bird for two hours and all he would respond to was my owl hooting! This was all the way to 0930!

that's kinda the point I'm trying to make. I wouldn't have wasted the time on a turkey like that.

Totally give me that turkey. Every time.

my goals are too high too waste the time. I want to see 20+ longboards die per season. 3 years in a row I have done just that and hope to do it again in 2019. Best of luck....el sicario.