Do you call while scouting?

[Phares]

When you are out scouting do you ever use your calls?

Thanks

[Plush]

Absolutely not. Cover ground and try not to let your target know you are even there. Get up early and learn their roosts. Don't teach them already that on the other end of your call is a person or at best no turkey. Just not a very wise decision to be doing.

[davisd9]

No. Can just calling hurt you before the season? That depends on your level of ability. Personally I did not like to call before the season as I would rather them not know I am there or have been there. I have had turkeys walk up on me scouting and if I had been calling they may have associated the hen they were hearing with me. Of course I have a variety of calls but do not want to take one out before I get to really use it. Some people do and some do not, personal preference.


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[GobbleNut]

If I am hunting somewhere that I KNOW there are turkeys there, I will not call to those birds.  The one exception to that steadfast rule is when I am thinking about hunting an area that I am not familiar with and do not know if there are turkeys in the area or not.  In those situations, I will sometimes call at strategic points during the day to try to get a gobbler to respond so I know there are some around.

I prefer to find out whether there are birds in an area by being there at first light in the morning, or in some cases, at last light in the evening.  Listening and/or using a locator call will generally confirm the presence of gobblers,...or not,...in a lot of cases.  If I can't be there at that time, and if I am unsure whether a place has birds, I will sometimes cut/yelp aggressively at strategic locations where I think my calling will be heard for a long distance and see if I can get a response. 

If I get a response at any point in those situations, I have accomplished what I was trying to do,...and I am out of there until I will be hunting that spot.  Calling to birds you know are there before the season,...just for the "heck of it",... is a great way to make them more difficult to call when you start hunting them.

[Phares]

Thanks for the response.  That confirmed what I already thought but I just wanted to verify.

[eggshell]

NO NO NO and Hell NO!!!!!!

[Happy]

I hate to say this but I agree with gobblenut and that's sad cause I think he is senile. I will call in a new area if its after fly down and i wasnt in the area at daylight. Only to get a gobble. That's all I am after. I won't even walk in the woods and call though.

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[EZ]

Why not? If you're careful and don't bump birds. I call often when scouting new areas, usually from a vantage point where my calls roll down through an area where I suspect (hope) turkeys to be. It's a great way to locate numbers of bird on larger tracts of land. If it's a small piece of property and you know birds are there, then there's not much use.

[LaLongbeard]

No reason. There called Gobblers because they gobble do your scouting with your ears. Turkeys also have feet... that leave tracks. If you need a call to scout for turkeys your lacking woodsmanship or an alarm clock.

[Bowguy]

Absolutely not.

[randy6471]

 Never.

[MK M GOBL]

You bet, locator calls only. I have four that work for me!

MK M GOBL

[EZ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJDWhyJZ6B8

[silvestris]

Not like that.  But I will call once if I am trolling and I don't have a clue where one is.  If I get an answer, it is game on.  I never call pre-season.

[LaLongbeard]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJDWhyJZ6B8

Ray Eye hunts private locked down turkeys. If you read his books he goes on and on about the private land he hunts how no one is allowed to go to a downed Gobbler if other turkeys are around no driving roads etc etc.
The perfect example of public vs private difference. Look at all the Florida Gobblers being posted compares to how long it took the Penhoti guys to kill a few. There is no comparison public to private. No reason to call to a turkey if you cant kill him I don't scout when the season is open I hunt.