Do you call while scouting?

[mspaci]

Thought I heard Ray say that some Of that land was public? Mike

[Ctrize]

Yep I call.

[zelmo1]

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. Never ever call while scouting 

[Sir-diealot]

I have always read, heard and watched on videos/TV that you should never call when scouting as you will educate the birds, so that is what I have always done or not done if you will.

Now in the case I am hunting and not finding anything yes I used to call as I was walking and scouting the woods and fields and hope to again in the future.

[NCL]

Zelmo,

I am curious why you say "no" calling while scouting? A hen call would be a natural occurrence in the woods and as Sie-die-alot mentioned I have often read no calling when scout but have never seen a reason why. Thanks in advance.

[Greg Massey]

no way ... no need to call....before season.. that's why you have eyes . ears and feet ... it's called scouting ...

[NCL]

What I am saying is you could walk 10 miles and not see or hear anything, whereas, as a call of some sort periodically used could produce a gobble so that you are aware of birds in the area. I am talking about huge tracts of land not small parcels of a few hundred acres. Also not talking about  continuous calling but a periodic call. So what would be the harm in using a natural call such as a hen?

[Bay1985]

 

What I am saying is you could walk 10 miles and not see or hear anything, whereas, as a call of some sort periodically used could produce a gobble so that you are aware of birds in the area. I am talking about huge tracts of land not small parcels of a few hundred acres. Also not talking about  continuous calling but a periodic call. So what would be the harm in using a natural call such as a hen?

It's already been said get there before daylight and you should hear the Gobblers gobbling. The sound carries along ways. If you've e been in an area since before daylight and walked 10 miles and not heard a gobble ,seen a track or any sign of a turkey there's probably not turkeys in the area.
You apparently want to call really bad while scouting lol... go ahead. The harm could be several things.
You make hen calls and a Gobbler comes in silent he sees you, you don't see him and continue on with the "periodic" hen calls. You have just made that Gobbler a lot harder to kill. The number one thing is if you were the only "periodic " hen caller in the woods that would be one thing but for some reason new inexperienced hunters all have this same "great idea" when several of you converge on an area "periodic " hen calling your not helping anything. I see it every single year at home the week before the season nobody in the woods  then the Friday before the opener here comes the scouters and it's always about 9 am for some reason. Either get a good alarm clock or take up dove hunting would be my advice.

[GobbleNut]

There are instances where calling while scouting can be beneficial, for sure.  There are also instances where it is not.

The real discussion here is about whether a person can get in a situation where the turkeys he is calling to somehow associates that calling with a human being,...and in turn, associates human beings with danger.  If that happens, you have just created a situation where those turkeys will most likely be harder to call in when you start hunting them.  The more of those negative interactions turkeys have, the more that avoidance mechanism is ingrained in them.

Regardless of what anybody might tell you, turkeys are most definitely capable of "learning" to associate turkey calling with negative interactions with humans,...and will avoid that calling. Anybody that tells you otherwise,...well, they just have not "learned" themselves that turkeys will do that.

Now, on the other hand, turkeys can also learn to associate turkey calling from humans in a positive manner.  For instance, the person who feeds turkeys on their property can use turkey calling when they put out feed to bring turkeys to them.  As long as those people don't do something that makes those birds associate them with danger. 

Look at it this way.  Those of us that have set up feeders on our property are well aware that when "our" turkeys hear that feeder go off, they will very quickly come running. They have learned a positive association with that whirring of the feeder motor.  The same can be done with turkey calling.  However, do something that makes those birds think there is some sort of danger involved with human interactions,...and their attitudes will change quickly and dramatically.

Moral of the story:  Call if you want to when scouting,...but be aware that if you do it in the wrong circumstances, you are hurting your chances of success when the season rolls around.   

[NCL]

Gobblenut and Bay 1985,

Thank you, your answers were what I was looking to find out. I have often read do not call preseason under any circumstances but there is never an explanation why not to call which kind of seems counter intuitive. The "been seen by a silent turkey" makes a lot of sense, along with the how many others before you, couple that with the Pavlov Conditioning Gobblenut mentions and it becomes clearer. I live in an area that has turkey's in close proximity and I often sit on the back deck and call to them as practice to mimic the cadences and tones and I had never seen any type of adverse effect which prompted the question. Thanks guys I do appreciate the answer.

[Bay1985]

Gobblenut and Bay 1985,

Thank you, your answers were what I was looking to find out. I have often read do not call preseason under any circumstances but there is never an explanation why not to call which kind of seems counter intuitive. The "been seen by a silent turkey" makes a lot of sense, along with the how many others before you, couple that with the Pavlov Conditioning Gobblenut mentions and it becomes clearer. I live in an area that has turkey's in close proximity and I often sit on the back deck and call to them as practice to mimic the cadences and tones and I had never seen any type of adverse effect which prompted the question. Thanks guys I do appreciate the answer.

I would say the turkeys your dealing with from the back deck are not as wild as the turkeys most of us deal with. Some places you see fllocks of turkeys in pastures next to houses. I can tell you it is a rare occasion to see a Gobbler next to a road or in a opening that can be seen from the road in Louisiana . They have most definitely learned not to hangout near roads and what happens when they do. Goblenut was correct turkeys can and do learn to associate good and bad experiences. Some places you can blow car horns or crow calls owl hoot all day and get an answer. I guarantee that will shut a Gobbler completely up most of the places I hunt. I read all these posts about turkeys doing things completely off the probability scale when compared to the public land I hunt. It's almost like we're talking about two completely separate birds and maybe we are. Lovett Williams wrote about the relative Wildness of turkeys depending on there location.

[EZ]

Gobblenut and Bay 1985,

Thank you, your answers were what I was looking to find out. I have often read do not call preseason under any circumstances but there is never an explanation why not to call which kind of seems counter intuitive. The "been seen by a silent turkey" makes a lot of sense, along with the how many others before you, couple that with the Pavlov Conditioning Gobblenut mentions and it becomes clearer. I live in an area that has turkey's in close proximity and I often sit on the back deck and call to them as practice to mimic the cadences and tones and I had never seen any type of adverse effect which prompted the question. Thanks guys I do appreciate the answer.

NCL, IMHO, everyone's circumstances are different. If I were advising an inexperienced turkey hunter, I'd tell him to leave the calls at home. I've been hunting tough (eastern) Pa. public land birds for decades and I will use any tactic I can to locate as many birds as possible in the pre season. Although it's not my preferred method, I will use a call to locate turkeys in the right circumstances. Many of the areas I hunt are vast and with low turkey populations. Add to that, they don't always come back to the same areas in the spring after wintering somewhere else. I'm always "somewhere" at daylight listening. Then I move to other areas. If I can run a call from a high point overlooking a several hundred acre valley, and get a responce (or multiple responces) then I'm outta there, without having to stomp all over looking for sign and desturbing birds. As with anything, a little common sense goes a long way.

[NCL]

Thank you for the very informative thoughts. It seems to some extent the call/no call is very "situational". Heavily hunted area not a very good idea, as opposed to a very large area that is not often hunted. The area I hunt to oak covered rolling hills with a heavy grass cover. The reason I mention this is in one particular spot I have heard birds but never seen any physical sign such as tracks, feathers etc. so relying on just walking and looking may not be an indicator of birds being around, with that said the birds in that area seem to gobble so early morning does work.

One last thought, I have noticed the birds that live around my house, on one day will be as nervous or antsy  as a long tail cat in a room full of rockers and the next almost stupid tame. These birds are hunted but not very heavy, I know the guy down the road shot one last year and I heard shots down there this year also. 

[bonasa]

I never use a call while scouting and try to observe from afar. The best is listening in the morning for where they are roosted, second best is observe where they are strutting lastly I like to see where they exit fields in the evenings.

Get as many farms, permissions, out of the way public areas and check on them before the season even begins, scout them the evening before as well and I am positive your success rate will drastically go up.

[Here turkey turkey turkey]

Kentucky law does not allow me to call outside of season for some reason.