Cold Calling: Best Practices

[AppalachianHollers]

Been having a brutal time hunting these Whitetail Turkeys in SE Tennessee! It has been a blast all the same.
Saw 5 on Friday, but nary a one made a peep on or off the roost. Today I saw and heard nothing, but deliberately picked spots to cold call based on topos and inferences from turkey behavior on previous days.

I know what works one day might accomplish nothing some other days. But just so I know I'm doing everything right, can you walk me through how you approach a cold call sit, especially after 9:30?

I've tried clucking and maybe 2-3 yelp volleys. I've tried being even more aggressive and cutting as well as yelping. Sometimes I've just clucked sparingly.

So how do you call? How aggressively do you pick a cold call spot? What are you looking for? How long do you go silent, if at all, before packing it up or calling again?


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[paboxcall]

Try switching up your calls. If they don't respond to a mouth call, go box call, or pot call, etc.

[AppalachianHollers]

Try switching up your calls. If they don't respond to a mouth call, go box call, or pot call, etc.

Do you just keep calling until you get a response or do you just try something else after a 20-minute interval?
I just don't want to spook a silent Tom with overcalling. Sometimes I switch between box and diaphragm. I'm still not good enough with a slate to do much damage.


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[1iagobblergetter]

I have good luck hunting like your describing. I can and do sit for hours. I'll use clucks,purrs,short series of yelps,long series of yelps,cutts,etc. After I call I quit for 20-30 min. then call some more and wait. I've killed a alot of them this way. I'll run a trumpet and a Pot call or basically 2 calls to sound like a couple of hens etc. If one call doesn't work I'll switch to something else. I'll use gobbler yelps,Jake yelps,Kee kees also if nothing else is working.

[AppalachianHollers]

One other thing, how close to the edge of a rise/ridge do you set up? Or do you even set up barely over it? I worry the sound of the calls might not be making it to the turkeys, but I also don't want to get busted before I even get started.


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[Paulmyr]

You'd be amazed at how far away a turkey can hear light calling. 1st Tom I ever shot heard me scratching on a pot call as lightly as I could from 150/200yds away. Gobbled a couple times to it and came running in. Before I could do anything he was standing 5yds away. Spotted me a turned to run off. Luckily when pulled up on him I caught him with 1 bb in the side of the noggin.

I prefer to set up so when crests the ridge he is in range. Maybe 25/30yds from the crest. It's fun to watch them come in but easier to get picked off. Plus when they start getting close they expect to see a hen from where the calling is coming from.

[tlh2865]

If I am cold calling, and in it for the long haul after the morning rush I will tend to call non-aggressively. My logic behind that being that I am trying to catch either a bird that is a subordinate coming in quietly, or hopefully a dominant bird whose hens have left him. I feel like non-aggressive calling gives me the best chance at each. The subordinate bird can come in slowly to a calmer situation without me blowing his lid off with a string of cutts if he slips in at the wrong time, and the dominant bird who might not show up till 10 or noon doesn't have to listen to a hen cutting for 2 hours in the exact same spot.
Granted, that is a conservative turkey hunter's approach.

[AppalachianHollers]

I guess one thing I'm concerned about is whether the sound of my footfall approaching my setup spot spooks a Tom that would otherwise have been receptive to my calls.
Do I need to stop and wait awhile before I even begin calling, so he forgets the footsteps?


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[eggshell]

I am an impatient hunter and I don't do much cold calling, when I do I dress warm.....oh wait that's not what you meant. Seriously, most of what is already said is right. Ideally if I decide to cold call I do wait a while before I call. I think 30-45 minutes is great, but I'm not that patient and usually call after 15. I do keep it soft and and non aggressive most of the time, but before I move I blast a series of cuts and yelps. I set up where I can see as much as possible. That way I am less likely to spook a bird when I move.

[btomlin]

I have to have confidence in a spot if I am going to cold call for very long.  I want to be on very long ridges that have lots of smaller ridges.  I feel all of these areas may be different micro zones for hens and gobblers use the long connecting ridge to check out these micro zones.  Much like whitetail bucks checking different bedding areas for does during rut.  I don't want to be on a small ridge that may limit of the amount/ease of travel to my calling.  I would agree that non-aggressive calling is best.  I've had numerous times when I sit in one of these areas and would just "relax" and call every 15min or so that I have gotten a response to where I can maybe get more aggressive or scale back further depending on situation.

I wouldn't worry too much about foot traffic noise unless you sound like a herd of elephants moving through woods.  Turkeys make plenty of noise scratching in leaves and walking around.

[silvestris]

I guess one thing I'm concerned about is whether the sound of my footfall approaching my setup spot spooks a Tom that would otherwise have been receptive to my calls.
Do I need to stop and wait awhile before I even begin calling, so he forgets the footsteps?

Learn to walk slowly and quietly.  If the leaves are noisy, make your steps like a turkey.

[paboxcall]

And if you are set up and calling from a fixed location, periodically calling, good chance a bird will come in quiet on you - no need to gobble since you are broadcasting your location and your intentions to hook up. All you might get is the periscope head checking out your set up.

[Turkeytider]

You'd be amazed at how far away a turkey can hear light calling. 1st Tom I ever shot heard me scratching on a pot call as lightly as I could from 150/200yds away. Gobbled a couple times to it and came running in. Before I could do anything he was standing 5yds away. Spotted me a turned to run off. Luckily when pulled up on him I caught him with 1 bb in the side of the noggin.

I prefer to set up so when crests the ridge he is in range. Maybe 25/30yds from the crest. It's fun to watch them come in but easier to get picked off. Plus when they start getting close they expect to see a hen from where the calling is coming from.

I`m beginning to wonder if it`s possible to make a sound, no matter how soft, that a turkey can`t hear 100 yards away.

[AppalachianHollers]

All you might get is the periscope head checking out your set up.

Does this suggest a need to use a decoy so that he actually comes in?


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[paboxcall]

All you might get is the periscope head checking out your set up.

Does this suggest a need to use a decoy so that he actually comes in?


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I stopped using a decoy 20+ years ago, use the terrain to my advantage. Just telling you to always be ready that's all.