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One Technique commonly practiced regardless of season is Calling. Calling Turkeys is a crucial skill to the turkey hunter. And while some disagree that Calling is absolutely necessary to harvest turkeys, the large majority of turkey hunters use turkey calls in some manner during hunting and or scouting. To many it is an art form and there are even contests for competing Callers. Calling Technique is often a source of heated debate between seasoned Turkey officiados.
There are literally dozens of individual calls and more types of calling devices and manufactures of calls. To name a few, Box Caller, Cedar Box with Striker, Crow Call, Diaphragm Caller, Friction Callers, Noble Whistle, Owl hooter, Push-button Call, Snuff Box Call, Striker Box, Tube Caller, and Wing-bone caller. To the beginner it can be confusing to say the least. I recommend the beginner to ask several experienced turkey hunter's opinions and checkout the different types of calls prior to selecting one particular type. A combination of several calls may even be your choice. The Diaphragm Type call may very well be the best type for bowhunters as it is held in the roof of the mouth, keeping the hunter's hands free to operate his bow. I personally use a double reed box call, because I like the Yelp I produce with it. Just like Archery Tackle, this is predominately a matter of personal preference.
Going back to the individual calls vocalized by turkeys and utilized by turkey hunters, as I said there are many and the hunter must develop an understanding of which call is appropriate from certain circumstances. Also subtle variations in the volume, rhythm, and pitch of a turkey's call can be as important as the type of call. The following is a partial list of turkey vocalizations / calls:
TURKEY TALK
Most turkey hunters understand the basic language of the turkey, but not the subtleties of that language. Often the subtle variations in the volume, rhythm, and pitch of a turkey's call mean just as much as the kind of call it is. In some cases, they may mean even more. The most skillful turkey hunters - the masters of the sport - know how to add these subtleties to their calling.
THE TREE CALL - Tree Call |
Although some hunters name this call the tree yelp, I believe it's as much a cluck as a yelp. When I try to describe it to somebody, I say it's a muffled yelp made in a monotone. The tree call is a hen's way of yawning when she wakes up in the morning.
This call is usually the first sound a gobbler hears from a hen each day. The gobbler has been in that tree all night long thinking about sex. When he hears that yawn and knows his sweet heart is waking for the day, he really gets charged up. If you hear a tree call in the morning when you've slipped into the woods, you realize you'll have competition from a hen for that gobbler. Just join in with a tree call your self, and try to be a part of the flock.
Many hunters give a tree call the first thing in the morning, when the woods are still dark. But this really lessens their chances, especially if they're hunting a river bottom or flat ground fairly close to the gobbler. When a gobbler sitting half-asleep in his tree hears a tree call on the ground, he'll often be spooked. I believe he wonders what a hen could be doing on the ground when there's not enough light to see. A gobbler will be very cautious of any hen like that.
Never give a tree call until the woods brighten up. Remember also that if no hens are calling, there probably aren't any close to the gobbler. If you give a tree call, he'll wonder what's going on, because he didn't hear a hen fly up close to him before dark. He's had no contact with a hen then all of a sudden one calls before daylight. An experienced old gobbler maybe spooked off if you try a tree call before daylight.
THE HEN-TURKEY-WING CALL
The most reliable way to get a gobbler's attention in the early morning is to call him with a hen turkey wing. I use a hen wing because a gobbler wing is too stiff and large to produce the right sound. I flap that wing so it hits a few bushes and some leaves on the ground. This sounds like a hen that's just flown or walked into the area and begun to flap her wings, in the same way you stretch your arms in the morning.
Eight out of ten times, this flapping call will get a response from the gobbler. He'll either gobble or fly down. Then I use a series of soft yelps. Once you begin to think like turkeys, you can begin to understand their calls, and you're better able to communicate with them.
THE LOST CALL - LostorAssembly Call |
Another call is the lost call - which is different from yelps, because this one has yearning in it. The lost call means "I want you to come to me, or I want to come to you. I don't want to be here alone." I use the lost call primarily in the fall, after I've scattered a flock of turkeys. I rarely use it in the spring.
The difference between a lost call and a long series of yelps is the slight tonal changes you make when giving the lost call. If a lost call doesn't sound pleading, it's not a good one. What separates the mastercallers from the hunters who merely call is that the masters put life and emotion into their calls. The slightest difference in inflection can completely change the meaning. When you hear the lost call in the woods during thefall, you know there are turkeys out there searching for one another. If you give the lost call, you can reel them in as though they were on a string.
When the dominant hen gives the lost call, she calls the flock back together again, which means that the young gobblers will return where she is. Therefore if a hunter can scatter a flock of turkeys in the fall and then give the lost call like a dominant hen, he can bring the jakes within gun range.
THE YELP - Yelp |
In meaning, the yelp is probably the most complicated call. It can be a coy, contented call that a hen gives when she walks around feeding on grass, bugs, or acorns. A hen giving this contented yelp is like a woman saying, "I know you're over there, and I know you think you're hotstuff. But you don't flip my switch at all." The yelp can also bean excited invitation to a gobbler to come and make love. This excited yelp is like the response a woman may give when she's waited for an hour and then the telephone finally rings. She'll grab it and say, "Where have you been? I've been waiting for you!"
Both these types of yelps will call a gobbler into bow range. Sometimes only one type or the other will work on a particular gobbler, but a lot of the time either will work. The contented yelp may bring a gobbler in just as quick as the excited yelp - often even quicker.
Many old gobblers are like certain men. When a female is coy, they just have to come running to show off their stuff. They assume that, if she could actually see what she was missing, she'd be much more excited. So they really fall for that coy, contented yelp.
Yet another type is what I call the prospecting yelp. This is the one a hen gives when she's just trying to locate a gobbler. You can use ita few times while walking down a logging road or over a ridge, just tolet a gobbler know that you're in his area and that you're available. This signals to him in much the same way as a woman walking down the street in a short reddress signals to men. When a gobbler answers your prospecting yelp, then you can decide whether to call him in with the coy, contented yelp, or the excited, come-on-over-big-boy kind of yelp.
THE CLUCK - Cluck |
Turkeys cluck for various reasons. There's a contented cluck the hen gives when she's out in a field chasing grasshoppers or other insects. Then there's the cluck that means real excitement, which the hen gives in a series when a tom gobbles.
This excited cluck can get hunters into trouble. If a hunter doesn't know how to give it properly, or if a turkey misinterprets it, it can sound like a putt. Actually, the putt is a variation of the cluck, but the putt means "Danger! Get out of here." To prove this point, I once played a turkey-calling tape to a yard full of turkey poults. Every one of them took off and hid, because for some reason they interpreted the cluck as a putt.
To tell the difference between the two, notice the pitch and sharpness of the call. If it's high pitched and very sharp, it's a putt. If it's not so high pitched and has a flatter sound, then it's a cluck. There's a fine line between the cluck and the putt.
For that reason, I never use a cluck to call a gobbler unless I follow it with a series of yelps. Then there can be no mistaking the call, because no hen is going to putt and then yelp. If I want to use only a couple of really excited clucks, I always throw in one or two yelps at the end. That wayI won't frighten the gobbler off.
THE PUTT - Putt |
The putt is the alarm call and is given when a turkey is upset or frightened. It sounds like a pair of two-by-fours being slapped together. I've seen turkeys putt at snakes. I've seen them putt and leave a field as a deer walked in to it.
I've watched a turkey walk toward a hunter, see his silhouette, give one or two putts, and walk off. The hunter didn't even move. The turkey didn't know exactly what the silhouette was, but realized something wasn't right. If he had seen the hunter move, he would probably have given several excited putts and either flown or run off.
THE KEE-KEE RUN
A young turkey doesn't come equipped with adult turkey language, and has to use the calls he or she is able to make. The kee-kee run is like the words of a child just learning to talk. It's the call that a younghen or gobbler makes when attempting to yelp, but the sound is more like whistling than yelping.
Young turkeys use the kee-kee to locate their mamas or the rest of the flock. But it's not just a call they use when they're lost. They also use it when they're milling around in a flock together.
Most hunters use the kee-kee run in the fall. They bust up a flock of turkeys, then try to call them together and draw a gobbler into gun range. But I use the kee-kee in the spring as well. It's especially effectivefor oldtoms that are reluctant to gobble. A tom will usually gobble inanswer toa high-pitched call. When a crow flies over and gives a high-pitched call, a tom will generally gobble to it. Since the kee-kee has a high pitch,manytimes you can give it in the spring and make an older gobbler croak out a mating call. Also, some young gobblers will still kee-kee in the spring. So it's not out of character for a young gobbler to kee-kee then, and for an old gobbler to answer.
THE GOBBLE
The gobble is the mating call of the male turkey, given in the spring to attract hens. Many hunters overlook the gobble and fail to use it. But any hunter who wants to become a master will learn how and when to gobble.
The gobble is potent on old turkeys and young ones, but seldom effective on middle-aged turkeys. An old gobbler will get jealous when he hears a gobble, and will come in to fight. A young one, when he hears it, will assume there's a flock of turkeys in the neighborhood and will want to join them. A middle-aged gobbler, however, is usually reluctant to challenge an older gobbler or to fool with a younger one. Therefore, when you gobble you separate turkeys into age groups - those that will come and those that won't.
Very few hunters can gobble well with their mouths, but many can learn to gobble with a snuff-box call. By using your throat, your lips, and your finger to strum the inside rubber of the snuff box, you can make a very effective gobble. In my opinion, the best snuff-box call to gobble on is the Morgan call, because it's big enough to put your finger in.
Although many hunters use shaking-type gobbling tubes, the only one I have much confidence in is the Red Wolf gobbling tube. Often, a box caller is a very effective tool for gobbling. A realistic gobble is probably the most difficult call the hunter has to make.
DRUMMING
Drumming is a sound that gobblers make in the spring when they're strutting. It's a mating call. At times, I've been in the woods with hens in front of me, and then behind me I've heard a gobbler drumming. As I watched, the henswould come to attention and go running to him. For that reason, I know drummingis one of the turkey's mating calls.
A drumming call can sometimes be heard 150 yards away in the woods. The sound is made deep in the gobbler's chest and is very resonant and hollow. The best way to describe drumming is to say it sounds like an 18-wheeler shifting gears. Often, I've been in the woods and heard an 18-wheeler several miles away slow down and shift gears, and I haven't been sure whether I heard the 18-wheeler or a turkey drumming. The sound is vroomm!
Few hunters use the drumming call. But drumming can be practiced, learned, and used very effectively to take gobblers. The best way to learn what drumming sounds like and how to imitate it is to find a wild turkey in captivity, and watch him and listen to him in the spring. As you listen, practice the drumming sound with your mouth.
Often you can use a drumming call alone to get a gobbler to come to you. It's productive when an older gobbler hangs up 50 or 60 yards from you, and you can't decide whether to gobble at him or not. If he's a sub-dominant turkey, a gobble may run him off. I usually give the drumming call, and many times that will break him out of his strut. Even if he hasn't been strutting, it will bring him in to check out this other gobbler drumming near the hen she thinks he's heard.
Another kind of drumming, which most hunters completely overlook, is the kind a turkey does on his roost. A turkey doesn't have to be in full strut to drum, but he does have to hold his tail at least barely out and spread, and lay his head back. At times, I've seen turkeys strut and drum on the limb.
When the weather is inclement, or when dogs or hunters have harassed the turkeys, often turkeys drum rather than gobble. Most of the time, they'll be drumming on the limbs in the mornings before they fly down. If you listen for that drumming in the morning, many times you can find a turkey without having to hear him gobble.
THE CACKLE Fly Down Cackle |
Often, this call is mistakenly labeled the "fly-down cackle." Hen turkeys do use this call when they fly off the roost. But they also cackle when flying across a creek, when jumping from one small depression in the ground to another, or when expressing excitement for any other reason. Turkeys don't have any laid-down, concrete rules as to when they give a call. Sometimes they give one just because they want to.
Cackling is simply excited yelping. A hen turkey shows the degree of her excitement by how she gives her yelps. The cackle most hunters call the fly-down cackle, which a hen gives as she flies off the limb and hits the ground, is just her expression of joy at meeting the new day. She's been awake about an hour, and finally there's enough light for her to fly down and begin to eat, socialize, and mate. So naturally she's excited when she gets to jump out of that tree. To express her excitement, she cackles.
Another reason a hen cackles is that she knows mating time has arrived and she's excited about finding her gobbler. Actually, a hen will cackle almost anytime she gets excited about anything. When you hear a cackle, you know that somewhere out there something exciting and intense is happening.
I believe the most effective time to use the cackle is when a gobbler is in the air. When I go to a gobbler in the morning, I establish my presence by giving a few soft yelps and beating a hen wing in the air. Then I beat the wing against trees and leaves so he knows I'm on the ground. And I listenfor that gobbler to fly down. When I hear him start to fly I give a loud, strong cackle, as if to say, "I'm excited to hear you coming, and can't wait for you to get here." By cackling when I hear him fly down, I establish a strong bond with him.
I've discovered that by using this tactic I kill more turkeys in the first five minutes of hunting than I do at any other time. The cackle is so strong a gobbler can't resist coming. I've actually seen gobblers start to flydown, turn in mid-air when I cackled, and land right in front of me. SoI think the most effective time to cackle is when you hear them leave the tree and they're still in the air.
CUTTING
Cutting is what the northern boys have decided to call what we in theSouth have always considered to be excited clucking. The call is still the same. Those Yankee hunters just decided to give it a newer and classier name. Cutting is a series of fast, excited clucks put together to show an other degree of the hen's excitement.
The best way to explain what cutting means to an old gobbler is to relate it to what can happen at a bar. A man sits there on a stool beside a woman he'strying to pick up, and suddenly she gets excited. She throws her house key on the counter in front of him. Automatically, the man knows what's going to take place. When a hen starts to cut, a gobbler reads her as though she's just handed him her house key. That's the reason cutting is such a deadly call to use for an older gobbler.
THE WAVY CALL
This is another call often overlooked by hunters. I use the term wavy because the pitch changes as the call is given, starting on the crest of a wave and then sliding down the side and climbing halfway up the side of the next wave. A hen gives this call when she's extremely content - when the sun is shining on a spring or fall day, and she's way out in the middle of a field, far from danger, chasing crickets or grasshoppers and just happy to be alive. It's a feeding call, and the sound is sort of pee-uuuu.
I use this call with the basic yelps when I'm trying to act unconcerned about a gobbler. I want him to think I could care less whether he comes over whereI am. Then he'll decide he has to influence me and show me just what a fine gobbler he really is, so I'll get excited and be ready to matewith him. When he comes to impress me, that's when I take him.
THE PURR - Purr |
The purr is another contented call of the hen. She doesn't think Now I'm going to give a purr, but instead just gives it when she's happy. She's really not conscious of giving the purr.
The purr may compare best to a woman's humming. She's not humming because she means anything by it. She's just happy with her situation and her surroundings, and humming is the best way to express her contentment.
Many times, you can use the purr early in the morning to communicate to a gobbler that a hen is contented and has no intention of mating. This call will often cause him to come to the hen and try to get her interested in him.
What you must remember about using hen calls is the two attitudes a hen turkey may take when she hears a gobbler. One attitude is excitement. She's ready to breed and anxious for the gobbler to come and make love to her. The other is a coy, contented attitude. The hen doesn't really care who the gobbler is or where he is. Often, an old gobbler ready to mate will come to this kind of hen quicker than he will to an aggressive one.
But neither technique works on all gobblers. Some like the coy type of calling, while others prefer the aggressive, come-on-let's-get-it-on type of calling. Being able to determine which type of calling is best is what separates the master turkey hunters from the novices.
These Links are WAV files demonstrating commonly used calls:
Yelp | Cluck|Chirp|Purr|Whine|MatingYelp|FlyDown Cackle|Lostor Assembly Call |MatingCackle|PooPoo| Putt| TreeCall|
At a minimum, a prospective turkey hunter should learn several of the
most common calls and become familiar with the circumstances in which they
should be applied. For example, the Yelp, the Lost Call, the
Purr, and Cluck aregood starters. Audio tape recordings of most of
the major callsare readily available. Some call manufactures provide
these with the purchase of their call. Take the time to learn the
basics prior to going afield for turkey.
Questions?
Comments? Post other Turkey Hunters at the Wild Turkey Network Message
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Patience, the defining term for bowhunting in general, is even more paramount in the endeavor to harvest turkey with archery tackle. Please feel freeto email me any questions,comments or suggestions.