Turkey Calling: How often? How loud?

[Buckfever]

What are ya'lls turkey calling routines like? I worry about calling too much. Then I worry about calling too loud. Toona already told me my mouth diaphram call sounds like crap. (Thanks Toona. That hurts me deeply.)

I lost my favorite box call which was a deadly piece of equipment, so I had to use the mouth call.

I have been doing this a while, but I am always open to try what is working for others. I realize that I will NEVER be a turkey slayer like Toona or Bob, but I can dream.

Dave in Denton

[Buck-a-Do]

I was thinking Dave, when we went to the pecan fields it could have dropped out of the truck by the gate but then again you may have dropped it no telling where.

I enjoyed our hunt together Saturday morning, sorry I had to leave that night. I had a blister the size of Texas on the back of my heal and I couldn't walk. But I will be out there a few more times so that I can finish the next two tags I have left.

Yeah that mouth call does sound... well never mind...LOL

[jerp]

I think overcalling and calling too loudly is the biggest mistake we make as turkey hunters. From that very first series of yelps you make, any gobbler within earshot - whether he responds or not - knows exactly where you are. If he's interested, he'll come check you out eventually. I wait about 30 minutes between sets of yelps. I've scared off more than one tom by getting impatient and letting loose with a call only to find out he was sneaking up behind me. It's also easy to call too loud, in my opinion especially with a diaphram. I try to call no louder than a real hen does.

[Buckfever]

Call me when you get a chance Bob.

Dave in Denton

[tuthdoc]

If you've been out there a lot, you've heard hens. Just do what they do. You hear some hens call pretty loudly and in LONG runs. some hens just walk along peeping fairly quietly.

I've called ducks, geese, elk, deer, turkeys, etc. and the thing I've always done is listen to the animals and do what they do. I don't pay much attention to "experts" and what they have to say. The biggest critics are the animals we call. They'll let you know if what you're doing is right.

If you're sounding like a turkey, you're not huring anything. You may not call anything in, but that's just part of calling. Also, you don't have to be able to win a competition to call an animal. About 17 years ago, we had just gotten into spring turkey hunting. We were watching video of our turkey hunts and we had one guy tell us that he thought I was bad until he heard my brother. Well, I don't know how many birds this guy had killed, but according to our video, our calls worked pretty dang good. At least as far as the turkeys showed. My brother made calls more like a chicken hen in a barn yard and drew that out to make yelps. It was nothing like you'd ever heard on a tape or instruction cassette, but the gobblers would come running. We all ended up adapting what he was doing. People thought we were pretty bad, but we killed lots of turkeys.

As far as how loud and how often, you can let the birds tell you that also. If they're quiet, usually you're not going to call much. You also probably won't have much luck calling because you'll get impatient and move a lot and you won't let a silent bird work in. You'll just say they weren't working. So, if the birds are silent, call sparingly and sit longer.

If the birds are really active and lots of gobbleing and the hens are putting and yelping all over the place, then you can be more chatty. I love it when a gobbler just hammers back, time after time. I probably call way more than I need to in order to kill that turkey, but I LOVE that scenerio and will make him gobble just as many times as I can.

One other thing that I do when they're quiet or gobbling very little. When I move to a spot I want to call, I'll try the hen calls. If I don't get an answer, then I'll call again and answer myself with my shaker gobble. You'd be surprised how many times that will get a gobble answer and give you the confidence to work that bird.

[2050z]

I try to do exactly what the real hens are doing. The bird I shot on Sunday stopped responding so I stopped calling. I knew he was behind me and I read enough tips in the magazine to stop calling and let him work his way to me. I am certainly no expert and from what I keep reading this is a learn as you go. Not all hunts are the same. I like to yelp and purr at the birds. I sometime gobble back when I hear a gobble.

[Buckfever]

Thanks ya'll this helps alot. I love me some Turkey huinting.

When Bob and Toona beat me down and tell me I suck at hunting, well, a guy starts to believe it you know. Toona says I am ugly too.

(Smiling)

Dave in Denton

[Dahmer]

Some of the worst calls I have ever heard came from a live turkey! Pattern your calling with the turkeys in your area and you will do good. I have made some absolutely horrible calling sequences and killed gobblers and then made textbook perfect calls and had them run away from me.

Keep at it and you will get one.

[tuthdoc]

I can't help you in the ugly department, but like Dahmer said, some of the worst callers out there are turkeys. If you've ever been elk hunting, you will also hear some elk out there that have never listened to the "how to" series that Primos puts out. LOL

[Jamie]

I call too much....but I have more fun jackin with the calls and listening to the turkeys gobble back...then, I do actually shooting the turkey...

one rule I do have, though, and it's the same one I used waterfowl hunting...if they're coming...shut up.

If I can see the turkey and he's coming or...he's gobbling a lot and I can tell he's getting closer....I don't call at all.

[cosmiccowboy]

LMAO...just talked to a friend of mine that was hunting yesterday at the ranch I guide on...he had a gobbler grab his jake decoy by the head and carry it off about 50 yards whooping on it the whole time...

[Buckfever]

This is good stuff to hear that we are all pretty much having the same experiences.

Dave in Denton

[eradicator]

The cadence and rythm of your calling is much more important than volume or pitch. Most people call way too fast like the contest in my opinion. Same with duck hunting. All good advice on here, but fellas I'd be careful with gobble shakers if you're on public land. Shot one this weekend. 21.5lbs, 9.5"beard, 1.25 and 1"spurs. Pictures will come later, didn't have the digital camera with us.

[Bowhuntin_Toona]

I never said you was "ugly", just unattractive! I know some of the worst callers are real turkeys, but...........

BTW, how did the slate call and boots work?

[tuthdoc]

I'd be careful with any calls on public land, whether elk, deer, or turkey, but I'd use what works. Being on public land doesn't keep me from bugling or cow calling elk, and if I had to hunt public land it wouldn't keep me from calling turkeys. Making hen sounds wouldn't be any safer in areas where idiots are known to roam.