Turkeys communicate through a series of sounds that they respond to, or with in their environment. They relate to these sounds for safety, warning of danger, to locate each other, and of course to find a mate. The sounds one might hear in the turkey woods are mostly made by hens such as purrs, clucks, cackles and yelps. The gobbler also makes these sounds, but there are two sounds exclusive to the gobbler. They gobble naturally which is the mating call and make a non-vocal call which is known as drumming. Drumming is caused by the vibrating of quills in his plumage when he expands and contracts his feathers during full strut. One thing to understand about the gobbler that he is calling hens to himself. But, as turkey hunters we are trying to reverse this process by using sounds of a hen to make him come to us. Learning how to do this takes hours in the turkey woods. I recommend for beginners to invest in an H. S. Strut instructional DVD and 3 basic calls. My choices would be a Primos Box Cutter call, a Cody Slate call and if you have the time to practice, get our H. S. Strut single or double reed diaphragm call.

The best advice I can give to a beginner is when you are working a bird into your set up, never outcall the gobbler. Always stay one level below his interest. In other words, tease him and make it sound like you’re not interested in him. One of my favorite tricks for playing hard to get is to make a pile of leaves and sift them with a stick as I make feeding purrs with my Legacy diaphragm calls. This makes the Tom think that hens are feeding along, that everything is content and the woods are safe. But, at the same time, it sounds like the hens are more interested in feeding than love. A gobbler can’t stand being left out of the picture and will usually try to find the source of the calling. One helpful rule to remember that I use is I say to myself, “How can I kill this bird with the least amount of calling?” Start with subtle and less aggressive calling but be prepared to take it to the next level.

Now that the bird is convinced you are the real thing and is on his way, it is important to stop calling at this point and make him seek you out. The moment of truth is approaching. You’ve done everything right and there he is at forty yards only to realize your gun barrel is pointed in the wrong direction. This scenario can be avoided by paying attention to the direction of the gobble and continue to shift your body and gun into the right position. Also, be ready to take advantage of the cover between you and the bird before he actually appears. If your gun is off a few degrees, you can move your gun barrel slightly when his vision is blocked by a tree or other type of cover. When the bead is on his neck, let him take his natural course and enjoy the show. Then take him when you get the shot. A good turkey vest helps me to sit comfortably and keeps my calls organized. It also keeps me from losing my calls in case I have to get up and move to a better tree.

Stop by Green Top and I’ll be glad to give any instruction that can help with your success. Maybe this will be the season that you dethrone the King of Spring. Happy Hunting!

-Joe Rothgeb

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 8th, 2010 at 7:04 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.