Calling gobblers can be easier than you think

It was a simple question. A man asked a few days ago if i was a great turkey caller.

The answer was a resounding "no." Great callers are guys such as Greg Abbas, Chris Boesel, Paul Butski, Bob Garner, David Hale, Rob Keck, Dick Kerby, Harold Knight, Arnie Minka, Will Primos, Carl Salling, and a host of others. I'm not a great turkey caller, and must fight hard to make even a passable yelp on my diaphragm call.

However, after many successful years of turkey calling and hunting, I am OK. I can call most birds I encounter. I considered the question put to my by the young man, and it's obvious he's looking for some help. I can't help him much by telling him how to blow a better yelp with a mouth call.

I didn't have much time to talk with him that day but will see him again this week. In the meantime, I can teach him a few tricks about calling and hunting turkeys.

There are two basic things to remember about turkey calling: Don't call too often and don't call too loud. Let's take a look at these aspects of calling.

Gobblers like those fanned out are to call when with hens.

Someone who toodles too often on a turkey call usually winds up spooking birds. They tend to call too often and too loud, and occasionally at the wrong time, thereby spooking gobblers that may be coming to the call. They also may blow a "clinker," a sound that is not natural to a turkey's limited vocabulary. That can send a bird scurrying into the next county ... but not always.

Hunters are wise to limit their calling in most cases. As a general rule, let a gobbler do most of the talking. Call just enough to keep him interested. A bird that calls but keeps getting farther and farther away, is not going to come at that time. After the gobblers and hens separate about 10-11 a.m., the talkative gobbler may return to where he heard a hen call. Patience is one of the best friends a hunter has. Sitting still for three or four hours can be a painful exercise but gobblers often return to where they heard an early-morning hen.

My young friend is trying to learn how to run a diaphragm call, perhaps the second-most difficult call to learn. The hardest call to run is a wingbone yelper. I've met a few guys that could play Dixie on a wingbone call but those that can make great turkey music are few and far between.

The easiest call to operate is the push-pull call. Push on a plunger, and it moves the lid over a wedge-shaped piece of wood, and it produces a realistic turkey call providing it isn't used too much. The next two calls -- a box call and an aluminum, glass or slate call -- are far easier to work. Done properly, they can produce great sounds that imitate an amorous hen turkey.

Learn to use all forms of turkey calls (right).

Everything, within reason, about using a turkey call, is a matter of cadence. There is a certain flow or rhythm to turkey calls, and those calls are difficult to make with a diaphragm call  without a great deal of experience and practice, and knowing what each call is supposed to sound like. Go out as soon as the snow melts, take along a foam cushion to sit on, leave your calls home, and just listen to wild birds calling. Go home, or out in your car with the windows up so you don't drive your wife nuts, and practice. A few people pick up on the sounds they should make quickly, but for most people, it may take two or three years of constant  practice before they can run a good yelp.

The box and slate calls are far easier to use. Box calls can be held horizontally, as I prefer, or vertically as many southern hunters prefer. It makes no difference how you hold the call. What is important is how you bring the handle or lid of the call across the top of the sound chamber. Play with this a little bit to get a good feel for it.

Some years ago, and a few months before my twin brother died in 2003, I was guiding a man and my brother wanted to hunt as well. I didn't want to take out two people at once so in the predawn darkness, I helped George set up a jake and hen decoy in front  of one of my hunting blinds. I gave him a one-minute course on making a yelp. I bid him good luck, and the other guy and I went off to where we were going to hunt. I worked a big gobbler for an hour that morning but the bird wouldn't complete the circle and come out in front of us.

We eventually gave up on that bird when he finally walked off after spitting and drumming for 20 minutes behind us. There was something a bit off about my set-up, and I knew  I could take that bird on another day. We drove to where George was hunting, and there were two gobblers in front of him. I shut down the car without spooking the birds, and watched through binocuars as he shot the largest gobbler. He was geeked to think he'd called in not one but two gobblers on his first hunt.

George shot that bird, and both men wanted breakfast so we headed for town to eat. My brother headed home with his prize, but I managed to snag back my prized call that I'd let him use. The man I was guiding shot his gobbler about an hour later.

Four different box calls that I use (left).

One thing I didn't tell the man who had questioned me about turkey calling was that on any given day a gobbler will respond to only one call. A hunter may start out with what normally works, and the birds pay no attention to it. Learning just one technique or calling can be rather limiting. When next I see him, I'll try to coax him into learning three methods: box call, slate call and diaphragm call, and in that order.

The box call user can become reasonably proficient in an hour or two. The yelp should be the one call used most often, and for many hunters  it's the one that draws in the most gobblers. A whine or purr is easy on a box and slate call but difficult on a diaphragm call. He told me he is trying to perfect his fly-down cackle call, and I asked why. Soften up and shorten up on a yelp, and you've got a close approximation to that call. The trick is to learn the yelp, and how to make a soft and semi-loud call.

Timing is important, and I prefer to put gobblers to bed at sundown. That way I  know about where they will be in the morning, and can sneak in fairly close (100-125 yards) of the roost tree. Know your terrain, and don't try to call birds across water. It can be done, and I've done it a couple of times, but birds often hang up at water. Call to birds you know are on your side of the waterway.

Gobblers often sound off from the trees about the same time as the little tweety birds and larger crows begin mouthing off. Let the gobbler call two or three times in an attempt to determine where all the nearby hens are. Then give a soft three-to-five-note yelp, and hush up. The bird will usually pause and then answer, as will other gobblers in the area, and after he calls a couple of time, give the same soft call again. Keep it soft. Turkeys have amazing hearing and eye sight.
Some old turkey calls from 35 years ago (right).
Once the gobbler starts coming, call only if the bird seems to have stopped or lost his direction. This is not the time to over-call or call too loud. If you have decoys out, keep the jake or gobbler decoy closest to you, because gobblers usually head for the jake to kick his tail feathers although sometimes they single out the hen to jump on.

Have your shotgun up and across your knees with butt of the shotgun stock against your shoulder. The bird may try to circle or may head right for the decoys. Wait until his head comes up to look around, and shoot once, shoot straight and don't miss. Don't shoot at birds over 40 yards away/ Sure, with today's high powered shotguns, it's possible to kill the occasional bird at 60 yards but there too much margin for error.

Calling turkeys is easy, and since no two turkeys sound alike, the notes of your call may be off just a bit. Get the cadence right, stay hid with good camouflage, and don't move. The gobblers often come running, and this, my friends, is what turkey hunting is all about.

It's not just about shooting a big longbeard. It is about calling that heavily bearded limb-walker to the gun. That is what endears wild gobblers to those camo-clad hunters who get up long before dawn to hunt them. It's really all about calling the bird, and the excitement is breathtaking as a bird moves closer. It's what causes sane men and women to forsake a warm bed in favor of sitting with their back against a big tree. Hardly anything in hunting can beat calling a big bird within shotgun range.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors