Calling on Public Land

[brewer88]

I have a question for all you turkey slayers on here: do you change the type of call you use depending on pressure or area?
Sunday I went out to a WMA and tried for some late morning turkeys. After walking all over and crow calling/ yelping and not getting a response I finally heard something after just walking and not calling. It was from what I could tell clucks, I snuck into the woods towards the sound and made some clucks myself. The bird kept clucking and eventually I heard a gobble, it was thick foliage so I tried to move up above him to get to some lighter stuff. I constantly heard clucking and the occasional gobble, I would cluck, but every time I yelped it would go silent for 10 min or so, then I heard the clucking and gobbling but farther away.

Eventually the bird/birds sounded like they had moved into a field, I snuck down to check it out and sure enough there was one standin out there where I heard the last gobble. It looked like it was a jake from what I could tell, didn't really strut but I couldn't get a good view of his chest. I continued to cluck and cut a little, I didn't yelp at all and he continued to gobble and cluck. I snuck out a hen decoy where he could see it. He made his way slowly toward me but ended up sneaking to my left at 40yards and into the woods and gone (maybe got close enough to tell the decoy wasn't real not sure).

Did he come in because I only mimicked his clucks and didn't yelp? Last weekend I was on one in the same area gobbling on his own and as soon as I started yelping he went silent. I'm thinking the birds have associated yelp with danger maybe? I've only ever heard hens in the area cluck and not yelp.

 

[Beard Buster]

I do
as a matter of fact I have also done the same on private land
I am less aggressive and tend to get as close as possible and use the soft approach

 

[catman529]

There's no absolutes with public or private land birds. I use the call I feel most comfortable with, and mostly just yelps and clucks, occasional aggressive cutting if I'm trying to get one fired up.


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[Andy S.]

My approach is pretty much the same regardless of where I'm hunting.

 

[Roost 1]

Word of advice, especially when hunting public land...Never hunt hen sounds!!! Usually wont ever work out for the good...

 

[Setterman]

All I hunt is public and the only thing I change is my cautiousness about approaching any hen sounds. I don't change calls or calling styles, but I don't use locators which seem to be the taboo stuff where I hunt and will shut birds up immediately.

 

[brewer88]

Thanks for all the input, yeah I was very cautious when I was only hearing clucks, I sat and listened for a good while and after hearing gobbles and realizing they were moving up and down the ridge I figured I was good. Guess ill stick to some softer stuff and try to work on positioning better