The age old question..

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BHC

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To call or not to call?
Do you call at all to a a bird on the roost or let him FLW down first?
I have different thoughts:
1.) given a situation where I'm set up on a field or somethin where I feel he will pitch down to me I can hold off until he flies down. Mainly because I believe he's inclined to come my way anyway..
2.) if I'm
In the woods( usually I am), I can't stand it. I have to get him to answer me. Usually a few soft tree yelps is enough, but gotta get him looking my way. The problem here is when I set off the group of hens 100 yrds on the opposite side of him. Now it's a calling competition...

So what's your preference? The best hunts I've ever had where a bird died by 6:30 I've called to them on the limb... But I would have to say it's cost me some birds as well...
 
I used to always do it until I figured out the hens were subject to fly down the other direction and take him with them. And they might have come my way anyway. If you know a longbeard is roosted with no hens it probably doesn't hurt and might help, but I'm trying to break the habit.
 
As the years go by I call less and less to them (sometimes not at all) while they're still on a limb. In a lot of cases the more you call, the longer he will stay up there waiting on you to go to him.

For a tough bird I've dueled with on several mornings I won't call to him while he's roosted. A bird gobbles and doesn't seem to have hens, I'll tree call to let him know I'm there and whether or not he answers it, I'm liable not to call again till his feet hit the ground. For a bird with hens I'll call a little more but I'm talking to the hens, not tommy...just tree talk in a very non-threatening or aggressive way. Many times they'll pitch right down to me and of course drag him right along. If you get in a shouting match with the hens they often fly down and take him the other way.

An old timer who I give a ton of credit for teaching me the turkey ropes would always ask me, "Do you wanna hear him gobble or do you wanna kill'im?"
 
As I've progressed over my almost 25 years in the turkey woods I find I call less, and softer.

I do call a couple of times very lightly to a rooster bird, unless I hear hens with him. I never get crazy but may call a little more if the hens get cranked.

I never and mean never fly down cackle, hens rarely cackle if ever and sure a bird will rip it but it's not natural.

One thing I know is that my style is nuanced to a point where I cannot describe in words how I go through hunt, mostly because the hunt itself dictates pretty much every aspect of my actions.
 
I rarely ever call to a gobbler in the tree. All hunts are different though. Seldom I will do one series of soft yelps to let him know im there. Whether he gobbles or not, i do not call no more. He knows exactly where im at when i call. When he flies down i will yelp at him again and then pretty much wait.

Almost Everytime, in the past, that i would call to a gobbler in a tree, he would just stay there for seems like hours sometimes.

Also, when a bird has hens with him, it doesn't really change much, I still do little calling. Back when i was young, I would "call to the hens" but it only worked once that I can remember. I dont get this call to the hens tactic. In my experience, they normally go the other way.

My best advice on a gobbler with hens is to try and find another bird if you can, but in my parts there usually isn't another game in town. So i stick with as long as i can, until i completely loose him, spook him, have to go to work or other duties, or kill him.

Nothing in turkey hunting is one hundred percent.

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Tapatalk
 
I don't much. If hens are vocal I do get in there with them. When I hear his feet hit the ground I take his temp. I call more than most. The soft stuff never and I mean never works for me but I'm not gonna sit there for 2 hours and wait. My philosophy is kill em or run em off. Setterman that's weird how ur birds don't cackle and where I hunt I hear it a lot.
 
Every day is differnt just depends on the set up and situation. Either way I never call much or very loud till he is in the ground


Proverbs 3:5
"Trust in the lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding"

Sent from my phone because I'm that cool
 
Setterman":1bpk08hl said:
As I've progressed over my almost 25 years in the turkey woods I find I call less, and softer.

I do call a couple of times very lightly to a rooster bird, unless I hear hens with him. I never get crazy but may call a little more if the hens get cranked.

I never and mean never fly down cackle, hens rarely cackle if ever and sure a bird will rip it but it's not natural.
Click to expand...


That's odd seeing how a legend in turkey hunting the late great Ben Rogers lee believed in the fly down cackle more than just about any other call out there. If you haven't read his book highly recommend it. there is a lot of insight into killing turkeys and his thoughts on it. Do I agree with all of them no but, there is jo doubt that the man was incredible in the woods when it came to hunting turkeys.
 
Depends on the situation. If he has hens, no. If I am pretty sure he is roosted alone, then yes. But only lightly and just enough to let him know I'm there. Learned along time ago that to much calling on the limb is very counter productive.
 
Speaking of cackling, turkeys over this way do plenty of it but not at all like you hear the competition callers. Their fly down cackles are waaaaayyyy too "perfect." I've rarely heard the evenly spaced stepdown notes from a real hen, and not nearly as many notes. Just about every stage caller I hear...a real hen just doesn't sound like that.
 
I have always wanted to get that turkey to gobble weather it be with a crow call or a hooter. But I have learned over the past few years while hunting with a fellow veteran hunter that may not be the best approach. I have found that sometimes, more times than not, it is better to let the turkeys sound off by themselves. If he has hens with him, there is less room for error and you wont spook those hens into pitching in the opposite direction. That being said, every situation is different.
 
I never call to one in the tree.. If you do and he has hens, most of the time they will go the other way. If he doesn't have hens then I just wait until he hits the ground. He will be looking. But it is my experience especially late in the season that lots of times he WILL have hens that you never hear....
 
If I know where he is I might do a few soft tree yelps so he knows I'm there but that's about it. If the hens get fired up and really vocal I've been known to mimic everything they do to hopefully piss the boss hen off so she comes looking and he comes to. On average though I think less is more but each bird and hunt is different and I go with my gut at that moment.
 
I do use a set of wings to "pitch down" a lot of times, and that does work wonders on some birds. Hens call very uniquely as most of you all know, some start out plain and drift into and out of raspy notes. They cluck in the middle of yelp series etc. I don't know if a LB knows the difference, but being as natural as possible seems to work pretty well for me.

In reality, I hate dealing with roosted gobblers, sure like every one I set up on one every chance I get, but my success rate is much higher if I wait to set up on a bird that is already on the ground. If he will gobble even once or twice the chances of killing him for me are very very high.

I've never understood the cackling stuff, turkeys just don't cackle that much in my experience.
 
I do not miss many daylight hunts, and I bet I hear a hen fly down cackle twice out of thirty mornings.

The only time I ever cackle is when it's middle of the day and im walking trying to make one gobble.

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Tapatalk
 
Final steps TC":23h0n0b3 said:
That's odd seeing how a legend in turkey hunting the late great Ben Rogers lee believed in the fly down cackle more than just about any other call out there. If you haven't read his book highly recommend it. there is a lot of insight into killing turkeys and his thoughts on it. Do I agree with all of them no but, there is jo doubt that the man was incredible in the woods when it came to hunting turkeys.
Click to expand...

As does Preston Pittman.

When I heard him at a seminar many years ago mention that most people are missing out by "only" cackling at fly-down time, I knew I had someone in my corner for using it all during the day, as I had been doing.

In fact, it probably is the deal-sealer on over half of my kills.

That's what I love about turkey hunting. There is no "right" way to do it, as you just have to do what works for you and gives you what you are seeking from the hunt.
 
Final steps TC":19j7ppk0 said:
Setterman":19j7ppk0 said:
As I've progressed over my almost 25 years in the turkey woods I find I call less, and softer.

I do call a couple of times very lightly to a rooster bird, unless I hear hens with him. I never get crazy but may call a little more if the hens get cranked.

I never and mean never fly down cackle, hens rarely cackle if ever and sure a bird will rip it but it's not natural.
Click to expand...


That's odd seeing how a legend in turkey hunting the late great Ben Rogers lee believed in the fly down cackle more than just about any other call out there. If you haven't read his book highly recommend it. there is a lot of insight into killing turkeys and his thoughts on it. Do I agree with all of them no but, there is jo doubt that the man was incredible in the woods when it came to hunting turkeys.
Click to expand...

Ole Ben Lee was the man. I still have one of his hunting videos and I watch it occasionally for the laughs as much as his vast knowledge and wisdom.
 
Setterman":1c7b9ncr said:
I do use a set of wings to "pitch down" a lot of times, and that does work wonders on some birds. Hens call very uniquely as most of you all know, some start out plain and drift into and out of raspy notes. They cluck in the middle of yelp series etc. I don't know if a LB knows the difference, but being as natural as possible seems to work pretty well for me.

In reality, I hate dealing with roosted gobblers, sure like every one I set up on one every chance I get, but my success rate is much higher if I wait to set up on a bird that is already on the ground. If he will gobble even once or twice the chances of killing him for me are very very high.

I've never understood the cackling stuff, turkeys just don't cackle that much in my experience.
Click to expand...


yup i bet i use a wing beat during a hunt 6 out of 10 hunts and not just for fly down. Great tool to have in the bag. I to hate roosted birds but man they get the heart going even if the success rate is actually low.

If i REALLY want to just kill the bird then i will go with a buddy and we will split up and get on opposite sides of him and only have 1 person call at them on the roost. The success rate is pretty high depending on where he is roosted but i rarely ever do trick just because the KILLING part is not really my goal...its more HOW I was able to kill him if that makes sense.
 
A lot of success on a hunt depends on the bird and the situation. A bird that is vocal and alone will come to dang near anything thrown at them, including cackles.

However, in my experience a bird with hens is a whole different deal. Aggressive calling that will work on that lonely gobbler many times will drive hens into the next county, dragging ol longbeard with them. The wildcard for me is whether the hens will vocalize or not, generally if they'll talk you can get a little aggressive. However, it seems very rapidly as the cycle progresses the hens get more and more quiet.

Anymore the majority of gobblers after the first week or so have hens around here, at least where I hunt. 10 years ago that wasn't the case, and 20 years ago it was pretty easy to find birds without hens almost everyday, but with populations increasing the number of single gobblers has dropped dramatically.

I know for me when I backed off on the aggressive calling, I started killing twice as many birds a year, and managed to kill a bunch of those henned up nasty ones that use to whip me.

A buddy of mine down south likes to say a lonely gobbler would run half a mile to the closing of the action on a shotgun just to end his misery.
 

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