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Old May 8, 2013, 05:22 PM   #1
Prof Young
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The silent Turkey

Hunters:
Driving out to my hunting spot I saw a tom in full strut. I drove on by and then crept into the same area. He'd disappeared into the woods by then. So I knew he was there but I never got him to talk back to me. My question is, if you know a tom is there, but he stays silent, do you call more? Seems to me if he is staying quiet, then he knows he isn't trying to attract a hen. But he could be moving in on a hen so one should call more . . . right?
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Old May 9, 2013, 10:26 AM   #2
Pahoo
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A bird, in the bush !!!

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But he could be moving in on a hen so one should call more . . . right?
Have to admit that I've wrestled with this myself and by my measure, the reason he is not responding, is because he is currently with hens, that you might not be seeing and does not want to lose them. This year, for some reason, we kept running into this problem, day after day. We finally set up different and when they did not respond, we called less. Sure enough, one came in, making no sound and my buddy got the shot. ....


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Old May 9, 2013, 12:32 PM   #3
nhbmaing
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Pahoo got it right. Saturday my buddy shot a turkey and the only noise he made was a gobble after I hit my owl locator call. Not sure if its like this all over but in PA it seems I only hear gobbles early in the season. They seem to shut up in the closing weeks
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Old May 9, 2013, 11:54 PM   #4
shortwave
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My friend Pahoo is again, spot on.

Over the years, I've learned to mostly let the turkeys dictate my calling.

There are days when it seems you can slam the truck door and every gobbler within earshot will sound off. Other days, doesn't matter what you do you'll not get a response.
These are the days your mind can play many tricks on you making you doubt yourself...am I not calling enough...am I calling to much...to loud...to soft? Are there any turkeys in the area? Even though you know there are. IMO, these are the real learning and patience testing days of a turkey hunter.

If the turkeys are talking, I'll talk. If they aren't, I hold my calling to a minimum calling softly every 30-45mins. Too, on these days stay alert as most likely if a bird comes in he may not gobble at all.
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Old May 10, 2013, 02:23 PM   #5
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They call it "Hunting"

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There are days when it seems you can slam the truck door and every gobbler within earshot will sound off
.
You got that right and I have seen or heard them respond to a truck horn. I also know they hate crows and will respond to that as well, not just when you are roosting them. ....

Might add that I'm still trying to get mine this season. ....

Hunt and;
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Old May 10, 2013, 03:24 PM   #6
Erno86
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If the tom is with hens...try to get one of the hens roused up by mimicking her every call, and she might bring the old monarch in with her.

It's possible that he is gobbled out for the day, or is wary of gobbling for fear of attracting predator's. He probably won't be gobbling when he is about to mate with a hen.

I would call softly & sparingly late in the season. Turkey's have excellent hearing. When his hens have gone to nesting mid-morning to noon, the tom will still remember your call location and he might sneak on in.

If he comes in strutting --- but no gobbling --- try to listen for his spitting and drumming, or you can mimic him by using a drumming tube call. You'll still need to spit "tick" yourself. Besides a drumming tube call --- you can vocalize a drumming sound --- by making the sound deep within your vocal cords --- tick...ba-room, tick...ba-room, tick...ba-room.

Good luck,

Erno
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Old May 16, 2013, 03:23 AM   #7
bamaranger
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no gobbles, how much pressure?

About 10 years or so ago, a neighboring county only was open for spring gobblers for 1 week, the last week of the season. The adjoining county, just across the river, was open for the entire month.

You'd hunt for 3 weeks in the open county, and hear fewer and fewer gobbles. You'd hunt the opening week next door and birds would be tearing it up. The areas were not but a couple of miles apart in some instances. The difference in my mind was hunting pressure. Birds get bumped, spooked, over called to, and they get really cautious. Of course, some get dead.

I once was on a bird I named Uno. First of the season, he was extremely vocal. But his gobbling dwindled steadily. One morning he sailed out of the pines into that darn cutover he liked so much, hopped up on a stump, and clucked....one time. Hence the name, Uno. Always out of range of course.
Uno eventually hushed his morning gobbling altogether. But, he loved to sing so much he began to gobble some in the PM. Finally one moonlit evening he gobbled a few too many times from his night roost in the pines and I pinpointed him. Built a blind opposite him in that same cursed cutover by moonlight. Next AM, I was in that blind and I clucked one time myself. He sailed out and landed in range, big mistake.

Prof, I'd say you didn't really do anything wrong by trying to call to this gobbler. Heck, that's WHY we hunt them, to get'em to gobble and call one up. But it often doesn't work that way. If I couldn't get a response from that bird on my first try or two, with maybe a different type call each time, say a mouth call and a slate, whatever, I'd hush. And I'd not budge for an hour. Chances are, he heard you, but to why he did not answer is hard to say. He may be coming silent, may be with hens, you may have spooked him and not realize it, maybe a coyote or bobcat spooked him.

I used to hunt an area that had a heavy amount of vehicle traffic. On more than one instance, a bird in the open, on his way in, would spook at the mere sound of a vehicle on the gravel roads nearby. They began to associate the sound of a vehicle with human threat, predator, whatever, they would slink off. Similarly, I'd be on a bird, sounding off regularly from the roost, and vehicle would roll up nearby. Hooty hoot, hoot or yelp yelp yelp, but ......no gobbles. The door slams and the truck rumbles off. About 15-20 mins later the bird gobbles again on his own! On my old club with all the ROW's, by the end of the season, gobblers in the open would spook at the sight of a vehicle, especially one that slowed or stopped, at dx's approaching a half mile or more. They get educated, quick.

I've also seen call shy birds, the best bird I ever took was call shy. Goliath. My first two contacts with Goliath, he was in the open and I called from about 150-200 yds away. In both instances he pulled out of strut and slinked off. He absolutely did not like what I tried to tell him. Two different calls to boot, talk about a moral buster! I eventually cut that bird off on his way back to roost on a PM hunt. And you can bet I did NOT call that afternoon. That bird had a healed .22 hole in his lower breast bone. I should have kept that bone.

If I see a bird strutting in the open, especially if I see him more than once, that place is on my list. Often I will slip back in there VERY carefully, paying attention to skylines and minimizing my exposure, using drains and brush to cover my entry, and quickly plunk out a deke, maybe a deke and a jake, pop a blind and just let the decoy "call". A gobbler can spot that set up from a long way off, and it may well draw him in for an easy shot.
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Old May 20, 2013, 06:40 PM   #8
Prof Young
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Now there's a new thought . . .

I mostly rely on one call, a box type called "double thunder" I never thought of taking more than one call with me for a greater variety of sound. May have to try that. I mean I can make a lot of different sounds on the double thunder, but a smaller or larger call would have a different pitch and a slat call would have a different tone. May have to invest in a few more calls.
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Old May 21, 2013, 02:25 AM   #9
natman
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My philosophy is that you're trying to pass as a native while speaking a foreign language with only a rough idea what you're saying. The more you call, the more likely the tom will notice that you've got a funny accent and you don't use quite the right words. I like to call just enough to get results.
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Old May 21, 2013, 10:25 AM   #10
Pahoo
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It's all in the inflection.

Quote:
The more you call, the more likely the tom will notice that you've got a funny accent and you don't use quite the right words.
I've noticed this as well and have more problems hunting Southern turkeys. Seriously, I have a favorite call that has given me good results and then, nothing and it seem they are speaking a different language. ....

Last year that happened to me and decided to switch calls by going to a gobble and the woods came alive !!!

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Old May 22, 2013, 02:48 AM   #11
bamaranger
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calls

Yeah, that's why turkey vests ( and EVERY turkey hunter needs one of those things, no kiddin') have so many pockets, to load up w/ calls.

One trick w/ pot or slate/glass calls is to have multiple strikers. Easy to carry and a different sound for each. I like mouth calls as well, and one can tote a bunch of those easily. For the price though, I spend to much on mouth calls that I simply cannot get good sound out of. I've got a couple of good boxes, but do not hunt them anymore., to darn clunky and big to suit me. I've also got a wingbone or two that are different and easy to carry.

One of my secret weapons is a gobble tube, but you've got to be careful and use good sense w/ one.
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Old May 22, 2013, 01:38 PM   #12
Pahoo
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Skunked again !!!

Quote:
One of my secret weapons is a gobble tube, but you've got to be careful and use good sense w/ one.
Well that was my last trick and still could not get the big guys to come in. Could have taken a Jake but decided to pass on them. Bottom line is that I got skunked this season and as they say, there is always next season. ..

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