"I heard no calling...."

[Everyday Hunter]

Several times through the years I've read on various message boards and heard people complain about a gobbler getting shot and somehow the successful hunter cheated because "I heard no calling...."

I shake my head at that. Just because one hunter doesn't hear another hunter calling doesn't mean the guy isn't calling or hasn't called. Yesterday I called in a 19 pound gobbler and I made only one soft tree call before he flew down. A buddy was 100 yards away (and within 10 yards of the gobbler's roost tree) and he didn't hear my call. It was so soft that even I barely heard it. But the gobbler did. And that's not the first time I've done that.

There are all kinds of scenarios where one hunter would not hear another hunter calling. Here's another example. A friend of mine killed a deep-woods gobbler on Wednesday that gobbled only one time. He could actually see it about 60-70 yards away, and it was with three hens. He watched that gobbler for over 5 hours, and it never made another sound other than an occasional cluck. So he clucked back softly. Finally, those hens began to drift toward him, and he made the shot at 40 yards. If another hunter had been within 100 yards, he never would have heard any calling.

To successfully call a gobbler a caller often doesn't need to call loudly enough for another hunter to hear. Lots of soft calls can be heard by the gobbler without any other hunter hearing them -- soft tree calls, soft purring, soft clucks, even soft yelps.

Remember this -- a gobbler's ears are far superior to our own. By the time we're 30, we've done all kind of things that have a detrimental effect on our hearing: shooting guns, running chain saws, riding motorcycles, listening to loud music, working in a machine shop, working with power tools, and much more. A gobbler has virgin ears -- and ears that in only 2 or 3 short years have never been abused. It's no wonder that they can hear so much better than we can.

And late-season turkeys -- both hens and gobblers -- are especially tuned in to everything they hear in the woods. Hens may call softly because they don't want to attract the wrong kind of attention. Gobblers pay attention to soft calling because they've heard so much loud calling that wasn't a hen. Another factor is the foliage absorbs much more sound than early-season bare woods does, so the sounds don't carry as far and hunters can even be fooled about what direction the sounds are coming from.

I guess there isn't much left to say, except agree? Or disagree?

Steve

[kenturkey89]

I definitely agree with you Steve. I believe that in many scenarios, soft and spare calling is the absolute best way to tag a gobbler. I think many people watch the tv shows and see hunters calling loudly and aggressively to a bird that gobbles his head off, and when they go out to hunt themselves, anything less than that "doesn't really count" as a good turkey hunt.

Take this year, for example. On opening morning the weather was terrible so the birds weren't all that hot and they all had 3 or more hens with them to make things tougher. I had a bird roost about 250 yards away from me and saw him pitch down in a field the same distance away from me. I called at him a few times and never got a single response from him. I eventually lost sight of him and his hens because of the change in elevation between them and me. I switched gears and went to the soft calling. Finally after about an hour here come four hens leading 2 gobblers right into my decoys. I never got a response from the gobblers (while they were on the ground) but I enticed the hens to come and take a closer look which gave me a clear, easy shot at 25 yards. I told a buddy of mine this story and he said that I was pretty much deer hunting and not turkey hunting because I didn't get the gobbler fired up, but at the end of the season I went home with a bird and he was left eating tag soup[:D][:D][:D]

[Ruttinbull]

Agree.

For me, it seems that you must read what each bird wants and go accordingly. Last year, it seemed I almost couldnt call enough to satisfy them. This year, it seems that most of the birds wanted it soft and quiet.
This year, my second bird died after only one or two really soft calls.

[onpoint]

I'm learning that some yrs." less is more". In fact, the 10 yrs. that I've been chasin' 'em is giving me the message that I need to get close, call a little and shut up. In most ways I'm a "whatever it takes kinda' guy". If I worried about a gobbler puttin' on a show before I shot him, I'd be eatin' a lot of tags instead of fried bird. I agree wholeheartedly!!![:D]

[Turkeybuster]

I agree Steve I have called turkeys in and especially on public land with soft calling while others were loudly cutting and yelping blowing owl calls and other locators at the same bird. Low calling will keep the bird quiet most of the time I only want the bird to hear me not other hunters. There are times when loud agressive calling is all that will work but not the majority of the time.

Jon

[Everyday Hunter]

Yes. And remember this -- when we're pressuring the gobblers, the hens are not unaffected. We're pressuring them, too. So the hens will naturally call with less volume.

Steve

[mark hay]

I agree . I will also say that I realize I'm a bit more stubborn than some when it comes to classifying a ''FOOLED'' bird . There have been several occasions when I could have easily dispatched a fine gobbler that I seemingly just walked upon in the woods . But I had neither called to directly nor ''MOVED WITH DELIBERATE STEPS'' in order to imitate a walking or feeding bird .
 The statement made about not getting the bird fired up is foriegn to me . I have killed a few that never gotten fired up . But he was fooled . He came in and was looking for the hen I portrayed .
 Last spring , before season , a gobbler became all hot and fired up simply by the faint sounds of my slow ,short steps as I moved through the woods . He gobbled with regularity and fury . Standing about 25 yards from me , head high and looking hard for the bird he had no clue if it was a hen or tom . Strut,,spitndrum and lots of gobbling . Had it been season I would have killed him simply because I had moved through the woods with deliberation of steps and created a sound not unlike that of a moving turkey . But I also think I would have employed a call or two as he came in .
 The first bird I killed this spring only gobbled two times . Was within 40 yards but couldn't be seen for the terrain . He walked away and then came into view over 100 yards and continued to make a huge half circle trek to come in from the other side of us . He never made a sound other than a possible spitndrum . Only puffing up into strut for a second or two a couple times . But he came looking .
 
 During any hunt I listen for turkeys and turkey hunters . I don't want to disturb another hunters set up or his bird . If I'm in doubt as to the validity of any bird I hear I will go away . Steve is correct about turkeys hearing ability and our inability . It seems each season I learn a little more about just how well they DO hear .
 
 I used to get wound up tight about things like killing uncalled birds and the like . But as of late I just over look it . I know what I must  do to satisfy myself and enjoy my hunts . You can be certain of this . If you hear my gun fire you can be sure I was making some type of audible turkey imitation.

[maineute]

I agree totally. If you are calling loud enough that a hunter 100 yards away can tell that you are calling, you are proabably calling too loud. I called in alot of hens this year, solely by calling sparingly and softly. When they came I watched their beaks to see when they were moving, as usual ,I could barely hear them but I knew they were making noise. The birds I could see and hear that were far away were the birds that were sounding an alarm because I was busted and they were leaving.
I will admit that I screwed up the first bird I shot this year through a number of encounters and mistakes and on the day I shot him I never called. But there were 2 hens in the field that day prior to his late fly down. I knew that he had heard the real thing, why should I screw it up with my imitation calls.
The second bird I called in from a long way off, only calling softly and sparingly(4-5 times an hour). I called in a hen along time before he arrived and because she was not calling back to his gobbles I continued to call and she never left until I shot.

[WillowRidgeCalls]

I've always said that if a bird was 1/4 mile away and if you can hear him, he can hear you no matter how soft you call, he can hear you walk in and sit down and he knows exactly what tree you sittin by. Not only can they hear great they can pinpoint even better. I can't count the times I've walked into a woods at mid day and sat down and looked up only to see a bird standing there looking back at me.......Busted....It's like having a box call sqeak in your vest while your walking in....Gee that bird flew down the other way.....Hmmmmmm.

[mark hay]

ORIGINAL: WillowRidgeCalls

I've always said that if a bird was 1/4 mile away and if you can hear him, he can hear you no matter how soft you call, he can hear you walk in and sit down and he knows exactly what tree you sittin by. Not only can they hear great they can pinpoint even better. I can't count the times I've walked into a woods at mid day and sat down and looked up only to see a bird standing there looking back at me.......Busted....It's like having a box call sqeak in your vest while your walking in....Gee that bird flew down the other way.....Hmmmmmm.

 
EXACTLY