I heard, but didn't listen!

[Fargohunt]

Well, I went this am our 2nd day of the season here in NY to a spot where 2 of 6 gobblers I had found about 5 weeks ago took up residence. So it wasn't too bad this am, no rain and little wind, but it had been raining and more rain was imminent. Got set up turkey early right where I wanted and sat in to wait. At 6:15, when it was really still too dark for flydown all of a sudden a hunter starts yelping and clucking behind me at about 60-70 yards. It sounded like a mouth call and it sounded really great, I mean really good calling. I thought, man, I wish I could use a mouth call that good. It stopped after about 40 seconds, but that was a long time and I thought, ah hell this isn't good, I am not safe and neither is he and besides, I think he is an idiot to start yelping so loud and crisp so early.

Well I since it was still to dark to simply stand up and call to him, so I thought I would wait till it was really light. So at 7:00 am, I told my self if he starts in again I'm gonna stand up and call out hello, hello...and sure enough he did and sure enough I stood up and started walking toward him and called out hello! and crap guess what happened then....I couldn't believe what I heard and saw, not 1, but 2 hunters flew out of that tree from the top [:@]and they had long skinny beards...yep, I had heard well, but not listened.[:'(] That loud and I mean loud yelping and clucking were the 2 gobblers. I had never heard the type of yelping they were doing...and actually recently on one of the call making and hunting forums a couple guys got started talking about gobbler yelping and I wondered what that sounded like....we sir, NOW I KNOW! I had been completely fooled and bad.

I still feel I made the right safe decision to identify myself, but next time will be different, man, never stop learning in the turkey woods!

[WillowRidgeCalls]

Welcome to turkey hunting Scott. [:D] Most times you can tell a gobbler yelp because of that squeak they have at the start of their yelp, and the length and volume of the yelp, some end real raspy and some don't but their yelps are very even without much of a pitch change in it.

[mark hay]

Don't feel bad Fargo . I hunted quite a few years before I found out Gobblers made other calls besides spitndrum , gobble and PUTT! Can not guess how many jakes or gobblers I walked away from thinking they were old hens .
 Experiences learned in the woods are priceless.

[Duke0002]

A few years ago I heard a guy kee-keeing and yelping on no-no land next to my permission land.  Man, I thought, this guy stinks.  Worst kee-keeing and yelping I've ever heard.  He's calling way way too much and going to scare away every bird in the area!  Eventually, I peeked over a rise only to see some hens.  

Happens to every turkey hunter I've talked to!

[Cut N Run]

Same here. I couldn't believe that any self-respecting turkey hunter could sound that bad and still keep calling. Since he was set up right across the property line, I decided that I'd wait until after light to ease out of there.

Next thing I know, the "hunter" had crossed to in front of me and continued to call, which got a gobbler fired up and helped pull him into gun range. I only had to cluck a time or two to keep him coming my direction and the real hen I though was just a bad caller circled around behind me completing the deception.

Too bad it didn't work out for you this time. Hard lessons are the toughest ones to forget. Get 'em next time & good luck.

Jim

[Fargohunt]

I don't feel bad about what happened at all, maybe a little at the moment, but it is a lesson I'll not forget and there will be more.  Do you all suspect these were young 2 yr olds?  I have heard they will do it more so than a mature gobbler?

[Limb Hanger]

Something similar happened a couple of years ago. I was certain that a hen was making her way through the woods, just soft yelping; turned out to be a hunter. Later that morning, I heard the worst calling ever coming back from the direction that the hunter had headed. Turned out to be real deal.