“Can you see them now?” I asked my hunting partner looking across a vast winter wheat field through a binocular. The “them” in question were two tom turkeys racing to our calls from more than 1,500 yards away from our current position. Buffeting winds silenced their return gobbles, but through the power of a 10-power binocular I could see them stop and return a wind-muted gobble to my calls.

Although the show was great, I knew we would have to find cover to call the gobblers into shotgun range. Stealthily slipping back into a timbered draw, we found a couple of mature trees to rest against in an opening. Ten minutes later, with the help of some soft yelps, the two toms appeared at 30 yards, strutted for the decoy and simultaneously sacrificed their lives for the greater good of the grill.

Growing up in South Dakota with a subsequent move to nearby Wyoming ensures that I get my share of long-distance turkey calling. The Great Plains and sagebrush vastness guarantees that protocol. Nevertheless, after decades of hunting Easterns, Rios and my fan favorite the Merriam’s, I have discovered that luring turkeys from a long way could happen at any American waypoint. Be prepared when you need to bring a turkey to you from a distant hunting universe.   

WHY WORRY ABOUT LONG DISTANCES?

You may not have a hunt planned for sprawling Western real estate where turkey densities require you to ignite a gobble from a mile or more away. Even so, an array of situations could occur that require you to call long to spark interest from a tom anywhere in turkey country.

Take turkey density, for instance. It is no secret that turkey populations have taken a hit as of late. States like Kansas, Nebraska, Tennessee and more are changing seasons and bag limits to slow the decline of wild turkey populations. Woefulness aside, fewer turkeys equal more dispersed flocks that require a long-distance call at times to locate. And even if you hunt areas with a stable population, flocks move, cross properties and adjust to the spring green-up. A flock that you scouted in late winter may have moved a mile or more for new digs.

That point really becomes important if you only have a small tract to hunt. You must call birds in from the neighboring properties if nothing responds on your side of the fence. As it becomes increasingly more difficult to gain hunting access to private land, you may be forced to hunt on 80 acres with hopes that a lone, faraway gobbler hears you and wants to dance.

Another factor that few consider is terrain. The landscape that you hunt could equally be restricting the distance that your calls reach. Hilly and mountainous terrain automatically throws up roadblocks to your calls’ ability to reach the other side with volume. Calling from a deep hollow or coulee megaphones your sound up and down that chasm, but does not allow sounds to escape beyond their ridgetops easily. And depending on the time of spring you hunt, foliage becomes a major sound suppressor. In March the forest may not be rolling out green leaves, but by May nearly every state has a splash of green glorifying the environment. Those leaves create a blanket that smothers your calls and severely limits their reach.

Finally, weather also has a major impact on how far your calls can connect with a distant tom. The obvious element, wind, creates a world of noise of its own by rustling leaves, swinging branches and swooshing grass. Plus, your sounds may be going into the wind that merely throws them back in your face instead of being able to disperse across the country as they would in calm conditions. Rain, drizzle and snow also make noise, plus create a curtain that sound must barrel through to reach eager ears. Worse yet, when the barometric pressure drops and weather includes both wind and moisture, you have the worst of all worlds with your calls fighting a losing battle.

THE GEAR TO BELT OUT A TUNE

All turkey calls are not created equally. Shoddy manufacturing aside, various turkey calls have certain purposes. Some do it all, while others stand out in certain arenas. Like any qualified turkey hunter, you should carry a variety of turkey calls in your vest and know how each works, particularly if you need to call to a tom resembling a speck on a far ridge.

Box Calls: Nothing signifies turkey hunting like the sight of a box call. This friction call has been a standby for decades, produces a variety of quality sounds and is easy to use. Chalk the lid of the call and slide the lid across the box lips to create popular sounds that resonate from the box. Different thicknesses of the sides and angling the lid varies tones, plus creates yelps, putts, cutting, cackles, purrs and more. With a bit of practice, you can even gobble on many box calls, but be careful not to lure other hunters to your position. You cannot beat the simplicity of using a box call, but best of all — it sends turkey sounds farther than any other type of call, at least in my humble opinion.

With more pressure on the lid you can send calls farther and louder than other calls. Box calls work great for locating turkeys and definitely shine in sparking a response in any long-distance relationship with a tom. Terrain, wind and foliage may muffle the sound, but a box call has the power to break through in many situations.

Pot Calls: Taking second place for ease of operation and for belting out a loud tune is the pot call. Sometimes referred to as a slate call for the surface that accentuates the sound, pot calls reliably work with ease after a short learning curve. Classically designed in a round shape that fits nicely in your hand, the sound resounds when you stroke a peg or “striker” across a surface commonly made of slate, glass or aluminum. Strikers are crafted from hardwood, carbon or a composite of materials. A higher pitch resonates from the outer edge and scratching the center of the pot creates a lower pitch. Seasoned hunters carry several types of strikers to produce different tones, in addition to altering where to scratch on the surface. Roughening the pot surface and end of the striker with an abrasive material like sandpaper helps to maintain sound consistency.

Like the box call, the pot call can make yelps, cutting, clucks, putts, fighting purrs and calm purrs. I have never been able to make a pot call gobble, but I am sure someone has that expertise. If I do not get a response on my box call, I instantly try my pot call to send a different voice cross-country.

Diaphragm Calls: The final category of calls to consider are air-operated. Diaphragm calls top the list for the most sold due to their versatility and even more importantly — leaving your hands free. Crafted on a slim frame, the call includes a single or stacked layer of stretched latex. With the call firmly in the top of your mouth, you simply blow air across it to produce turkey sounds. Unfortunately for many, a diaphragm may spark a gag. If you overcome the gag reflex, you will soon be talking turkey with your mouth. You can create yelps, cutts, putts, clucks, cackles, purrs and other turkey small talk. Unfortunately, in my experience the friction calls blast a message farther when long distance is the game. No doubt diaphragms shine in close quarters just before the shot.

Binocular: After you load up with calls consider adding quality optics to your game in the form of a binocular. Depending on your hunting environment, an 8 power covers most glassing situations. It gives you a wide enough field of view for spotting in timbered settings, but just enough to identify targets in wide expanses. Living in the West, I primarily rely on a 10-power binocular. Your field of view is reduced in close quarters, but the extra zoom helps to determine if far-off black dots are turkeys or landscape shadows. Today, I equip myself with a binocular and rangefinder combination unit, like the SIG SAUER KILO6K-HD Compact.

TACTICS FOR A LONG-DISTANCE MEETING

You would not yell at your kids in the yard that it is time for dinner from the basement. Follow that rule and place yourself as high as possible or on the edge of cover before calling. Sending calls into the open ensures your calls cover ground with the highest volume possible. A high riverbank, ridgetop or even from the top of a haystack gives you elevation to send off a call, plus an ideal spotting location if you can see into the distance.

But hold on. Before you blast off with a series of bellowing calls, test the nearby waters with calls at a realistic level. You do not want to risk shocking a gobbler that is held up 100 yards away with a call meant to travel a mile or more. You may shock him into gobbling, but ruin your chances to continue the conversation with a spooked bird. Start subtly and if nothing responds crank up the level accordingly. I follow that rule whether calling turkeys, coyotes or elk. More than once a turkey has gobbled back from behind a screen of brush nearly within shotgun range.

Next, whether hunting open country or forests, look for an ambush location. Your tom may be traveling across open ground and if so, you should back away from those field edges. By forcing a tom into hunting you in thicker cover, it lessens the odds that a paranoid bird will hold up just out of shotgun range eyeing your decoy. Scout for cover that offers a turkey some confidence while approaching you in a bushier setting, but highlighted with an opening such as a forest glade or a two-track trail.

If you need to meet a bird halfway or if for some reason they stop and want you to come to them (which is how it works in the natural turkey world), use the terrain. Depending on subspecies and age, wild turkeys have a height of about 2 to 3 feet. Small hills, swales, coulees and ditches can provide just the right amount of elevation to hide movement and later, force a tom into peeking over for a pellet meet-and-greet.

One season I fired up a gobbler, but it was obvious the tom was well into the neighbor’s property. Still, his barely audible gobbles sounded enthusiastic and within a few minutes it sounded as if he actually closed the distance. Using small pines as a veil, my buddy and I jogged closer to the fence and only a small knob separated us from the neighboring land. I was up to bat, so I whispered to my buddy to back off 100 yards and continue the sexy talk. I set up just below the knob with hopes a baseball-cap-wearing tom would peek over. It took nearly 15 minutes for the gobbler to take that peek, and I made sure he never made it back over the fence. That tom came from nearly a mile off — making him a long-distance champion.