Ok guys i have a question.I am going to try turkey hunting this spring for the first time.I am wondering about a good easy to use call.I have tried diaphram calls and just cant get the hang of them.So what suggestions do you guys have?Thanks
Fuzz
A good slate or box call will do the trick just fine. Also if you cant blow a mouth call and still want the latex sound, try a tube caller, they are cheap and have great sound.
Steve Cultor here on the board make a very fine slate calls and Dogwood creek make's some fine box calls as well. Or Geens Turkey calls he goes by Blacky here on FNF makes some great calls.
A good slate or box will run the mill and kill some birds for you!
Brent
The best box call I've ever used is a Lynch Foolproof turkey call. I've had mine over 20+ years and it sounds as good today as it did way back then. It's taken a whole bunch of turkeys!
When I started out I listened to a Ben Lee tape to learn what different turkey calls sounded like. Practice and get the rhythm down and you are good to go. :eyebrow:
Semp
Thanks for the help guys.
Fuzz
Hey, Thanks for the plug Brent. I just go by Coulter on forums though, the last name is Steffy. :biggrin:
Anyway, I make a 3" slate or glass and a 3.5" slate or glass. I kinda like the 3" better myself. I should be getting into the turkey calla gain real soon. I'll post some up when I get some done. Oh yeah, I make short ansd long boxes too...but only if I have to :iroll:
Steve
I dont think i have ever seen any of your turkey calls Steve.I would be interested in a 3" slate.Let me know when you get some done.
Also guys,what is the best sound for locateing turkeys.I have had them gobble at alote of sounds,just wondering which one is best.
Fuzz
Just before light, I use a barred owl call with lots of emotion.
Semp
For locating I found that a coyote howler works the best.
As far as turkey calls..... I use a Dogwood creek box and a KEE's custom wing bone until they get close then I use a diaphragm call.
Last year I had great success with this combo. I called a nice gobbler for myself and a jake for my son.
Thanks for all the info guys.That is why i love this board.Everyone is always willing to help each other. :highclap:
Fuzz
You go out locating at night with a howler, dont be surprised if you fire up mr. coyote. Happened numerous times to us, make sure you note where you're hearing him as well.
On a funny note, I had a bird located for a first time turkey hunter, as we got out of the car before daylight he slammed the door and shock gobbled em. They was easy pickin that morning :) All fired up and racing in !!!
This past spring was the 1st time I've heard them gobble at crows or an owl. Of course I've only been chasin them for about 5 years tho. On the other hand I have a howler that gets really high pitched & can get them to gobble at that. But still not all the time. Not much help here was I?? :confused:
I know what you guys are talking about.I have had gobble at lots of sounds on my FP this year.I was just wondering which sound seams to work the best.I have had them answer a howl a few times but the one that seams to work the most in the pup distress.Why they answer to that,i have no clue but so far it is working.Thanks for all the advice guys.
Fuzz
:doh2: My 1st Tom gobbled at a Hawk scream also. That was his undoing. :eyebrow:
Ooohh...Glens a "Silver Member" :bowingsmilie: :innocentwhistle:
I had them gobbling pretty good at my crow call last year. Here is the end result with my crow call and bloodwood shortbox :biggrin:
(http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg13/NorthBay06/IMG_0846.jpg)
(http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg13/NorthBay06/IMG_0850.jpg)
(http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg13/NorthBay06/IMG_0848.jpg)
I called three birds in on opening day with my 3.5" slate, but decided not to end my season so quickly. I harvested the above bird the fourth week of the season. I guess I got my moneys worth :biggrin:
Fuzz...I'll shoot ya a PM when I get some slates finished up. It will probably be a week or two.
Steve
Nice tom Steve, my best bird to date came in with hardly any calling at all. I was huntin a high pressured area just after a night of rain and the morning was very foggy. I set 3 hen dekes out, talked to the bird on the roost with some soft tree clucks then shut right up. His hen herum lead him out to his death, they were all sorts of PO'ed at my dekes, circling and pecking at them and he followed them right out. I have a bunch of pic's coming of some of my past birds, I think that one's in there.
I'm only a Silver member because the program can't differentiate between useful posts & BS. :wink: :laf: :laf:
Nice Tom you got there!! Those spurs are wicked. :congrats: :congrats:
Steve,I look forward to hearing from you.I guess everyone needs at least 1 turkey call in the collection.Hopefully this will be the first of many.
So just to recap.A good slate or box call will work well.Quite a few of you guys have killed nice birds,and i have killed none :madd: A gobbler will gobble at just about any noise,if he feels like it.Hammer is now a silver member because he talks alote of BS. :congrats:
Honestly,to all you guys,thanks for all the help.I appreciate it.
Fuzz
Here's my top ten turkey huntin tips that positively work!
1. Don't move
2. Don't move
3. Don't move
4. Don't move
5. Don't move
6. Don't move
7. Don't move
8. Don't move
9. Don't call too much
10. Don't move
Killing a turkey ain't rocket science. But trying to kill a 5 year old boss gobbler is pretty dayum close to rocket science. :madd: :biggrin:
Semp
QuoteHammer is now a silver member because he talks alote of BS.
:roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:Yeah that sounds about right :roflmao:
Semp is right on the don't move part and the big boss Toms are a bit trickier to get to. But, there ain't nothing wrong with taking a jake for your first bird either. It is much easier to improve on that the next season :eyebrow:
Give a holler when the season rolls aroundif ya need any help. Until then, I have some calls that need to be made :wink:
Steve
I'm also the only one here that will admit to that too. :roflmao:
Set in the shadows & don't move. If there are hens there & the gobbler won't respond because of them,,, then just piss the lead hen off & have her come look at your decoy real close. The ol boy will be right behind her. :wink:
Quotepiss the lead hen off & have her come look at your decoy real close
Great tip Hammer !!
Alot of circumstances I've run into killed toms this way. Talk a bit with that old girl, its funny to see em get
all bent out of shape :eyebrownod:
Man I'm all fired up about spring time now !!! :yoyo:
Thanks Silencer. That's how I shot my 1st one last spring.
So now i need a decoy. :doh2: well i recon i could break down a buy one.Ok,lets hear some decoy suggestions.Where can i get a good one at a resonable price?
Fuzz
You don't NEED a decoy but I can see where it will help. Some folks kill em all the time without. Here's a link to good prices on almost every turkey decoy on the market. I use the Feather Flex $14.99 one.
http://www.wingsupply.com/shop/Scripts/decoys.asp?p=100
HTH
A decoy is not necessary IMHO unless you plan to sit in a blind on the edge of a field and wait on the birds. That is what I do on those rainy, nasty days. When it is raining they seemed to like going to the fields. Otherwise, when I'm in the woods, I don't use decoys.
Semp
I am not big on owl or crow calls before daylight around here. Most of the time the birds will fire there self up just fine before first light. One reason is here every Tom, Dick, and Harry go out before season and call to these birds, it don't take long for them to get wise. I like to let them go about there normal thing then just slip in and set up on them. That has worked better for me over the years. I will use a crow call as the morning goes on to try and get one fired up, or If I am moving in on a bird and don't know for sure were he is, I will use the crow call to locate him so I don't get to close and bump him.
But most of the time, I am a run and gun turkey hunter. I use a mouth call and run the ridge tops. Stop and call, if no answer I move on.
I don't use many decoys either. Unless I am setting up on a field edge of some kind or I am calling to the camera and want that extra footage of them. Just more to Carry for me. A shotgun, a few mouth calls, and a bottle of water and let go!
Fuzz, you close enough to get out with me a morning or two if you want. I will have some free time if you want to go!
Brent
Quoteyou close enough to get out with me a morning or two if you want. I will have some free time if you want to go!
I'd take him up on that offer :yoyo: :congrats:
Quote from: Silencer on February 12, 2008, 03:41:44 PM
Quoteyou close enough to get out with me a morning or two if you want. I will have some free time if you want to go!
I'd take him up on that offer :yoyo: :congrats:
Yep, that's a "no brainer" for sure! :readthis:
Brent I dont think i can take another hunt with you.Last time you tried to walk me to death.Im just jokeing.You name a time and place and ill be there. :bowingsmilie: I figured you would be booked up for the season.Just let me know anytime you want to hunt or fish and i am usually up for it.
I couldn't agree with ya more on using the "locator calls" early in the AM. I might give a few soft tree yelps when I get to my spot, but I don't bust out the crow call or owl hooter until after 9 or so.
As far as dekes go...Yeah, I use them. But, no I don't rely on them a whole lot. The birds I have shot when using dekes paid little or no attention to them in the first place. I know they work at times, but I don't believe they are a requisite tool to harvesting a big tom. All they really are to me is a hindrance in the field...remember you have to carry the stupid things around with ya when relocationg or ridge running.
Steve
howdy fuzz, semp said it mostly, dont over call and dont move.......id like to suggest if your looking at calls and just starting out think about some of the very simple push pin type calls, the lonesome hen, the egg, the tom coffin, they work and are straight up simple to use, push the pin, thats it haha, also scratching or raking the ground or leaves to simulate turkeys feeding is a deadly technique to bring em in without even calling, i use it on the oak ridges mostly, just dont get busted scratching...ive been hunting turkeys quite a spell now, but the first bird/gobbler i ever got i didnt know anything but what i read in a book by bob hoffman i think, i scouted around, went before dark, sat on the edge of a plowed over cornfield and as it got light i pushed a push pin call every few minutes, honestly never thought id even see a turkey, well all of a sudden i hear a gobble way off, then see a black blob wayyyyy down the field, here comes a big tom walking, stopping, strutting, walking, i kept hitting the call, he came the whole way across the field, i waited till he was even with me in the field, pulled the gun up, he walked around the bush, bang, first turkey!...and ive been addicted ever since:)...heres a pic of my last one brought in with a mouth diaphragm call, good luck in your hunt:
(http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj275/nastygunz/turkey2.jpg)