A few Turkey Hunting ?’s

Last weekend I was trying to locate a few Turkeys in a new area. I tried both a Crow and Owl call to get the birds to Shock Gobble – No luck. There are a ton of Crows and Owl’s in this area so maybe that is why they did not work. What else would be something to try?

Does anyone here use a push pin style call? If so what brands have you found to work the best? I tried 2 different ones at a store last night. Both had been removed from the box and seems messed up ( Spring arm bent or positioned wrong I think )

What Type of call can you use in the rain ( I have not learned to use a diaphragm call – Bad Gag reflex ) Are there some friction calls that will work and sound good when wet? How about different strikers? I know the 2 Friction calls I have will not work when wet ( Found out the hard way last season.

Thanks in advance for all your responses and thoughts.

For me, I have to use youth sized diaphragm calls. Apparently I have a narrow pallet. I also have a severe gag reflex so it’s made learning to use one very hard. Time and practice are the only thing I’ve found to help.

I’ll let others way in on friction calls. I have one slate that seems to work ok when damp, but I’ve never tried it when it was wet. My box call also works OK when damp.

I’m very intrigued by the new Flextone and Primos calls out there. If they ever hit the shelves, I’ll be trying them.

I use my box call in the rain. I keep it out of the weather as much as possible either by hiding it under my seat or inside my vest. My grandpa used a Quaker Boy push-pin style. It sounded ok but we changed out the spring to a heavier one.

As far as locating birds I use a crow call, owl call, or gobbler. I do not use hen calls. There are too many guys driving up and down the road already that stop and yelp. No sense in making them any smarter than they already are. If your locating from the road, try honking your horn. Sometimes it’s best just to get in close to where you think they will roost and listen. I have heard them fly up on many occasions. It makes your decision on where to sit in the moring much easier. I’ve set up so close to birds that I was able to watch them strut in the tree. My experience this year has been if I can find birds around 6:30pm… they aren’t roosting far.

As for locating turkeys… I am a big fan of lots of tire travel, to find them to start and then boot travel to follow up… Our northern birds are on the move all the time, and at the end of the day, up the tree to roost. No need to go back to the roosting tree, just fly up.

So what do they do… I think they do a circle that has the proper habitat,starting when they start and ending when they fly up. Down south, I spot them in the truck, then get permission to hunt them, then get the boots on the ground. I seem to be better in this mode, than to sneak out to do the crow or owl calling…

As for the calls, I am the biggest fan of the diaphragm because it is hands free for the gun, but less movement in general. I am kind of a fidget kind of guy until I know it game on time, so that is a plus for me. I usually have two different calls in my mouth at the same time also, so I have two different tones going on as well.

I trim mine down, perhaps further the recommended, but do it a little at a time and use the cheaper calls so if you screw up, it just costs a $5’er or so. Then put them in your mouth and keep them there. Move them around so they can be manipulated when you need them. I can generally put them in place, call, take and move it back to the side of my mouth, then move the other into place and call with it as well. At the beginning of the season, I have gag issues to start as well, but they subside in a little bit of time.

Mark

do you got any buddies that are good callers?

ask them to call for you.. as far as crow or owl.. it is early.. them turkeys are gobbling good in the morning and late afternoon but it seems they just aren’t in the mood to be put to bed yet..

give it a week or two and try again.. that crow or owl call will work like its magic…

I’m like you I cant call a turkey to save my life but I have a friend that is the turkey whisperer.. I hunt with him..

mid-morning to quittin time at 1, i’ve got quite a few toms to answer and/or shock gobble at a tube call.

(i would never use a tube as a shock call while they are still on the roost if i was setup close to the roost)

tubes arent that hard to learn and make a unique sound that will draw a response – especially on pressured birds – because very few guys use them.

when its raining, or forecast to, i leave my vest with the custom calls in the truck and head out with my diaphragm pouch and a tube call. and thats all it took for several nice toms.

sometimes i will take a box call inside a zip bag and run it in the bag to keep it dry.

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Last weekend I was trying to locate a few Turkeys in a new area. I tried both a Crow and Owl call to get the birds to Shock Gobble – No luck. There are a ton of Crows and Owl’s in this area so maybe that is why they did not work. What else would be something to try?

Does anyone here use a push pin style call? If so what brands have you found to work the best? I tried 2 different ones at a store last night. Both had been removed from the box and seems messed up ( Spring arm bent or positioned wrong I think )

What Type of call can you use in the rain ( I have not learned to use a diaphragm call – Bad Gag reflex ) Are there some friction calls that will work and sound good when wet? How about different strikers? I know the 2 Friction calls I have will not work when wet ( Found out the hard way last season.

Thanks in advance for all your responses and thoughts.

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Some great responses. Lots of turkey knowledge in the room!

My 2 cents regarding locator calls are that just about any of them work when the bird is “right” to gobble. Some birds simply don’t shock gobble. I’ve also had birds less than 100 yards away that won’t gobble at anything locator I blow at them, but gobble like crazy for the neighbors cattle gate opening. Day in, day out, crow calls are the loudest/most-common sound they hear and will gobble at. Early or late I blow an owl hooter. I will use a box call to roost birds, but beware, this is a last-ditch effort to get them to gobble. I’ve had toms fly out of roosted trees towards my position to roost nearer what they think is a hen already in the tree.

Push pin style calls are great for beginners. Both of my boys have had toms gobble and come closer. They yelp and cluck well, but beyond that don’t make many of the vocalizations of the turkey. I’ve got a few from quaker boy, and a plastic one that HS Strut made years ago. I like the wooden ones. You can adjust the screw at bottom and the spring to make different sounds. They’re not going to sound as realistic as many of the other calls out there, but I have two friends that kill turkeys with them every year.

The dirty little secret about hunting in the rain, is the few to no hunters actually do it. Or if they do, they don’t for long. Or, if they do, they sit in a blind where you won’t get wet. You’ll get caught in the occasional spring downpour throughout May, but in those situations I usually use a mouth call. A box call can be used too as long as you keep it dry and don’t take it out when it’s really raining hard. There are waterproof type box calls out there, and some of them actually sound pretty good. None good enough to replace my standard chalked box call however, at least for my ear.

Carbon strikers on crystal, glass, or aluminum seem to perform well, and can be played in the rain.

Keep trying those mouth calls, the more you practice just having it in your mouth when you drive or are around the house, the easier it gets to get over that.

Joel