Locating gobblers

[Ocdeerhunter]

Me and my dad are going to hunt some new area. We were wondering if we walk in really early can we start using the owl hoot and find them early?

[MACHINIST]

Ive never had a ton of luck with the owl hooter till they could see the ground but yes I have done it.I think it works best this time of year because the leaves are on the tree and it makes it easier to sneak in closer than it was just 2 weeks ago.Only a week and a half left go for it!!

[Terry]

I've had good luck with the owl hooter once the songbirds start. I use it to pinpoint roosting location. Right now, I would say about 5:00 is a good time to start.

[Terry]

It's natural for owls to hoot at night, so I wouldn't worry about scaring anything by starting too early.

[Bow Addict]

I hunt Allegany Co. There seems to be a Barred owl on every ridgetop and I have yet to hear a shock gobble.They seem to ignore them.I have better luck with a crow call when it starts to get light.

[deerpassion]

I've had good luck with the owl hooter in Florida , but have yet to get an answer with either the hooter or crow call up here... Actually called in an owel two weeks ago in the evening trying to locate a bird for the next morning .. We called back n forth for almost 15 minutes until he flew in and landed in the tree I was leaning against ... Never a gobble in all that ... And that's an area I have experience with birds roosting. ...

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[Pygmy]

I've had good luck with the owl hooter in Florida , but have yet to get an answer with either the hooter or crow call up here... Actually called in an owel two weeks ago in the evening trying to locate a bird for the next morning .. We called back n forth for almost 15 minutes until he flew in and landed in the tree I was leaning against ... Never a gobble in all that ... And that's an area I have experience with birds roosting. ...

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No offense, Pilgrim, but if you've never heard gobblers gobble at crow or owl calls here in NY, you must not have hunted here much...Over the last 40 years, I have heard literally HUNDREDS of gobblers respond to crow or owl calls, both natural and artificial...I have also heard many gobble at gunshots, coyotes and many other loud noises. Just this spring I was working a gobbler and there were loggers working across the valley from me...They dropped a tree and he gobbled at the noise of it falling.

[Uncle Nicky]

No offense, Pilgrim, but if you've never heard gobblers gobble at crow or owl calls here in NY, you must not have hunted here much...Over the last 40 years, I have heard literally HUNDREDS of gobblers respond to crow or owl calls, both natural and artificial...I have also heard many gobble at gunshots, coyotes and many other loud noises. Just this spring I was working a gobbler and there were loggers working across the valley from me...They dropped a tree and he gobbled at the noise of it falling.

Yes, many days like this. I've had days when I couldn't buy a gobble either, no matter what I tried to do. One of these days I may figure them out, but I doubt it.

[LI OUTDOORSMAN]

They were ripping it up pretty good to owls calling in my woods this spring.!

[ants]

If you walk in "really  early"  just listen first. Set up in a likely spot and do some soft yelps. If nothing is going on , say 20- 30 mins or so after daybreak then take a slow walk and try locater calls. Yes owl calls work. I think almost anything works. I have gotten them to sound off to an old duck call. I have heard a ton of birds go off on circling crows that were calling…..Just this morning I heard a tom gobble to geese that were calling as they were  circling the cut field, just after first light……...

 

Good luck..

[Charder]

Anyone have any luck using a gobbler tube?

[deerpassion]

No offense, Pilgrim, but if you've never heard gobblers gobble at crow or owl calls here in NY, you must not have hunted here much...Over the last 40 years, I have heard literally HUNDREDS of gobblers respond to crow or owl calls, both natural and artificial...I have also heard many gobble at gunshots, coyotes and many other loud noises. Just this spring I was working a gobbler and there were loggers working across the valley from me...They dropped a tree and he gobbled at the noise of it falling.

4 seasons worth ... Ain't my first rodeo either .... Did have em hammerin 1st thing a week ago to live crows at first light but haven't had any luck later on in the morning with it... Have had owls sound off a bunch with no gobbles along with me callin only to see birds that morning too .... Sorry I don't have dinasaur age experience up here but I can speak from hard experience at least on public land here in 9h and 8g ...

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[wildcat junkie]

I've had good luck with the owl hooter in Florida , but have yet to get an answer with either the hooter or crow call up here... Actually called in an owel two weeks ago in the evening trying to locate a bird for the next morning .. We called back n forth for almost 15 minutes until he flew in and landed in the tree I was leaning against ... Never a gobble in all that ... And that's an area I have experience with birds roosting. ...

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No offense, Pilgrim, but if you've never heard gobblers gobble at crow or owl calls here in NY, you must not have hunted here much...Over the last 40 years, I have heard literally HUNDREDS of gobblers respond to crow or owl calls, both natural and artificial...I have also heard many gobble at gunshots, coyotes and many other loud noises. Just this spring I was working a gobbler and there were loggers working across the valley from me...They dropped a tree and he gobbled at the noise of it falling.

When I hunted turkeys in the hills of southern Indiana, a sure fire way to locate gobblers was to owl hoot from a ridge top. Toms would sound off immediately, sometimes so far away one could barely hear them.

I have yet to have a gobbler respond to my owl hoots on my place in the St Lawrence valley. Yesterday morning, as I was walking across a hay field, I had a Barred Owl hooting near my set-up location, but not an single shock gobble. 15 minutes later, as the sky lightened up, a gobbler started sounding off less than 100 yds from where the owl was hooting. Not having much luck W/a crow call either.

Fortunately, I'm learning the preferred roost locations & travel patterns.

In the Morgan Monroe Stare Forest near Martinsville, IN, I once called a pair of Barred Owls in so close I could see them. They went back & forth for quite some time. I was treated to quite the variety of Barred Owl vocalizations including hoots, cackles & trills.

Edited May 22, 2015 by wildcat junkie

[turkeyfeathers]

Crow call and owl hooters are hit n miss. Sort of like birds don't gobble everyday. Crow calls have helped me locate birds sometimes but not all the time. Some days they'll shock gobble at anything and others nothing. Doesn't hurt to try

[WNY Bowhunter]

I really don't have much experience with using owl hooting for locating gobblers here in NY, but the owls absolutely lit the birds up in KY when I was there a few weeks ago. I don't use the owl call for two reasons: first...the last one that I bought was very tough for me to us (way tougher than running a turkey call) and secondly, I don't need one because I have total faith in my crow call. I use mine from preseason scouting in early April all through season with the same results. All crow calls are not created equal...I've been using a Hook's Harrison crow call for the past few seasons and it's awesome...it's loud and obnoxious and gets the birds to gobble even when you have to force it out of them (literally).  It's funny, I've had several instances this spring where the birds completely ignored the real crows but would respond to me every time.  Last weekend was the last time I was out and there was a bird gobbling his head off on the ridge below us...we were thinking about moving on him...I hit the crow call and another one gobbled less than 100 yds from us, he had hens roosted right with him and wasn't in the gobbling mood but I could still get him to sound off to my crow.

 

I don't have dinosaur experience either, but after 2 decades of hunting NY gobblers, I KNOW that they will gobble to crow calls all season long and I KNOW (or rather knew) a bunch of longbeards that have paid dearly for opening their beaks to give away their presence after hearing one.

Edited May 22, 2015 by WNY Bowhunter

[turkeyfeathers]

Gobble all season long at crow call everyday ?!

[wooly]

I've had really good luck locating in the past with crow calls, but not so much with hooters for shock gobbling.

I don't use either much anymore unless I'm trying to get a gobbler I can already see to put on a bit of a show before I kill it.

Nowadays I just pay more attention to picking out a quick set up before hitting my box call to locate.

 

I don't like locators for a bird I'm working.

If he's hung up out of sight I think locators have been over-used to the point where they may prevent a gobbler from closing the distance to your set-up when they smell a rat.

When that happens I think the best thing to do is go silent anyhow and maybe catch up to him another day in a different mood or location instead of throwing everything in your vest at him.

 

Gobbling has been very sporadic around me this year and it's become a true test of patience to let them sound off on their own.

Some days I wish I had an elephant trumpet call just to break the silence I've been hearing so far.

[WNY Bowhunter]

Gobble all season long at crow call everyday ?!

 

Absolutely, no joke...I use my crow call on nearly every morning hunt. I guess that I should point out that I am referring strictly to roost gobbling. AIso, when I hit the crow call I'm not trying to mimic actual crows, I make my calls super loud and piercing!!! I seldom use a locator call on mid-late morning hunts. My preferred method of killing gobblers is to locate them from the roost and then slip in on them as close as I can get. Most of my birds are tagged right off the roost (not literally...lol).

Edited May 22, 2015 by WNY Bowhunter

[mbucks27]

Owl call works great for me. Use it all morning long and to roost at night and works better for me thn crow call. Roosted this guy may 1st at last light with owl call and shot him next morning about 5 min after he flew off roost. My buddy was filming and right after that we went and located another bird with the owl call and he shot him at 11:50 unforgettable morning. Mine had 4 beards.

[WNY Bowhunter]

Nice birds man!!! I was also fortunate enough to bag a multi-bearded gobbler this spring...guess you just never know what you will come home with.

[ATbuckhunter]

Absolutely, no joke...I use my crow call on nearly every morning hunt. I guess that I should point out that I am referring strictly to roost gobbling. AIso, when I hit the crow call I'm not trying to mimic actual crows, I make my calls super loud and piercing!!! I seldom use a locator call on mid-late morning hunts. My preferred method of killing gobblers is to locate them from the roost and then slip in on them as close as I can get. Most of my birds are tagged right off the roost (not literally...lol).

What time would you use the crow call? I was always told a crow call was to be used after the sun has come up. 

[turkeyfeathers]

Guess I'm more of a wait it out and listen for roost gobbles without a crow call guy. I'll hit it after a few hours if nothing is happening. Hunting 70 acres so no run n gun needed. Never been much into camping below the roost , watch them fly down , no calling , barely a show and touch one off. Birds I hunt are always roosting 300-500 yards off property I can hunt. Nothing better than working them that distance , heart pounds , I get shaky , and get to see a long show as they strut across the field. Sitting below a roosted bird doesn't sound fun or challenging , mine as well shoot one at Wegmans. Everyone hunts different and I get and accept that. It's just not me. Oh ya , and daughter and I enjoying smoked turkey breast marinated in oj , Italian dressing , crushed red pepper and wrapped in maple smoked bacon right now. A bird we worked from 600 yards out. Long show , lots of strutting and gobbling , henned up , quiet on the roost type of bird. We've waited until Memorial Day to hunt again after tipping over bird on Mothers Day Woods are completely different , turkeys are more responsive , and like to sleep in lol. Shoot straight, be patient , call soft , call less and most of all enjoy the woods waking up my friends. That's what it's all about, taking one home : added bonus.

[Lawdwaz]

In a heart beat I'd sooner leave my box call home than my owl hooter and crow call.

 

Or put it this way, I'd stay home if I couldn't take my hooter and crow call.  Honest Injun.................

 

 

The second gobbler I killed this year was located because he gobbled AFTER a truck hit a bump in the road and something big & heavy in the back of the truck made a huge clank.  He was strutting in a field probably 150 or so yards away from me.  I set up right then and there and called the bugger in after about 10 minutes or so.............

 

Lords knows WTH they will AND won't gobble to at any given moment.  (who knows if the Lord knows either because even the gobblers probably don't know what will set them off!!)

[Pygmy]

I agree with WNYBOW that not all crows calls are created equal...Mine is an open reed call and it is LOUD..I call loud, raucous and raspy...No, they DON'T gobble at it every time, but they gobble at it often enough to make it worth hanging around my neck everytime I go out..

 

Not all owl calls are created equal, either..I started out with a homemade PVC hooter, similar to many commercial hooters that were made at the time.. never had much luck with it..

 

then I hunted a few times with a couple of guys who were very talented natural voice owl hooters..One  won the NYSNWTF owl hooting championship one year.. THOSE boys could make turkeys gobble with their very authentic owl hooting..At one time I could do a fair owl hoot by mouth, but I lost the voice for it..I guess I finally reached puberty at age 50 or so.. I don't hoot anymore, but I hear birds respond to live barred owls quite often..

[WNY Bowhunter]

I was just out cruising around my hunting spots trying to locate a bird for the morning and spotted some turkeys in a planted cornfield about 7:30. I pulled over to check them over with the binos but it ended up being three hens. There has been a big strutter with them for the past few weeks so I was scanning for him when a crow flew over cawing and boom...GOOOBBBLEEE...just out of sight. My wife stuck the crow call out the window and gave a toot on it...GOOOBBBLEEE again!!! What do ya know, the crow call works after all...