How would you rate yourself as a turkey caller ?

[Pygmy]

No  better than average....I am minimalist at turkey calling...I like to keep my calls realistic and simple  and call just enough to get the job done...Mostly yelps and clucks and  perhaps a hard cutt if I feel I need to get the bird more excited..

I started with a box call ( I still have my Lynch World Champion and Foolproof boxes from the 1960s)  but I eventually got reasonably proficient with a diaphragm...Over the years however, something has changed  and I can no longer use the mouth calls..I have a few dozen of them still brand new in the package...I guess it is the " if you don't use it, you'll lose it" syndrome, which applies to other things too <<sigh>>...

My turkey hunting style has changed, also, going from years of running and gunning to mostly static blind hunting now...The extra movement required to run a box call is not much  of an issue when you are concealed in a blind..

I have a couple of custom made wingbone calls, but I never took the time to get proficient with them...I can make chipmunk sounds with them, but not realistic turkey sounds, IMHO..  I always carry a pot and striker that I sometimes use for clucking and purring, but most of the time I use one of my box calls..I think I have about 14, at last count..

[mowin]

I think I'm a 7. Use mostly mouth calls. A slate, or box when needed. 

[diplomat019]

I’m pretty new to turkey hunting. I’ve used a box call and have gotten some responses but never called anything in. I just bought a mouth call. My question is how Loud should I be calling with it?  Loud?  Medium?  

[turkeyfeathers]

3 minutes ago, diplomat019 said:

I’m pretty new to turkey hunting. I’ve used a box call and have gotten some responses but never called anything in. I just bought a mouth call. My question is how Loud should I be calling with it?  Loud?  Medium?  

on windy days you may have to ramp up the volume but normal days call quietly and when you think you're calling quietly cut that volume. They'll hear you    Example: in hunting with others and 30 yards apart you shouldn't really even hear each other calling

[ATbuckhunter]

Definitely no better than average, thats for sure. Probably not even average, just lucky more than likely. Couldnt call in a bird to save my life last season

[Uncle Nicky]

9, I may sound like I am bragging, but I have put my time in the last 15 years, and feel like I have a pretty good handle on what birds like & don't like to hear. If I was REALLY good with a mouth call I'd say 9.5

But, and this is a BIG but, I really don't call a whole lot. It's all about sounding like a hen (or sometimes a gobbler) in the spring, or a hen, poult, or gobbler in the fall, and knowing when to just clam up.

[turkeyfeathers]

Like many have stated. Sometimes going quiet is the answer. It’s tough as we want to hear him gobble though.  But if he’s quiet more than likely he’s coming and looking for you. Or he’s got more than enough other hens and doesn’t care about one more. If that’s the case call at the head hen. Pizz her off as theres a new gal in town. 

[buffalojay83]

12/10!!!!

[Buckmaster7600]

I’m pretty new to turkey hunting. I’ve used a box call and have gotten some responses but never called anything in. I just bought a mouth call. My question is how Loud should I be calling with it?  Loud?  Medium?  

About anybody can make a mouth call sound alright when calling loud. Don’t spend much time learning to be loud make that call sound good with your mouth closed at Barely louder than a whisper. That soft talk is what puts turkey in the oil!


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[Robhuntandfish]

4 minutes ago, turkeyfeathers said:

Like many have stated. Sometimes going quiet is the answer. It’s tough as we want to hear him gobble though.  But if he’s quiet more than likely he’s coming and looking for you. Or he’s got more than enough other hens and doesn’t care about one more. If that’s the case call at the head hen. Pizz her off as theres a new gal in town. 

I struggle with pulling them away from hens for sure. Two years ago I had two hens come out on a trot right at me though, like they were pissed and the gobbler was right in tow.  

I am positive I overcall often. I did one time get a gobbler by calling as loud as I could.  Could hear him seems like 1/2 mile away and he just kept coming.  But am sure that isn't the norm.  

Called two in last year but both out of position and I got busted.   And seems like they come in when I am quiet and assume they are looking for that hen.  

When they are roosted close -when and how often do you call? My prob always seems to be they are gobbling close on a roost and then come down and go off with the hens.  They gobble at me early but dont come over, then leave and are hundreds of yards away in other fields.  And it's on private land.  I have tried to piss off the hens too and have them come out but only had that work the once. 

My idea this year is to stay right til noon and try to bring them back to me late morning after chasing hens they are with.

[eaglemountainman]

I'm just proficient enough to make noise on many different types of calls. It's mostly to give them to know that I'm in the woods and I mean business. If they go and get themselves killed, well then, that's their own fault.

[moog5050]

I either hunt only deaf turkeys or am a -10 on the calling scale.  

[turkeyfeathers]

2 minutes ago, moog5050 said:

I either hunt only deaf turkeys or am a -10 on the calling scale.  

You’re wearing scent lock and running ozonics right ?them bastids can smell 

[bigpaul]

I'm about a 3 out of 10.  But the right bird at the right time makes me look like a 10.

[G-Man]

I dont think you need to be much above a one as a caller push a pin and get a Yelp, heck just scratch leaves ..if your woodmanship is high  knowing why a turkey will be someplace and how to set up so they are comfortable going to you is much more important . Any bird that answers you is happy with your calling a great caller is not going to get a bird to come where it isnt comfortable. setting up so it will come look for you where its comfortable is the hard part. 

[moog5050]

37 minutes ago, turkeyfeathers said:

You’re wearing scent lock and running ozonics right ?them bastids can smell 

Don’t need to.  I only hunt them at night with a thermal.   I just can’t seem to get them in the field even with rabbit in distress.   

[diplomat019]

7 hours ago, ODYSSEUS said:

Diplomat019-- Buy a Push-Pull Call as well. All due Respect to you-- but you may not master that Diaphragm enough in the next 6 weeks Took me  6 Months. I stopped using Diaphragms in the mid- 1990s. Hope you Bag a big Tom.

I was apprehensive on using the mouth call this year for what you just said.  

 

I will for sure purchase a push call. 

 

Thanks!

[Buckmaster7600]

I was apprehensive on using the mouth call this year for what you just said.  
 
I will for sure purchase a push call. 
 
Thanks!

I’m sure some on here will disagree but once you can make a noise with a mouth cal you’re proficient enough to cal a bird in with one. The turkeys will teach you what they want to here.


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[airedale]

Not a dedicated Turkey hunter but I learned to call good enough to take a few. Years ago I raised some Merriam wild Turkeys and messing around with them is how I learned to call. They have an extensive vocabulary and a lot of it I could not duplicate with any calls I had. I got so I could sound half way decent with the basics using mouth calls and box types. The Tom below was the last of the ones I raised, I did a lot of conversing with him and what ever I said must have been bad because he hated my guts and he would try to dry gulch me at every turn if I was not watching him. Always amazed me how easy he could fly as big as he was.

[The_Real_TCIII]

I'm not sure where I rank numerically. TF said it best, the worst turkey talk you hear comes from a real turkey. I've heard hens do some crazy stuff, and cackle for 10 min straight (proving the over calling theory). So if I think I'm a bad caller, does it actually mean I'm good ? I'll take a 5 and stay safe

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Same, continuous Yelp for a solid ten minutes and sound more like a barking dog than a hen lol. One time she was ten feet in front of me I could see her tonghe


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[jperch]

I am at best an average caller.  But for me, proper set up is more important than calling ability.  By that I mean knowing a good location to set up and setting up in such away that when old goofy face shows up you are likely to get a good shot opportunity.  When it comes to calling a majority of times it's best to call less rather than more.  Over the last 25 years it seems to me that for whatever reason gobblers have become more cautious.

jperch

[Pygmy]

6 minutes ago, jperch said:

I am at best an average caller.  But for me, proper set up is more important than calling ability.  By that I mean knowing a good location to set up and setting up in such away that when old goofy face shows up you are likely to get a good shot opportunity.  When it comes to calling a majority of times it's best to call less rather than more.  Over the last 25 years it seems to me that for whatever reason gobblers have become more cautious.

jperch

Bingo !!    Having hunted gobblers for close to 50 years now, I have had the opportunity to hunt birds in several areas the first couple of years when seasons have been established....Ontario, Canada...Maine...Kentucky...several locales in NY when huntable flocks were first established....In all cases, birds in areas recently opened to hunting provided lots of easy, naaive, gobblers....However, within a few seasons, these gobblers become just as tough to kill as in areas where they have been hunted many years...The toughest gobblers I have hunted have been in places where they have been hunted for many years, like Georgia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and southwestern NY

[TreeGuy]

Don’t need to.  I only hunt them at night with a thermal.   I just can’t seem to get them in the field even with rabbit in distress.   

And when the opportunity presents itself, will you be a hero...or a zero ???

Ill still give u a 10/10 pal

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[moog5050]

1 hour ago, TreeGuy said:

And when the opportunity presents itself, will you be a hero...or a zero ???

Ill still give u a 10/10 pal

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Depends.  Will the bird be 150ish - ie 280yds.  

[TreeGuy]

Ish man. Capital ish

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