Calling Them In Fron Long Range

[Uncle Nicky]

One more thing I will add, and most probably know this already...

A turkey's sense of hearing & direction are INCREDIBLE. I am convinced that they can hear you 400 yards away, and know within 10 feet of where you are calling from. As a beginner I remember being told about their eyesight, which IS quite good, but their sense of hearing is mind-boggling. Just one man's opinion, of course.

[Pygmy]

There have been numerous times when a gobbler responded from hundreds of yards away to soft clucks or yelp that I wouldn't have been able to hear from 50 yards away...

I remember one bird in PA that was gobbling down over a steep  hayfield a couple of hundred yards from me...

I took the rubber band off my Lynch Foolproof, and when I set it down beside me to get  situated, the paddle slipped and gave a soft cluck...The bird immediately  gobbled and made a beeline up over the field ..I never touched the call again and killed him at 30 yards, standing in the field and looking directly at my position..

[Buckmaster7600]

  I agree with this. I have been pinned out numerous  times when a silent Gobbler comes in later on and stares at my Location. Just out of shotgun range of course.

As soon as I think I have a bird coming to my calls I move 20yds left or right of where I called from. I always try not to call again unless I think I he’s lost interest. Too many times I’ve gotten spotted by birds before I see them.

It would be unbelievable to think a turkey can know what tree you were at when you called from a couple hundred yards but I’ve saw it too many times to not be a believer!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DirtTime]

1 hour ago, blackbeltbill said:

    Do you have a few pictures of you holding a Few Gobblers to post on this Thread?  Looking forward to seeing them.

Bill, he/she hasn't replied to this thread again, so why not take your own advice and just let it go. You are now the one throwing sparks on the embers to reignite the fire. Don't be the pot calling the kettle black.

[Foggy Mountain]

On 1/3/2021 at 6:18 PM, Uncle Nicky said:

Honestly, it's not so much the call as the caller. You have to experiment a little with every call you buy to get the best sound.

Yes that’s somewhat true but let’s be honest a good call sounds worlds better than pretty much all the cheaper stuff. 
Op what are you considering cheap? Ernie Fetters is pretty reasonable but more than the commercially available stuff at Walmart. 
If you were somewhere near Orange County I could let you try some to see what suits you. 
And op what will surprise you is the ease at which decent calls play. That’s something I forgot to mention.

Edited January 5, 2021 by Foggy Mountain

[Foggy Mountain]

On 1/3/2021 at 6:00 PM, DirtTime said:

Here's a little food for thought. The ADK's have far more areas that do not have proper food sources to hold turkey. This is big woods hunting, just for turkeys not deer. There's no sitting next to AG areas that hold a ton of birds.

That’s why I was recommending a long box. It reaches the furthest

[Foggy Mountain]

On 1/3/2021 at 6:51 PM, Pygmy said:

Point well made....However since 1975 there have only been 2 years that I have not filled at least one spring gobbler tag here in NY....

There have also been several years when I have filled  tags in 3 or 4 other states as well as one Canadian Province, so I ain't exactly a virgin.....All of my  out of state hunting has been DIY, either on public land or private land with permission...No guided hunts or canned hunts.... Ain't nuthin' TO this turkey hunting...

 

 

 

I certainly wasn’t inferring you weren’t knowledgeable 

[Foggy Mountain]

On 1/4/2021 at 3:34 AM, blackbeltbill said:

   I have to tell you that your posts on this Thread are probably  pissing off plenty of very good Turkey Hunters on this site. 

   It is like that somehow you have a leg up on everyone as far as Knowledge.

    A few posts down you write about having an open mind. Yet all good Turkey Hunters here on this site have that quality + continue to learn. 

   A give and take is fine. Just humble yourself down as we are all on a even playing field.

 idk why you’re so insecure. 

[Pygmy]

2 hours ago, Foggy Mountain said:

I certainly wasn’t inferring you weren’t knowledgeable 

No problem, Foggy....My feathers don't ruffle too easily...<<grin>>.....

Edited January 5, 2021 by Pygmy

[Five Seasons]

I had my first turkey dream last night which is not a good sign considering the nearly 5 months we have to go. I had a nice tom come in at like 5 yards and of course no matter how hard I tried my gun wouldn't fire. At first I couldn't find the trigger, then when I did it required too much effort to pull and go boom. Finally I get up and the tom doesn't spook 5 yards from me and I blast one at him hip fire style. Suddenly I realize my son is with me and he's concerned that the tom is still alive so I have to pull out my knife and try and dispatch the wounded bird. I stab a few times in the neck to no avail and finally end up sawing away at the neck. He's still alive with just windpipe attached at this point so I cut that too and the head falls off. My son's first question is how am I going to take pics with a turkey and no head. haha

anyhow, this was mostly a good read and thanks to those that shared insight and to those who seemed more interested in picking a fight... why?

[DirtTime]

4 hours ago, Belo said:

I had my first turkey dream last night which is not a good sign considering the nearly 5 months we have to go. I had a nice tom come in at like 5 yards and of course no matter how hard I tried my gun wouldn't fire. At first I couldn't find the trigger, then when I did it required too much effort to pull and go boom. Finally I get up and the tom doesn't spook 5 yards from me and I blast one at him hip fire style. Suddenly I realize my son is with me and he's concerned that the tom is still alive so I have to pull out my knife and try and dispatch the wounded bird. I stab a few times in the neck to no avail and finally end up sawing away at the neck. He's still alive with just windpipe attached at this point so I cut that too and the head falls off. My son's first question is how am I going to take pics with a turkey and no head. haha

anyhow, this was mostly a good read and thanks to those that shared insight and to those who seemed more interested in picking a fight... why?

You're waiting until June to hunt turkey this Spring? I was not aware they opened June for turkey hunting. I think I'll just head out in four months like the season dates "suggest". DEC sort of like it when we follow those dates.

 

 

 

 

[Five Seasons]

15 hours ago, DirtTime said:

You're waiting until June to hunt turkey this Spring? I was not aware they opened June for turkey hunting. I think I'll just head out in four months like the season dates "suggest". DEC sort of like it when we follow those dates.

really?

[DirtTime]

20 hours ago, Belo said:

I had my first turkey dream last night which is not a good sign considering the nearly 5 months we have to go. I had a nice tom come in at like 5 yards and of course no matter how hard I tried my gun wouldn't fire. At first I couldn't find the trigger, then when I did it required too much effort to pull and go boom. Finally I get up and the tom doesn't spook 5 yards from me and I blast one at him hip fire style. Suddenly I realize my son is with me and he's concerned that the tom is still alive so I have to pull out my knife and try and dispatch the wounded bird. I stab a few times in the neck to no avail and finally end up sawing away at the neck. He's still alive with just windpipe attached at this point so I cut that too and the head falls off. My son's first question is how am I going to take pics with a turkey and no head. haha

anyhow, this was mostly a good read and thanks to those that shared insight and to those who seemed more interested in picking a fight... why?

 

8 minutes ago, Belo said:

really?

Way to go adding context! A dream about your kid, a comment about derailment ( which you brought nothing to the table except your usual flare, nothing of value ), and a GIF of you on any given Saturday night at a local bar advertising. I reckon that GIF is actually appropriate seeing you live in Dicksville.

 

 

I watched a few videos of the box calls I mentioned, not so much for the video but to try and hear what they sound like. I will probably end up buying an HS Strut box sometime in February early March and start getting some practice. It sucks when there's no place close by me that I can go actually see the calls up close.

[Five Seasons]

I complemented the posters and you on a good subject and added a funny story. sorry about that I guess. 

please don't insult my hometown. 

[DirtTime]

7 minutes ago, Belo said:

I complemented the posters and you on a good subject and added a funny story. sorry about that I guess. 

please don't insult my hometown. 

It's very hard to take you most times. One never knows when you are being a dick or trying to add anything valuable. Like me, your past activity will haunt you here for a longtime.

[Five Seasons]

2 minutes ago, DirtTime said:

It's very hard to take you most times. One never knows when you are being a dick or trying to add anything valuable. Like me, your past activity will haunt you here for a longtime.

haha nothing haunts me man. I am what I am. Love it or hate it. Never felt there was anything mysterious about me or hidden in my comments and posts.  

I'm not even sure what your past is or do I care. It's a hunting forum for learning, sharing, collaborating, helping and also bs'ing to have a little fun. To take any of this or any member too serious is silly. Heck even the arguments I've had with members have never been personal for me. Only 2 members have every actually bothered me and 1 is gone because he was a racist bigot and the other said some personal stuff about my family. Those are really the only lines that bother me, everything else is fair game.

anyhow, back on topic and discussing spending our stimulus on box calls.

[DirtTime]

Added the HS Strut to my wish list on Amazon along with some chalk.

 

Just talked to one of the other dudes going on the trip and he's only bringing a slate with a rosewood striker. He's not big into turkey hunting but in case there's still ice on the water he's bringing options LOL.

[reeltime]

On 12/31/2020 at 1:20 PM, DirtTime said:

I have a hunting trip for this Spring in the ADK's. Won't be able to roost or scout anything. I talked to some of the locals last Fall and was told the only way to kill a turkey up there was to do so in someone's yard because you can't call them in.

 

I don't buy that. Yes I'll be playing a guessing game but, I highly doubt the only way to tag a tom will be on private land.

 

I have never hunted the area I'll be in, hence going in cold. On the other side of that coin, I have seen a lot of birds in this area driving past it to and from hunting deer up there. So I'm hopeful due to that aspect.

 

How many of you have successfully called in birds from miles away? Should I invest in a few more calls besides my locators and pot calls? Maybe a box call?

while its unlikely here in the east to call birds in from a mile away because of our terrain it is certainly possible to have a bird respond to a call from a great distance.  their hearing is probably the best of any game animal we hunt as well as their ability to pinpoint where the sounds are coming from as has already been stated.

nothing beats boots on the ground scouting, but we play the cards we are dealt so we use the tools available.  there are good hunting apps available and certainly some great satellite imagery to do some online scouting.  again it doesn't replace boots on the ground it can certainly guide you towards likely locations to start your scouting/hunting trip, as well as cut out areas that are not as likely to hold birds.  Once you are up there and scouting/hunting pay attention to detail, mark where you hear birds and if they continue to gobble once off roost where they go or at the very least what direction they go once down.

while here in NY the days hunt ends at noon,  depending on when in may you are there that can give you upwards of 7-8 hours of scouting time.  If possible have a chat with the rural mail carrier, ups driver, fed ex driver, and even the local encon officer or forest ranger.  Sometimes you can gather priceless intel from these folks.

 

as far as calls go they all can and will work on any given day,  confidence in your calling ability and the calls you are using is priceless.  Production calls are more than capable of calling in birds as proven thousands of times every season. Custom calls are more than capable of calling in birds and is also proven thousands of times every season.  So with that being said the exact opposite can be said on both calls as well, some production calls sound horrible, some "custom" calls also sound crappy because the callmaker is in it for the money and doesn't have the ear for turkey talk.

I would do my homework on a custom call and when compared to the cost of some of the mass produced calls your really not into the call for much more $ unless you are getting into the higher end specialty calls like a longbox but you are paying for a call made for YOU and likely 1 on1 customer service from the call maker, you will NOT get that from lynch, hs strut, penns woods and most any of the other mass producers of calls you are stuck with the call no matter how it sounds.

any type of call can bring in a gobbler on the right day, some days they wont hit the longbox but will lite up when i hit the crystal or diaphragm.  having multiple calls available can save a hunt,  with pot calls having multiple strikers that will run on a particular pot call can give you multiple turkey vocal variations. 

no matter what call you choose to use be confident in your ability to do different calls to the point where running the call is just second nature,  confidence in all aspects of the hunt will be beneficial to putting tags legs.

so you are now in the area your hunting, you have done your scouting and have heard a bird, now is when your next decisions can be key to whether that bird will commit all the way to the gun barrel.   know where natural barriers are ( streams, super steep terrain etc. ) while the right bird at the right time will think nothing of flying across a 10 yard wide creek or advancing through brush so thick you couldn't crawl through it I certainly wouldn't set up to make that happen because the same gobbler the next day can be hammering your every call making a beeline to you and then all of a sudden hang up because he wont step over a 4" log laying across the logging road.... otherwise known as a turkey being a turkey.

so when you get your first response from a bird that is what you feel is a workable from here distance your first step should be a rapid assessment of your location, is it an area the bird would or should feel comfortable coming into? can you set up where the the bird when first visible will be on the outer fringe of your killing range. what I mean is you want to try and have the bird out of sight until he is close enough to kill so he doesn't have time to sort it all out, sometimes that is not possible so we play the hand we are dealt and sometimes it works out sometimes it doesn't.  this can be accomplished by using terrain to your advantage or by setting up back off the field edge -vs- right on the field edge.  Pretty much this aspect of the hunt goes to your gut/hunch/experience feelings, again sometimes it works out sometimes it doesn't most important thing to do is learn from the results.

 

sorry to be long winded, hope at least something was found to be useful.  let us know how it turns out.

[Buckmaster7600]

Awesome post above with some great info!

The biggest thing I can give you to be successful up there is get in the best physical shape you can be in.

I always try to get to the the top of the area I want to hunt in the dark. Nothing for me to be 2miles from the truck before sunrise and that’s an uphill 2miles. If you’re spent when you get up there you aren’t going to be able to get to the top of the next mountain when you hear a bird gobbling over there at sunrise.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Five Seasons]

14 hours ago, Buckmaster7600 said:

Awesome post above with some great info!

The biggest thing I can give you to be successful up there is get in the best physical shape you can be in.

I always try to get to the the top of the area I want to hunt in the dark. Nothing for me to be 2miles from the truck before sunrise and that’s an uphill 2miles. If you’re spent when you get up there you aren’t going to be able to get to the top of the next mountain when you hear a bird gobbling over there at sunrise.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

do you layer up and layer down as you're going or do you never really stay still long enough to get cold or for the sweat to chill you? Most of May is pretty warm in the southern tier but we have our cold ass mornings where it heats up quick by 9 and I always end up sweating my ass off. I'm not worried about the stink of course, more of a comfort thing. I imagine up north it's much cooler.

[Buckmaster7600]

do you layer up and layer down as you're going or do you never really stay still long enough to get cold or for the sweat to chill you? Most of May is pretty warm in the southern tier but we have our cold ass mornings where it heats up quick by 9 and I always end up sweating my ass off. I'm not worried about the stink of course, more of a comfort thing. I imagine up north it's much cooler.

Green pair of hiking pants with no base layer, light merino wool base layer on top if its cold enough, with a fleece plaid shirt on over that if I sit. If it’s real cold I’ll bring a wool shirt or vest. Scents a non issue and it’s never real cold so sweating never been a big concern when turkey hunting.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DirtTime]

I would love to be able to scout with boots on the ground, but a three hour drive one way isn't going to allow that to happen.

 

I don't use phone apps. . There's nothing wrong with them if that's your thing, they just aren't mine.

 

I'm thinking at the least, this is going to be one hell of a fun adventure. Self torture? Absolutely! Worth doing it any way? Bet your ass it is to me!

 

If I remember right from hiking this area there is an opening on top of a crest that had some black cap and raspberry bushes. In the bottom there's oaks. It would mean more if that time of year they were producing anything, but there will be no fruit on bushes and any nuts on the ground ( besides me ) well be left over from last year. Over all the area is maple, ash, and pines mainly.