Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting what calls to use and when??

I made my first turkey hunt this past weekend. had great success, but I find that I don't know what calls to use and when to use them. I bought a Primos Spring Hen box call and it makes all the hen sounds and I can make them good with this call, I find I sound just like turkeys do, but I don't know what call to start with and then once a Tom or Hen answers, what calls to use to talk back.

at one location I setup on a green field with my 2 decoys and started yelping, I had a tom come up to 60yds and then just hung up there and would never come out, then he shut up and stayed there until I walked out 1 hour later, I saw him run off.

thanks for any advice you can give me -js

Your decoys and yelping obviously got his attention. He most likely hung up after he saw the decoys....He wanted them to come to him. That would have been the time to switch to an "excited yelp" which is merely a combination of cutting and yelping: cutt into a series of yelps....or follow a series of yelps with some cutting. Note: Rhythm is important.....cutts are irregular; yelp are even,regular.

Get rid of the decoys and yelp with some cutting and cluck mixed in just enough so the turkey knows your still there an interested.

When hunting with decoys, i like to put them behind me and to one side or the other, if the terrain, vegatation, will support it. The reason is if the gobbler comes in to check the decoys, it will put him closer if he does hang up, it might be enough to get the shot if i can pull him in a little closer. If the turkey saw you leave, you might of educated him to the fact of calling, decoys and humans. They're a hell of alot smarter then many people give them credit for.

Thanks for all the info guys, I am learning. I am thinking this was to early in the season to use decoys.

thanks -js

Decoys work great or hurt you IMO. No in between. Like already said, I set mine up so the bird will be within 40 yards or so if he stops short of them by 70ish yards. Usually behind me to my left.

in Woodville MS we have a very cut up terrian, lots of hills or what we call mountians, very little flat spaces, where we do have flat spaces we make food plots, so I could set my decoys to one side but not really behind me. so I may try setting them all the way to one end of the food plot.

thanks -js

Use that cut up terrain to your advantage. Once you locate a gobbler, set up just below the crest (within 40 yards) of the closest hill to the bird. If he decides to come, he will have to break over the top of the ridge and into shotgun range before he can see your calling location. If he won't come, you can use the cover of the hill to move on him. You can move around and get on the opposite side of him and try to get him to come that way. The key thing in turkey hunting is to be where the turkey wants to go in the first place. If a turkey doesn't want to go in a certain direction, not even Walter Parrot, Mark Drury, or Will Primos can make him. As for calls:

Off of roost: Soft yelps and clucks

Mid-morning: Cutting and yelping

Afternoon / locating: LOUD cutting

Competition from real hens: LOUD cutting & yelping

Hung up bird has you pinned down: Gobbler cluck (one & one only loud deep cluck) he will either come in to chase away the intruder, or will leave, depending on his dominance status. Either way, you will finally be able to move and get off of that freakin' rock/stick that you didn't notice when you sat down that has been poking you in the azz for the last 45 minutes while the gobbler had you pinned down. Ain't turkey huntin' grand?

Gadfly - thats some good info there, and the part about your Butt hurting, you nailed that one, I had that issue all weekend, a regular boat cushion just does not cut it, I am looking for one of those turkey hunting seat setups that you wear around your waist, hopefully something with some contour to fit your Butt, any suggestions?

Buy one of those chairs......you wont regret it

remrug77 - what chairs? do you know of a certain name brand? I looked at primos.com and they really didn't have anything that looked comfortable.

thanks -js

Try the Hunters Specialties chair - it's a lightweight one that gets you about 6" or so off the ground. Easy to carry. Then you need a pad on the back of your vest to help you out with that annoying limb knob that's sticking in your back!

This is it... http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...dex&indexId=cat602420&hasJS=true

Since no self respecting turkey hunter would be caught in the woods with less than forty pounds of assorted calls, widgets, gadgets and gidgets, a turkey vest is probably in order. I have an older Mossy Oak Elite series with an adequate fold down seat cushion and a padded back. It is reasonably comfortable for most situations. Here are a couple of links to places that specialize in turkey hunting gear:

Midwest Turkey Call
http://www.midwestturkeycall.com/


Wing Supply
http://www.wingsupply.com/shop/Scripts/

thanks ya'll. I will check out these links now, I saw some vests on-line yesterday, but it was so hot this past weekend (I was wearing my bug tammer jacket) I was thinking a vest would really be hot. I am glad I had the bug tammer, cause the skeeters were real bad at dusk and dawn.

I don't know if this will be of any use, but from what you said, you may have stated what needed to be done yourself.

There was you, the decoys, and the gobbler. The gobbler was at 60 yards. If it had been the decoys, then you, then the gobbler things might have been different.

Always try to position yourself between the decoys and the gobbler whenever possible. In this way, the gobbler will come past you on his way to the hens. The hens act as a distraction and will keep his attention focused.


When I'm hunting pastures and fields, I often times put my decoys in the tall weeds at the edge, rather than out in the middle. It obscures the decoys and makes the gobbler want to come closer to the edge. With a light breeze, and some cover, you get shadows playing off them and they look more alive than otherwise.