Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting Okay, I admit it. I can't use a mouth call worth a...

I don't think occasional bad notes are as harmful as calling too loudly. I called loudly from my set up for too many years because that's what produced the most gobbles. And while it reliably produced gobbles, it didn't reliably bring in birds. Gobbles are a tom's calls to hens to come to him. It's hard to get a tom to come in when he thinks the hen is actively looking for him. He'll keep calling to her so she can find him, but he won't come looking for her when he thinks she on her way looking for him. Too many times I've heard a tom's gobble get further and further away as I called louder and louder.

Now, first thing, if my traditional locator doesn't get a gobble, then I'll strike a few really loud, really high pitched yelps first thing to get a ressponse. After that I move to my set up location. I switch to a glass or true slate and go a much softer, raspier notes. Works much better to get a tom to come in than calling loudly. And the soft and quiters the closer they get seems to work best for me. In fact, I scarcely call at all once he's in sight.

What holds true for men seem to hold true for toms. The best piece of ass was the one you had to go after, not the one that came to you.