Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting Owl and Crow Locator Calls

I have an old HS Strut Reed Owl Hooter, and a walnut Hanks Owl Locator. Both sound fairly realisitc, and the Hanks is easy to use. I have to blow into the HS call very hard otherwise it sounds like a crow call. And I've never been able to master the "owl laugh" at the end of the call. I just can't make my tongue flutter like some folks can.

For owl calls, I have a Primos that just plain sucks. I have a walnut Hanks that sounds good, but isn't that loud. I have an HS Strut crow call that not only sounds great, but will blow the roof off. I'll never let that one go.

What do you folk have, what do you like, and what would you recommend?

I hunt light and don't carry any locator calls. But I have some that I play around with in my garage or on the porch at night when the owls are wound up.

The Palmer or Harrison hoot tubes are about the best I've heard.

If you wanna crow call to make them gobble, the Primos Power Crow is pretty good for that.

I heard somewhere once that if you can't flutter your tongue, you'll never learn. It's genetic or something.

Thankfully, where I hunt I don't need any locator calls. There's so many eagles and hawks and owls and crows that I'm surprised sometimes that there's any turkeys left at all! More than once I've watched bald eagles go after turkeys out in fields. Sometimes the eagle wins, sometimes the turkey wins. I've literally given up carrying, or using, locator calls.

I have a Herter's crow call that sounds good. The owl call I have is a can type and it is ok at best.

Here's my take on locator calls.

I never saw a reed type hooter that I liked....reason being they're too loud and with you blowing it it's hard to hear the gobble over the reed hooter.

I most always start too owling early usually owl with my voice after a while if I get no response I go to a can type hooter ( I don't know the brand I bought it 30+ years ago).....there will be times they'll answer the softer can hooter over my voice. I've heard guys say they heard plenty of real owls and didn't hear a turkey gobble.....I've saw times when they would answer my owling and ignore a real owl. (Figure that one out).

When I'm heading towards a gobbler on the roost and I need to check his position I'll go to thesofter sounding can.

Here's another tip on locating at daylight.....a turkey can usually be made gobble when the Red birds sing the second time

I always look at my watch when you first get one to gobble you can set your watch to this time.....as the season progresses the time they will gobble gets earlier and earlier. (You can attribute this to the sun rising higher in the sky).

Crow calls....I was hunting Missouri one year and this fellow I know had been up there a week before the season locating gobblers he told me the gobblers will only answer a crow call at daylight....three fast blasts he claimed.

Yea right.....I just kinda rolled my eyes....next day found me about 2 miles down a walk in road. I was owling like a wildman and nothing no worse feeling in the world. Then I thought about what he said pulled out my crow call and hit it three fast blasts........gobbbblleee.
That remains stuck in my mind I've yet to see it since.

A crow call can get a response up in the morning. What I've saw is turkeys gobble at crows mostly when they are cawing right over the gobbler...if you're close a crow can do it.

I'd much rather a gobbler responded to a turkey call up in the day....

Then comes the tougher question as to why he responded....reading the reason why comes from experience.

I have a Primos "Crow Model 302." Doesn't sound much different than a kazoo. It has no volume. Air leaks out of the sides, and it has no volume at all.

My best locator is a Primos Power Crystal and a Primos Aluminator. They are set in clear orange or clear green plastic pots. They produce very loud and very high pitched yelps. I've read that you shouldn't use a turkey call as a locator. But I've had bird completely ignore a crow or owl call, and then yelp on my Primos and had them sound right off.

Agreed. Neither of mine sound just like an owl. The Hanks comes closest. I think I can make a more convincing owl call with my own mouth. My problem with thw owl call is just what LFC, you have to blow the hell out of them, to get the right tones, and you have to hold your hands just so. I'm literally out of breathe after a couple of call series.

I also have a Quaker Boy Owl Hooter. It has zero rasp like reed type owl hooters, and produces a true hooooo sound. I've actually stood on my porch in the evenings and gotten actual owls to respond to it.

I was hunting South Carolina with this well know turkey world phony.......

I got to owling he walked over to me and said these turkeys don't answer an owl....I told him you better get the hell away from me and leave me alone.

I then proceeded to blow it out with my natural voice went into the laugh a few times and gobblers started gobbling in 3 or 4 directions.

Nothing is written in stone.

We already know you're a phony.....keep confirming it.

Locator calls are a must for gun and run hunting that I do. I have settled on H. S. Strut Barred owl hooter, because it is easy to do the tongue stutter at the end of the hoot. I use more than one crow call. A Primos-Power Call and a Primos Hammerin call. The Hammerin call gives me the sound of an immature crow and when changed up with the Power Call I get more gobble hits. The recent addition of the Primos Power Hawk call has upped my game in locating gobblers.

Another observation I have seen is the locator calls are more effective when used on higher ground. I hunt the hills of southwest Wisconsin and do not waste my time blowing in the valleys.

I had some geese fly over one day where I was hunting and they were honking and carrying on. Had a gobbler fire off at them, so you never know what will set one off.

I just went for my daily lunchtime walk that carries me down to the James River and two geese flew by honking and I wondered if that would set off a turkey. Now I know.

On hard hunted public ground gobblers here don't seem to want to shock gobble at owl hoots. Every yahoo and his brother drive the forest service roads and blast out both owl and crow calls. Many times I have been deep in the woods working my way into a gobbler that is gobbling on the roost and I have heard gravel popping on the road, heard a vehicle, then "who cooks for you!" barred owl or someone ripping the crow call and the birds shut up and not make a peep. In a few minutes the gravel starts popping and the rig drives away and ten minutes later the birds start gobbling naturally again. I can owl hoot by voice, and a crow call is in my vest. But the best for me is the pileated woodpecker call. I can hit that woodpecker call in mid morning and if there is a bird within hearing distance I get a lot of responses from it.

I think that's true. For me, owl and crow calls work the least on public wildlife management areas that get some pressure. They do tend to work better on the state forests I've hunted. You can't drive on most of the state forest roads to get to areas that tend to hold birds so I think they hear those locators a lot less.

Dont use them, never needed one.

A lot of vehicle traffic seems to shut them down pretty good.

I've heard them answer a car door closing. Not during turkey season, of course.

And depending upon the mood and age of a bird they will sometimes get hot and gobble at dang near anything. Several years back a bird was gobbling hard on the side of a mountain about 3/4 mile away from me. To get to that bird I had to cross off my ridge, drop down a deep holler and then work my way around the side of the mountain ridge the bird was on and get ahead of him. While trying to put the sneak on that bird I found myself in the middle of a bunch of wild hogs. One of the hogs ended up about 10 yards from me and I couldn't resist, when the hog was rooting broadside I put the bead of that old Benelli M1 at the base of his ear and sent two ounces of Hevi 13 #6 to make pork lion for the smoker. At the shot the gobbler shock gobbled above and slightly behind me. I hustled into position and after a couple subtle yelps I had him at 25 yards in full strut. One more shot and I had my bird. That was a lonely two year old that was hot as a firecracker and when he shock gobbled at my shot on the hog I had his location pinpointed perfectly. Likely a 4 year old ridge running bird wouldn't have made that mistake.