Again Mr. Sonny asked, "Did you hear that? " Only a few of them will help you on a contest stage. How far can a turkey hear. The sky brightens and the sun pops out after a night of downpours or storms. An owl hooter is a much better choice when you are close to the roosted bird. Some new hunters are led to believe you need to be a champion caller to kill a wild turkey, so they do little squeaks and hope they don't scare away a Gobbler. There is never a better time to widen your turkey vocabulary than during the late fall and winter, when huge groups of birds amass in wintering areas.
The last 30 minutes before fly up is primetime. Breezy weather doesn't necessarily mean bad hunting. After a few failed attempts in various scenarios you get a sense of what that distance should be. Here are a few ways to fight the wind. You will be able to hear better in the direction you are facing but not as well in other directions.
Keep this in mind as you walk around and call. And always, do it twice in a row. Or he might gobble his fool head off, fly down and run straight away from your calling. Leaving an area where you know there are turkeys to try and aimlessly "strike a bird" elsewhere rarely works. It doesn't matter if you roosted the bird the evening before, struck him on the roost, or after fly down. 12 expert tips to trick the smartest gobbler. Judging distance and coursing sound are other factors in turkey hunting success. Turkey's will find calmer conditions where they can hear and be heard. How far can you hear a turkey gobble compared. A ground blind is an excellent way to hunt turkey in the rain. And keep in mind that the turkey is likely to move around a bit. Two-time World Turkey Calling Champion Larry Norton is an experienced turkey hunter who has spent years guiding clients at commercial hunting operations like Bent Creek Lodge in Alabama.
You need to crow call or hen cutt and listen closely for a faint gobble or two. Not all toms fly all the way down into the valleys, though. I have a fairly hard time judging a bird's distance unless he is danger close. If you simply want to know where another bird is, a gobble call will often help you figure that out. The key is to listen to the hens and focus on the cadence or timing/rhythm of their call. Finally, keep in mind that even in windy conditions, the amount of breeze varies considerably throughout the day. Wild Turkey Sounds, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Work with all your calls until you are proficient with the clucks, yelps, putts and purring that a hen might make. Roosting Birds Decoy Setup|. Watch: Michael Waddell's 3 Favorite Mouth Calls. They're encouraging you to know turkey behavior, and use that knowledge to your advantage.
But some of the most crucial sounds you can make when calling turkeys are the sounds that "finish him, " pulling him from 60 yards to 40 yards. Make sure you pull off the road before trying your locator call. After only a few outings I gained confidence in my ability to hear, course, and judge the distance to that sound. "We refer to that as a bimodal pattern. In this case, the bird will come to your call but when he gets close he will see the decoys and walk right by you on the way to the decoys to your right. You have to read a turkey the same way. I like to get into areas that I know birds like to roost. How to Approach a Gobbler | MeatEater Hunting. You've heard the story of the two bulls standing atop the pasture hill, eyeing a field full of cows below them. It would seem that the previous tips in this lineup are encouraging aggressive hunting tactics.
"I like to start on high ground. Some people downplay wild turkeys, calling them bird-brained and foolish. For instance, I was calling to two strutting gobblers in a small clearing below the trail I was set up on. A lonely turkey trying to grab another bird's attention makes sounds loud enough for others to hear, often long strings of lonesome yelps. So fight the urge to call too early. Keep cool; slip 25 to 50 yards in the direction of the gobble; and check up. This information tells you where you need to go. The National Wild Turkey Federation provides some interesting information on turkey sounds, including the rough pitch or tone for each turkey call. How far can you hear a turkey gobble without. I ranged him and he was right at 258 yards. The audio files are then processed using automated software capable of isolating and identifying gobbles.
When should you make those sounds, and why? We wanted to know how to safeguard the turkeys and also satisfy hunters as much as possible.