Mastering turkey calls is an art form that can take your hunting experience from futile to fruitful. Turkeys communicate with a complex language of yelps, clucks, purrs, gobbles, and other vocalizations, each conveying a different message. An adept caller can imitate these sounds to engage a turkey's curiosity or challenge its dominance, eliciting a response that can lead a gobbler into range. Here’s how you can master the craft of turkey calling:
1. Understanding Turkey Language: First and foremost, learning the different calls turkeys use is essential. Each sound has its purpose in turkey communication:
Yelps are the most basic turkey calls, representing a variety of turkey communications. Soft yelps can express contentment, while a series of loud yelps may be a hen looking for a tom.
Clucks signify stopping, looking, or often a gentle pique of interest.
Purrs express contentment and are often used by feeding turkeys or a hen reassuring a tom.
Cuts are excited clucks often made by a hen trying to regroup with others.
Gobbles are the call of the male turkey, typically to attract hens or assert dominance.
2. Choosing Your Calls: There are several types of calls on the market, and each has its pros and cons:
Box Calls: These can be great for beginners. Operated by sliding the lid across the surface to create a yelping or clucking sound, they can produce a wide range of tones and are quite loud, making them ideal for windy days.
Slate Calls: These require a bit more skill but offer a softer, more subtle call that is ideal for close-range work. You use a striker on a circular 'slate' surface to produce sounds.
Mouth Calls (diaphragm calls): These are used by more experienced hunters. They allow for hands-free operation but require practice to control the airflow and pitch.
Push Button Calls: Easy to use and good for those who might have trouble with other types.
3. Practice Makes Perfect: Like learning a musical instrument, the only way to get good at turkey calls is through practice. Spend time listening to real turkeys if possible, or find recordings. Work on replicating the pitch, tone, and rhythm of each call:
Yelps: Practice both the cadence and the number of yelps in a sequence.
Clucks: Work on the abrupt, sharp quality of a cluck.
Purrs: Practice rolling your tongue to get the soft, rolling sound of a purr right.
4. Decoding Turkey Responses: You’ll need to understand how turkeys respond to calling. Sometimes less is more. If a gobbler is answering every call with enthusiasm, for example, he may not need much encouragement. Overcalling can make you sound unnatural and may drive him away.
5. Mimicry and Variation: Mixing up your calls can be very effective, especially in areas that are heavily hunted. Try to mimic the specific hen sounds that you hear in the wild, as turkeys in different areas can have slight variations in their calls.
6. Recording and Self-Critiquing: Record your practice sessions. Listening back can help you identify areas for improvement that you might not notice in the moment.
7. Field Testing and Adjusting: When you're in the field, adjust your calling based on situation and response. If birds are call-shy, tone it down. If they're responsive, you might become more aggressive. Make sure you do not over call. We suggest calling about every 15 minutes if you do not hear a call back. Once you get a call back, the game is on!
By blending the precise art of turkey calling with stealth, patience, and woodsman’s savvy, you’ll be equipped not just to call turkeys, but to speak their language — a distinction that can turn a quiet day in the woods into a heart-pounding hunt.
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