V Mistakes to Avert When Calling a Turkey

I accept to admit; I am fond to buying turkey calls. This is no secret among my family and friends who are employ to me going nuts every fourth dimension nosotros enter a sporting appurtenances store. If you happen to see me, chances are you lot volition detect me drooling in the hunting department among the broad array of turkey calls. My addiction doesn't end there either. At abode I'grand constantly using my laptop to gaze at them too. Practise I have a problem? Well, I guess they say the first step is to admit in having one, then, yes.

At this point I know it might non come equally a surprise, just even though nosotros're smack dab in the middle of winter, I tin can't help only begin to think well-nigh turkey hunting and with it, turkey calls. With that said, it'due south never too early to pick one up and start practicing for the bound season, which is just over the horizon.

Whether it is a box, slate, or push button-pull telephone call in that location is something nigh them that fascinates me. Maybe it is their design, craftsmanship, mode, attraction, or their sole purpose—to call in a thunder chicken inside shooting range. The dazzler of it is you can never ain too many turkey calls. However, having a wide variety of calls in your turkey-hunting armory is merely one small ingredient to filling your spring tag. Owning all of the turkey calls in the world is no guarantee that a longbeard volition buy the gig and come waltzing in. You have to pull out your bag of tricks if you desire to walk out of the turkey woods with a gobbler draped over your shoulder. On the turkey'southward turf there is a variety of different factors that need to be taken into consideration. Unfortunately, the following mistakes accept left many turkey hunters scratching their heads and heading home empty-handed.

Complacency
Using but one call, non switching calls, sticking with the same one season after season, you get my bespeak. Being complacent with your old stand-by call can be detrimental if you want to be successful in the turkey woods. If hunting pressure is high in the surface area you lot're hunting, a wise one-time turkey volition run in the other direction if you keep throwing the same sound at him. Switch it up! This is where my addiction isn't all that bad. Owning numerous turkey calls gives you the ability to sound like more than 1 hen. A couple of years agone my wife and I were setup in a tent blind along the border of a field when two toms approached the states. I did my best to imitate a hen on my slate phone call, but they ignored me and kept walking on by. I quickly switched to a glass telephone call, which caused them to turn 180 degrees and come up to inside shooting range allowing my wife to have her commencement turkey.

Not maintaining your calls
In that location is nil that annoys me more than a screeching turkey telephone call because the chalk wore off or it hasn't been sanded in awhile. However, this can be hands avoided with a few simple steps. In guild for the sound of your calls to remain crisp and sharp, you lot need to maintain them throughout turkey flavour so that they are ready to utilize during each hunt. This simply takes a few minutes and is well worth your time. To forbid this from happening, utilise chalk to the striking surface of your box and push-pull calls. Also, rub your slate and peg calls with either fine-grit drywall paper or a pocket-size Scotch-Brite pad for glass or slate calls respectively. When hunting, you lot should audit your calls periodically for any signs of wear. For maintenance on your diaphragm calls, simply clean them off using mouthwash and and so shop them in a small-scale, clean case. This will allow them to exist hands attainable for use.

Calling too loud at shut range
A lot of hunters recollect that they need to call really loud to grab the attention of a gobbler. Nonetheless, when y'all setup showtime thing in the morning, it's better to telephone call softly just in case the birds are roosting nearby. Once you find out that they're further away, then you lot can get-go increasing the volume on your calling.

Once a gobbler reaches that magical seventy-yard mark or so, yous need to really tone down your volume. Turkeys will seldom phone call very loudly unless they are a long altitude away from other birds, attempting to locate each other. Nevertheless, based on my observations, in one case they are close, turkeys unremarkably make merely subtle purrs, clucks and yelps. Therefore, when you setup near a field or opening and a gobbler is in view, let out a few soft yelps and see what his reaction is. If you're using decoys and he continues to waltz in closer, stop calling and let him close the distance at his ain will.

Calling softly when a gobbler is hung-up with some hens is a great tactic that will occasionally assistance pull him away from his harem. This fools the tom into believing that the and then-called hen is moving in the reverse direction.

Not practicing ahead of time
Most turkey hunters will wait until the night before the turkey opener to get all of their turkey calls out and start practicing. However, if y'all want to audio every bit close to a real hen as possible, you need to spend some time during the off-flavor improving your turkey calling skills if you want to convince a gobbler that yous're the real matter. Every bit I mentioned above, wintertime is an splendid fourth dimension to start practicing. Even so, this may bulldoze your pregnant other crazy, but information technology'southward worth it. By no means must y'all be a turkey competition caller to go the task done either. If your rhythm and pitch are close to how a existent turkey sounds, then you should take no problem being successful in the turkey woods. There are numerous sources that will help yous improve your calling. Last yr I found a page dedicated to calling on the National Wild Turkey Federation's website. On the page was a written explanation of what the call consists of, when the bird uses this call and what situations to utilize it. There is also a tab where you lot tin play each individual turkey sound. Some of these included a cluck, purr, tree call, fly-downwardly cackle, assembly call, yelp, cutting and gobble. Other excellent sources include turkey hunting DVDs, turkey calling seminars and calling contests.

Calling for too long
A gobbler was hot off the roost and now the woods have gone silent. If this occurs yous need to ask yourself, two things: Is the bird henned up or is he on his way? Continuing to call to a gobbler that is uninterested doesn't practise you any good. You're better off hitting the road and trying your luck elsewhere. However, in that location is a fine line on the waiting catamenia. One spring forenoon it was articulate to my wife and me that a longbeard, who was gobbling his caput off at sunrise, didn't buy in to my all-time endeavor to audio like a hen. About 2 hours had passed and the gobbler finally decided to make an appearance into the field earlier us. Sometimes you demand to coil the die and requite him either more fourth dimension or run and gun.