Locator Calls

[YosemiteSam]

I'm having some difficulty locating turkeys this year.  last year, I could at least find something to talk to -- even if it wouldn't come in.  This year, it's been real quiet so I'm looking for some new ideas.

Owls (great horned around here) are hooting all night up until late morning sometimes.  My owl call has gotten no responses.  I've only had limited success with owl calls -- usually the only time they've worked for me is when the turkeys are close and on private land.

Hawks are around all day.  Some days they're louder than others.  But I gave it a try yesterday with no responses.

Crow -- I had some success with these as a teenager but it wasn't consistent.  The ones that gobbled off a crow call gobbled off just about anything else we did to them.

Cutting -- this has been my most consistent way to locate a tom.  But it has the drawback of actually getting his interest & risking him coming in before I'm ready.

I know there are lots of turkeys just a few miles downriver of where I can hunt.  It's steep river canyon terrain.  Oak chaparal -- typical CA foothills.  And I know somebody got at least one in my area last year. Maybe I just need to hang it up this year & try to get drawn for a special area permit next year.  But I'm open to suggestions.

[RJonesRCRV]

Ive heard of peacock calls as locator calls.

[Trenton G.]

Originally posted by RJonesRCRV:
Ive heard of peacock calls as locator calls.

We've had luck with peacock calls on turkeys around here that wouldn't respond to crows or owls. I think it's simply because it's something that they don't hear anywhere else and it's new.

[Birdbow]

Can relate to your frustration. Very variable responses to all kinds of calls in my area too.
Barred owl calls work most consistently, crow not at all. Have had success with coyote howler calls from time to time.

[DarrinG]

In my area on public ground, an owl hooter is a dead giveaway that a hunter is in the area (overuse by the growing crowded public lands). Birds here usually wont respond. I'd much rather just get on a high ridge and remain quiet and listen. If nothing, I'll "run-n-gun" type hunt and walk ridgelines calling down each holler to try to get a response. Sometimes its just better to remain quiet and walk slowly along ridgelines and listen.

[Pine]

A friend of mine , all he uses is a peacock call to get shock gobbles from them .
He swears by it .

[Mint]

You never know sometimes. All I hunt is public land and sometimes nothing works. I've had the peacock call, crow call and owl call all work and even shutting the truck door. One time I was trying everything and nothing was working. Decided I was just going to sit a call a little bit and just as I was settled in a duck flew over and started honking and I got shock gobble about 60 yards away.

[Bigjackfish]

A Canada goose call has also worked for me as a locator

[Jerry Russell]

We carry a host of locator calls and the key is to be different but to still use the calls at the right time.  A Canada goose call can be used pretty early and throughout the day.  A Pileated woodpecker call is good 30 minutes after daylightlight.  
If you are having no luck with a traditional crow call, raise the pitch by manipulating the reed and blow is ultra fast only three times.  In other words don't sound like a crow.  

We have done a ton of testing and a turkey can hear you MUCH farther than you can hear his response.  We rarely if ever use locator calls that sound anything like a turkey.  You can wreck a great tract of land  doing that.  One or two days of staggering through the woods cutting to locate can cause serious lockjaw on a property.

[YosemiteSam]

Originally posted by Jerry Russell:
We carry a host of locator calls and the key is to be different but to still use the calls at the right time.  A Canada goose call can be used pretty early and throughout the day.  A Pileated woodpecker call is good 30 minutes after daylightlight.  
If you are having no luck with a traditional crow call, raise the pitch by manipulating the reed and blow is ultra fast only three times.  In other words don't sound like a crow.  

We have done a ton of testing and a turkey can hear you MUCH farther than you can hear his response.  We rarely if ever use locator calls that sound anything like a turkey.  You can wreck a great tract of land  doing that.  One or two days of staggering through the woods cutting to locate can cause serious lockjaw on a property.

This is steep river canyon land so sound really carries.  It also bounces, echoes or gets completely lost depending on where it's generated.  The roar of the river below is also a constant source of white noise -- especially with the year we've had.  So it's tough to know what gets heard and what gets lost out there.  All I really know is that I had good conversations with the birds last year and not hardly a "hello" from a tom this year.

I like the canada goose idea.  They're nesting in the area and one flies up or down the canyon about every hour.  Haven't heard a gobble off it yet but there's that white noise issue...  They're about as plentiful as the hawks.

Peacock -- never would have thought of that.  There aren't any peacocks.  But it's way outside the box of the turkey's experience, too.

Oddly, there aren't any crow out there either.  Plenty of ravens.  But no crows.

Yotes are around & they usually start howling around dusk.  The main packs are back closer to the trailhead but they're undoubtedly all around.  I haven't heard them gobble off the sound of the yote pack but I've only heard them in separate areas.

Good ideas to think about.  Thank you for your input.  I'll give these a try & report back if I have any success.

[YosemiteSam]

Originally posted by Mint:
You never know sometimes. All I hunt is public land and sometimes nothing works. I've had the peacock call, crow call and owl call all work and even shutting the truck door. One time I was trying everything and nothing was working. Decided I was just going to sit a call a little bit and just as I was settled in a duck flew over and started honking and I got shock gobble about 60 yards away.

I've wondered how much turkeys can habituate to sounds.  With all the geese, hawks, owls & ravens making noise all day long, I wonder if they might need something new (but not too startling) to get a shock out of them.

Duck call -- that's something I at least already have.

I guess if I'm really going to experiment with unnatural sounds (peacock, for example), I may as well get a sports whistle & see what happens.  Worst case scenario, the woods just stay quiet.

[Warden609]

A coyote howl will work.

[Warden609]

I have even heard them gobble to coyote yipping.

[Mint]

Where I hunt if a coyote pack moves in or if there are a lot of coyotes around the turkeys go quiet.

[Warden609]

Might be your experience but definitely not mine, because we are talking about causing a turkey to shock gobble. You have to use the call properly for locating. I definitely wouldn't use it to locate during the day while hunting. Just like using a owl locator. Great horn owls kill turkeys at night and eat them from the neck up, but people use different owl sounds as a locator. Turkeys shock gobble at a lot of different sounds.