Home Page »      Hunting Tips »     First You Have to Find Him ...

Techniques for locating spring gobblers.
by Gary Sefton

The two most important tactical problems confronting a turkey hunter when he or she enters the woods are location and location, just like the real estate motto. First you have to find the gobbler, and then locate yourself in a position to take advantage of his location. 

Let's talk about Job #1 here -- finding the gobbler.

Why Gobblers Gobble
Knowing why a turkey gobbles and what sounds trigger the response will give you a handle on how to make it happen. So make him gobble.

In the Spring, the gobble is primarily a communicative sound to summon hens for mating; in the Fall, the gobble is to reassemble gobbler groups.

The gobble also can be an involuntary or "shock" response to an abrupt and/or loud, piercing sound. This characteristic behavior makes the spring turkey hunters’ job just a little bit easier.

Shock Him!
When a turkey gobbles at hen yelps or other turkey sounds, he becomes extremely alert, anticipating contact with the caller. However, the "shock gobble" is more like a sneeze; he doesn’t seem to know he gobbled or care what caused it. This knee-jerk response makes him give away his location without compromising yours, and it should give you a little leg up.

There are countless calling devices manufactured for the express purpose of locating gobblers by shock calling. Crow and owl calls are the most widely used and probably the most universally effective, although some of the more piercing coyote howlers, predator distress calls and woodpecker/peacock imitators get results when nothing else will.

When you use a crow call, remember that you are trying to shock the gobbler. Make your calls loud and sharp, like a crow scolding a hawk. Same with the owl hooter. Be aggressive! Close out the "Who cooks for you all" hoot sequence with a raucous barred owl cackle.Shock him!

Locator calls are most effective at first light while the turkeys are still on the roost. However, don’t be afraid to use them in the day; especially the more piercing coyote, predator and woodpecker sounds.

Sound Like A Turkey!
When nothing responds to the non-turkey locators, get out your turkey calls. Cutts and cackles are good locating calls; but I prefer long sets (15 to 20 on a box or slate call) of loud, pleading, lost hen yelps, because I can make a lot of noise and still be in context.

Also, the lost yelps can triple your chances of making contact. A gobbler will gobble at lost hen yelps as readily as at cutts or cackles. Other hens will respond to lost yelps out of sympathy for a flock mate, which could trigger a gobble from a nearby tom, or the hens could investigate your calling and unintentionally bring a gobbler with them.

Once you have a gobbling bird located, the game will play itself out according to your skills and abilities versus the turkey's innate paranoia and natural born luck. There are no magic bullets or secret tricks. If you can get him to gobble, you're in the game. You won't always win, but you'll always be glad you got to play.

A Word Of Caution
When you use turkey calls to locate turkeys, don’t walk and call. When you walk and call, you are likely to call up a turkey that you're totally unprepared for. You will surely run him off and he will be the last turkey you'll see for the rest of the day! It also is much safer to set up and be still when you call. Some turkey hunters have their mainspring wound too tight; they're likely to shoot at any movement without checking details first.