Some questions about turkeys?

[rosscrazyelk]

Even thou I did not personally harvest a turkey. I called one in for my neice, and that was the best feeling in the world.. I also took a fellow church member and his friend which turned out to be a huntwa member.. Even though we did not connect on a bird we were into birds everyday and my friend missed one opportunity.. Also I called a bird into within 10 yards on my last trip.. And eventhou he was gobbling he did not have a beard.. I was a little upset about that.
Things I have learned.. Simplicity works.. I called in birds just doing a nice simple cluck and purr.. I did not have luck with decoys, Not sure if they are even neccessary..
Here is one thing that perplexes me.. all the shock calls do not work for me. I used crow, owl and even went and bought a woodpecker.. Never , not once got a response from these calls.. I got lots of calls using the regular hen call. and a gobble call. I have heard  it is not good to use the hen or gobble til you are close. but if the other calls are not getting a response what else is a guy to do? Am I chasing birds away by using the hen or gobble call to locate?
I also bought the hale fire from knight and hale, I cant figure this call out anyone want to teach me?

[Gobble Doc]

The only time I use the shock call method is really early in the morning when the birds are still on the roost and late in the evening when they are on the roost.  Other than that I don't try them very much.  Maybe I should try them out more during mid-day?   Awesome that you called a bird in this season.  It's always great to be out calling or being the one getting the bird.

[lokidog]

I've had decent luck with the peacock/woodpecker call in the afternoons or when I am trying to locate a turkey I am moving in on w/o him coming to look for me, yet.

[turkeydancer]

You mentioned the turkey gobbling at 10 yards that had no beard. You may want to read that part of the regs a bit closer because it states "Gobblers and Turkeys with visible beards ONLY" ... it was legal for you to harvest that bird if it obviously was a gobbler (also legal for bearded hens).
 
As far as the Hale Fire reed call, it works just like a tube call.  You say tucka...tucka...tucka (or tuka...tuka...tuka) REALLY, REALLY FAST (about as far as you can) ... first with your call open, but towards the end of the call you close one hand over the end of the call to get it to trail off like a real gobble.  Look at the second video on this link:   http://www.knightandhale.com/productdetail.aspx?id=KHT6000
 
I also prefer the peacock and have had good luck with it ... but I have also used owl, crow, hawk, coyote, woodpecker, door slam, etc ... and have had friends have luck with goose flute, elk calls, wooden train whistles, etc ... of course, the best call is always the one that works and success will vary with each at different times.  So if one isn't working, try another as you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.  Make sure the sound is loud, sharp, and short  ... note that they don't answer "passive" ... note that I hear some guys blasting out 50 to 100 note crow calls for a couple minutes (which I'm sure sounded terrific to any crows in the area), however they overpowered their own ears and never heard the turkeys shock gobbling over and over for the first several seconds.  As you stated with the turkey calling ... simplicity works.
 
 If you live near or are willing to travel to the South Puget Sound region, some friends and I have been doing at least 4 (or more) 2 hr free spring wild turkey hunting seminars for over a decade now at Cabelas, Wholesale Sports, Outdoor Emporium, GI Joes (before they went bankrupt), Sportsmans Warehouse (before they sold out), Tacoma Sportsmans Club, Wellspring Fellowship Outdoormen of Gig Harbor, and other clubs and venues.  It covers all the basics (including all aspects of calling and decoy setups), some intermediate level concepts, and more.  Wish somebody had been doing these when I started, but ended up being taught several important lessons by the thunder chickens instead.  I'm sure any HuntWa members that have been to one will tell you its time well spent.

[Seatown5]

Well when's your next seminar

[turkeydancer]

Either one of my friends or I will be doing them in February and/or March nexy year.

Last year my buddy and I did 1 for Lacey Cabelas and 1 for Puyallup Sportsmans Warehouse Puyallup in February, and then I did a Saturday and Sunday during Lacey Cabelas Spring Outdoor Days in March. 

We will have to post when they get set for next year ... and you can also visit the Lacey Cabelas website posting that they do. 

[oldcamper]

I am planning on getting into turkey hunting next year, so will be watching for the seminars

[Wacenturion]

I've had decent luck with the peacock/woodpecker call in the afternoons or when I am trying to locate a turkey I am moving in on w/o him coming to look for me, yet.

Exactly....woodpecker is a great call during the afternoon, especially on Merriams.  Use others early a.m.  Sometimes you just have to be patient.  Move slowly toward where you heard a gobbler, say from several hundred yards off, stopping every 30-50 yards and trying for a response.  Don't get in a hurry.  Give it 10 minutes or so from the same location and try again.  All you want the locator call to do is keep tabs on the bird you're trying to get close to.  You don't need the gobbler to sound off every time or at every stop. 

When you do get where you think you are close enough, sit down wait awhile, let the woods quiet down and start soft hen calling.  If a response and still a ways off, slowly repeat above process.  You'll need to get within the gobbler's comfort zone.  That being within an area he expects a hen to show up and he is willing to move toward her.  Remember in the turkey world, generally the hen goes to the gobbler.  That's what the gobbler expects.  Use that against him.  There is a definite distance that the gobbler becomes easy to kill.  Get within it quietly by doing the above and he's dead.  Once you successfully experience the above, it becomes much easier.

Just remember that if you hear a gobbler in the distance early in the morning, you've got the rest of the day to move in on him.  Where most go astray is they get in a hurry, use aggressive calling, hen call way too soon, whatever.  Turkey hunting is situational.  Once you get into a situation and fail, you use something different when that same thing happens again.  Sooner or later, you do the right thing and apply it the next time that situation occurs.

I'll give you one example of a major turkey goof.  You always hear of the story.... bird was coming, gobbling to my every call, suddenly stopped gobbling and wouldn't come in, went silent and left.  Pretty common spring turkey scenario.  What happened was the following....

Gobbler knows exactly where that hen sound is coming from to the square foot.  If a bird is slowly making his way to you and lets say you're not over calling, say every 10 minutes or so and he instantly responds as he's moving toward you, so game is on.  Then after one of your calls when he is obviously closer, you get no response.  He quit responding because he is close enough to be looking for you now.  Slowly get gun ready, don't call and watch with very, very slow motion movement of any kind.

Where everyone screws up is they panic, start calling more and additionally take the volume up, which merely lets the gobble quickly figure it out, and he slips away.  The going silent is like an invitation to kill him if you recognize it as such.  Unfortunately most don't.  Again a situational thing.  Once you do what I just explained, quit calling and start looking you kills go up and again you apply as needed.

I've kind of over simplified things but I think you get my point.  The above scenarios don't guarantee a kill every time, but does allow you to shift the odds into your favor for the most part.  Probably the best advice I can give you is, be patient, do not get in a hurry.  Think like a turkey hen and act like one.  Use their personalities and habits against them.