Hunting Washington Forum
Other Hunting => Turkey Hunting => Topic started by: uplandhunter870 on April 19, 2010, 10:16:13 AM
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so went out on my first solo turkey hunt over the weekend, hunted last year with a buddy. what should a proper sequence sound like. im using a slate pot with wood striker set up. i have no clue whether i should call for a bit them quiet down then start up again. i pretty much used the same system that i do when calling coyotes; call for 45secs to a minute starting out low volume and getting louder then be quiet and still for 2 or 3 minutes then repeat for about 20 mins and then hiked to another spot i thought looked good. on a day and a half of calling i got one response from about a mile away. what am i doing wrong or could it have been "just one of those days"
THanks
Steve
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If you are cold calling and running and gunning, then just let out a few yelps and sit quiet for 10 minutes or so. You were definately calling way too much and often. With all of the turkey hunters these days it is alos a method that will get you walking into other hunters and messing things up for the both of you. You would be much better off going out in the evening and roosting birds, or being in there a couple of hours before daylight and trying to get a shock gobble, or just keep queit and listen to where they are roosting. If I am learning a new area I will head out with a pair of binoculars and find the roost trees, see where they fly down, and then trail them from a long ways off to see there pattern. Then you can set up in an area they naturally want to go to. The goal is to bring them to you, not the other way around.
Also, a lot of times a tom will expect a hen to come to him. If you are hen calling and moving toward the sound of the gobble, the tom will jst sit there since you are walking toward him. IF you shut up and sit tight chances are good that he will come to see you. There are a hundred different scenarios that deal with calling turkeys. Such as calling hens to you, simulating a jake or a competing tom, cutting to really fire them up. All of these are very effective at times, but can just as easily be kryptonite when used in the wrong situations. The NWTF has a lot of great links to articles on hunting turkeys. Read everything you can.
The simplest advice I can give to new trukey hunters is to keep quiet and listen to what is going on around you. Then copy what you are hearing. If you here a hen yelp 7 times. Then you yelp seven times. If you have a hen cutting, mimic that cutting sound exactly. Unless you are lucky enough to be out there when a tom is really fired up, which is an amazing experience, then the less calling the better, as a general rule of thumb.
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I am no expert. The birds were VERY quiet where I was hunting this weekend. It sounds like you may be over calling. If I know birds are close I may only call one soft series every 20 min to 1hr. IF they are responding some times all you have to do is let them know you are there and they will often come in quietly. IF they are very vocal, you usually can be as well. But sometimes these theories don't work and you fly by the seat of your pants. If I am walking and searching I will call more to see if I get a response. Then try to close the distance and call softer and less often. But again I got skunked this weekend, So I will read other responses and learn as well.
Good luck
