ORIGINAL: quiksilver
Andy - I canglean from your poststhat you're a pretty good turkey hunter. So can we all at least agree that a skilled caller - a guy with a lot of experience in the spring woods - is much more likely to be successful if he hunts "aggressively?" (as compared to a novice, who may be not quite hitting the right notes or giving a bird what he wants to hear all the time?)
Experienced is more like it Fran.... Just means I've screwed up a lot and learned from it.
My old man maintains (and I agree) that a man could fart into an empty beer can and call in a turkey.... just so long as its not too loud and he hits the right cadence and doesn't over do it. In my opinion, the worst sounding caller (to my human ear) is a real hen turkey... I've heard some that just sounded rotten... of course, ain't nothing like the real thing. In my eyes, its less about being good, and more about knowing when to hold'em and when to fold'em. Calling turkeys is not difficult like calling ducks and geese can be..... the two are related... and I make the connections all the time... but you have to pitch and tone and cadence perfect with ducks... with turkeys so long as you are cadence decent (not too fast), you should be fine.
I think when we talk about "aggressive" callers - we're all picturing some hack who just bought a boxcall at Gander Mountain the night before - and he's wearing the damn boatpaddleout in one day.Compare that toan experiencedturkey hunter, whocan be equally effective sitting tight or slinking around and being a little more sassy with the calls (because he's got the skills to do it). It boils down to what the hunter prefers - some guys are content to wait. Others want to cover more ground.
I can say this: If you're not a great caller - you're always better off sitting still and keeping the calling to a minimum.
I remember my best friend telling me a story about his hunt last year on opening day. He went to a WMA too close to a large VA city. 30 minutes before it even started to get light, a ford truck came riding down the road. He turned his lights off... rolled down the window, emitted three sharp CROW calls...listed a moment, window up... lights on... drove down a few hundred yards... repeated the process.... so yes... it is easy to confuse agressive with flat out retarded sometimes.
I totally agree that keeping calling to min never hurts anyone. My Dad is a perfect example of that. The man has killed every turkey on his license as long as I have been alive... he owns one slate, one box and two mouth calls... I think he still has a fighting purr too.... I bought him a bucklick creek turkey vest.. one with the frame you don't have to be up againest a tree to use for xmas a few years back.... says its the best turkey killing device he has ever seen or heard of... you can deduct which school of thought he follows.
Most of the old timers I talk to, or should I say listen to....because I try and soak up as much information from old turkey hunters as I possibly can... are of the same school of thought....just like everything else in life, there are the compound guys and the traditional shooters..... the longboarders and the shortboarders (and even the fun boarders who can't make up their mind).....the crotch rockets and the harleys.....the republicans and the democrats....and in this case..... the patient and the bold. However as I have found in life, those who are most often successful and most often enlightened are a good mix of both. I'm sure you still break out the Stewart longboard or the fish when its waste high but smooth..... but when its head high or better.... you ever try to duck dive a longboard under an 8' wave?
Break out the Flyer II....
That said - anyone with half a brain and a few vacation days can kill a big tom without ever puttinga call in their mouth or pegging theglass. It's just as simple as waiting one out. But that requires patience that most people don't have. It's not rocket science, really.
Well said Fran. What it requires in addition to patience is a bit of woodsense. It is a learned through experience trait, and might not even be learned but just something you are born with that you have to polish. I know a few OLD (65+) turkey hunters thathad been at it when Lynch boxes were cutting edge technology.... some of those guys just know turkeys so well... I can't explain it... its like a sixth sense... some people can read other people that way... some people are like that with big bucks... just comes from a lot of springs/falls in the woods I guess. Most people don't have to patience or the frame of mind to take in what they are seeing. A lot of hunters now just try and go hell for leather on turkeys... everyone else can kiss it and who cares what the hunting is like tomorrow... I think in a lot of ways that turkey hunting is the new duck hunting... just whats in style....