ORIGINAL: mossberghunter93
ORIGINAL: Gamblinman
Since most seasons have yet to begin...never call to turkeys before the season. You definitely want to get outside somewhere to practice calling, so you can get afeel for what the calls sound like in the real world, just not somewhere you'll be hunting.
Why?
Gobblers are conditioned to have hens come to them most of the time. What little bit they do go to hens, or at least meet hens half way, they expect to be rewarded for it. If a gobbler is constantly going out of his way to go to a hen, only to find nothing there (or worse... a preseason scouter/hunter in a camo shirt and faded blue jeans) the odds of him repeating that act are half (at best) of the slim odds you had in the first place.
It really comes back to overcalling and birds getting used to one particular call or calling style. All you are doing when you call to birds pre-season, is putting pressure on them before pressure needs be applied. No point in making it harder on yourself or anyone else. If you want to practice on the real thing... find you a farm turkey or a yard bird.... they will typically give you good feed back, espeically if you have a sack full of chicken feed with you.