it flies it dies

I am using a slate call and I can call fairly loud with it but I have heard some gobblers that are near a quarter to half mile away that seem to be gobbling back to my calls... can they hear that well to hear the calls or is it just a coincedence that they are gobbling about the time that I am calling? How far of a distance will a gobbler travel for a hen?

superstrutter

Turkeys hear very well. Trust me, they can easily hear a quarter of a mile away and then some. If he is lonely and hot he will come a long way to your calling. They hear well even on windy days. The problem is you don't. Put it this way, they can hear better than us and on a calm day we can hear a turkey at a half mile or more.

nchawkeye

I agree...A few years back...I hiked 2 miles off the road and set up on a mountain top....Called once with a slate...heard nothing...waited 20 minutes, called again...nothing....waited 20 minutes and called....next ridge over gggggggggoooooooooobbbbbbbbbbllllllllllllllllleeee eeeeeeeeee.....I put my mouth call in...waited 10 minutes....yelped and he answered again....75 yards away....I rolled him at 30 yards....right at 7:30 am....I'm convinced that bird probably heard my first two sets of calls from the slate....but I couldn't hear him....

bradisthebest

I have seen birds come a mile and more to turkey calls.

ktbearpaws

Yeah! I've called from that far away!!!
And you would be surprised just how fast he can close that gap to!!! lol

Campo

I second this. I was glassing birds with a friend from the city the other day, and found one on the edge of a field. He had never heard a gobble, so I popped in the mouth call and gave a few cutts. He looked at me once, then a minute later, looked up the hill and started running away at top speed. I thought I spooked him, until my friend goes, "Holy crap, there are turkey running at us." Sure enough, I look up the hill and three gobblers are at a sprint towards tha car and the road, and as soon as they hit that field the went into full strust, gobbling. Anyway, I know the farm, and those birds had to be at least 3/4 of a mile, maybe a little more. Point is that those birds can cover some distance, and really really fast.

ranchand99

Early in the morning he can hear you almost as far as you can hear him.If you are 400yds or less I gaurantee you he hears you.Just because he doesn't answer doesn't mean he doesn't hear you either.Later on when the wind,song birds..etc get going it will cut the distance down.Also depends on the foliage.Most likely if he gobbles when you call he is hearing you.Don't call to him every time he gobbles.If he responds wait 10 minutes or so,then call again.If you call too much he will just sit right there gobbling until he finally loses interest,and walks away,predator spooks him,or a hen steals him.

RIStrutStopper

I've called in birds a long way off too, not sure how far exactly, but I could barely hear the gobbles at first. While debating whether to move to the birds cuz they were so far away, I called a little more and they sounded off closer and closer. I really couldn't believe they were coming to my calls, but I had a couple of 2 year old birds fixated on my decoy just a few minutes later.

Arrowmaster

Yes I agree they can hear a long way off. The farthest Ive called one in is about 1/2 mile.

TurkeyStalker

I recently had a bird gobble at my walking from I know 250 yards away. I would take four steps in the leaves and he would gobble. Before I knew it he was 20 yards from me gobbling his A$$ off. Come on Wed.