Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

I've talked to many on this subject as to whether you should or shouldn't call to your birds while preseason scouting.We do quite a bit of videoing before season starts up and much of it is done by the aid of a turkey call.We always manage to harvest our birds come season too.I've also learned a whole lot through the years on how to talk turkey by my preseason scouting in calling in birds.Spooking them is one thing,but calling to them and watching how different birds react to your calling to me is a helpful tool in learning how to call to ole tom turkey.Obviously its not something I would practice everyday on the same flock of birds,but it sure appears to me as long as your not spooking them it has had no effect on alot of the birds we end up harvesting during turkey season.Whats your take?

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

I agree with you Bob,here in WI we only have a five days in a season.If that was the only time that you called to them it would take a long time to gain much experience.I think if you use common sense and don't go out there and light up the woods with calling it affects them very little.

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

I might try to get them to gobble on the roost just to see where they are. But if you call a big gobbler in and spook him, around here he will not come to your calls again.

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

I don't call while scouting but will use a locator call to get them to gobble. However I can see the benefit of calling and observing their reaction too. It would tell you if a specific call, sound, or rhythm is effective or not to that group of turkeys.

I've been fortunate to hunt areas that all the turkeys respond to my calling but have heard of areas that have a lot of call shy birds. Those are the areas I could see calling during early scouting to form a "calling game plan".

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

Who really knows what is going through a turkey's mind? I certainly don't. I believe that preseason calling is OK <font size=4>IF</font id=size4> you don't spook the bird. If you do you've just made that bird a lot smarter. Of course, that goes for in-season, too.<img src=icon_smile_shock.gif border=0 align=middle>

Romans 8:28

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RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

Please don't call to my already high-pressured PA birds before season. <img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>

In my opinion...
More often then not a gobbler knows exactly where the calling is coming from the first time you make a sound. This means that even if you leave the woods after you hear the first gobble the gobbler may well still come to where you were calling. So, like Edward said, when he shows up and doesn't see a hen you're just making things harder for yourself come season.

Just my $.02 worth.

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

Yea, I would say no to this on any birds that I hunt.

Ryan Tucker

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

..All depends if you like to hunt,hung up gobblers,or hunt gobblers that come to your calling come opening day you choose???????

..JESUS IS COMING BACK BE READY...

Edited by - totoe on 01/22/2002 17:41:55

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

No...........

May The Beard Be Long And The Spurs Be Sharp

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

I say no, best not to get them used to anything out of the normal.

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

I say NO,when I call him I want to hear Bang,and see flopping.
they don't need any schooling.


I am not a hunter I am a whitetail population reduction specialest

remember keep your back to the sun, your knife sharp, and your powder dry.

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

I AGREE WITH THE MAJORITY. WHERE I HUNT THERE IS A LOT OF HUNTING PRESSURE. DONT NEED THEM ANY SMARTER THAN THEY ALREADY ARE!

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RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

I agree with Powduck, who really knows whats goin thru a toms mind. How many times does a tom naturally in the wild go to a hen and she not be there? happens all the time. I also do alot of filming before season and do my very best not to spook any bird (not that I havn't). My opinion is yes it will make birds more stubborn, but not imposible to call in, in season. The main reason birds get spooked is the first day when a million hunters hit the woods all at once calling. This to a gobbler is very overwhelming and something he is not used to hearing, thus making him very wary in which he already has instinctively bred into him. :)
I'm probly gonna get pounded by all you non believers but again this is only my opinion...lol

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; $50 fine for any member in our lease caught calling before the opener. Second offense results in the jacka** being kicked off the lease. We don't tolerate that kind of silliness.

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

It's illegal in Ky from March 1st 'till opening day, and I would raise all kinds of hell if the law were changed. I try very hard to be open-minded when it comes to hunting regulatons, equipment choices, or hunting tactics, but my opinion on this subject is absolutely set in stone.

Keep in mind that I hunt public land, or small farms where several others have permission to hunt. Never been in a patch of woods that I had sole permission to hunt.

If someone owns land or hunts where he/she has sole permission, then it's not such an issue. Nobody else should be hunting there anyway. Spooking the birds would not affect other hunter's chance of killing a tom.

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

I learned what little I know by preseason calling .It didn't seem to bother the birds that much.

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

WHEW!!!!!!! Tough crowd.....Turning out to be a good question....<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

KY I agree with your Law 100% , its like that here in Ontario aswell , but No one adbides by it!....BT

Good thing to do to the Guys that like to blow there own horns !<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

I definitely say NO to the calling. I hunt public land for Osceolas. We certainly don't need anything to make them more skiddish than they are. However, I do support using a locator(owl, or crow) in the evening to find roosting areas.

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

No no no no no no. NO!
If you want to impress yourself enter a calling contest. If you want to kill toms, Wait till the opener.

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

NO

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

I hear you BT, it still happens here sometimes in spite of the law. Not much CO's can do about it unless they're tipped off ahead of time.

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

no way

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

no!!!!!!!! never educate your birds before the season starts. you don't want to go o for the season.

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

All I have access to in Western Md (where I hunt turkeys) is public land. I was told last year (by a local) that other locals in the area go into the public area starting at least a month in advance and call to the birds nearly every day. By the opener, it's as if the birds were in week 4 of the season and they're call shy. He said many of the locals have already taken a lot of the larger gobblers before anyone else has a chance!!<img src=icon_smile_angry.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_angry.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_angry.gif border=0 align=middle>

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

If you want to practice on live birds, go to a park or protected area that does not allow hunting. You'll have wild birds and a chance to work them. I wouldn't recommend the Zoo though, they might throw you out <img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

No, I would not call myself. I hunt public land though, so It's normal to hear calling from other hunters who are scouting. When I first started hunting turkeys I did call in areas that held turkeys but, was not hunting in that area during the season. I don't call anymore while scouting unless I use a locator call.

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

I agree and do it every year hear in california.

Its not worth doing unless its done right.

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RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

No way ! There are too many other ways to locate and pattern birds before the opener without screwing it all up by making them call shy or running them out of the county. The ONLY exception might be after you've put them on the roost the night before opening morning, let the old man know there is a friendly hen nearby by making a few , very few, soft yelps and clucks. He just might remember that the next morning and come right to you if you set up at the same spot. There are a lot of good hunters who disagree with that technique also,though.

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

I've learned alot from the birds themselves. i can't say that I've ever tried to call to get them to come before season, but i have called to get them to responed. where I hunt here in Mississippi there are allot of birds. The woods are big and there are alot of places to get lost in. the hens are very in to finding each other and in talking to each other. After all I'm tring to sound like one of the girls, who better to learn from. Last week I sat in a deer stand and listened for hours to several flocks. the toms even gobbled. It got my blood to running

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

I do not agree with calling birds out of season.

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

I try not to use my calls to much just to locate the Toms, if they are not gobbling on there own. I hunt on public land and if you call the bird in to offen like most of the guys do, they just shut right up when the season come in.

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

No,I hunt mostly public land and our birds are call shy by the end of the first week as it is. A couple years ago I was scouting some public land a week or so before the season...I ran into a couple of guys who were calling in gobblers and filming them from their blind, they were all excited and telling me how dumb these birds were and how &quot;easy&quot; they were to call in. Well, 3 weeks later(during our 2nd season) I ran into these guys late in the day as I was putting my gobbler in the back of my truck...neither hunter had a tagged a bird yet(this was the 4th day of a 5 day season). Guess those birds aren't as dumb as you thought<img src=icon_smile_clown.gif border=0 align=middle>? I know this was probably more the exception than the rule...and they may have filled their tags the next day....but man does that moment put a smile on my face when I think about it!<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>:)<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

TB

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

I have done some calling in preseason, but only from the road at sunrise or sunset. I try to get a gobble to verify if they are roosting in a certain area. I usually use a locator call, but I will try a turkey call if nothing else works. I don't think it's a good idea to walk around in your hunting ground calling when you may spook a bird.

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

i would definatly locator call right near dark to see where he is roosting. I would never use ne other calls.

Kevin Rigsbee..........Gobbles give me goosebumps!!!

RE: Preseason calling,yes or no?
 

Only if they hear me from the truck on my way to work, other than that nope