Uncle Nicky

My voice. WHO-WHO...WHO COOKS 4 YOOOOOOUUU.....

superstrutter

Locator calls do work, maybe not everytime, but most of the time you will get a response. Perceiving a threat has nothing to do with it. It's more like, this sound is pissing me off. The gobblers are so aggressive during the mating season, many sounds just agitate them. It's just the opposite of what you are saying. If there is a threat nearby, they will go silent until the threat is gone.

JW

Iuse a lot of locator calls........all with success.......my owl call is probably so old they don't make it any more!
I also use a duck, peacock, and a few others. I use them all until I get an answer. Not every bird will respond. Same reason why I carry so many turkey calls. Not anyone of them is THE magic call. It varies. One time ti will be my box or then maybe one of the pot calls or my mouth call or a trumpet or wingbone. They all work and at times some better than others but that changes from day to day.

Most times I find the magic 'get them to gobble early' is 5 to 10 minutes before it gets light enough on the horizon. Same with roosting. The last 5 minutes of daylight seems to be the ticket.
Just some observations.


JW

superstrutter

Oh, so you use your own voice too.

Bernie P.

I've been hunting turkeys for over 25yrs.They have had plenty of chances to respond to the locators.They will remain silent if they perceive a threat in the distance but once the threat is right there unavoidable it's showdown time.The most intense gobbling I've ever witnessed was when a flock of about 5 crows flew over a group of turkeys on the ground that were coming to launch off a ridge to cross the valley with a small stream below.Through scouting I had patterned the turkeys movements and was waiting there to ambush them when they did.I sat there and enjoyed the show for several minutes before shooting the Tom.

JW

Ya it makes the turkeys Giggle -


JW

superstrutter

Crows are not a threat to turkeys, if that is what you are implying. Crows will make a turkey gobble more than anything,but they are not a threat to a turkey. In most cases you don't even need to blow a crow call, because there will be plenty of them around to make a turkey gobble. Crows are threats to turkey eggs though. I really can't believe you have been hunting for 25 years and have had very little success with locator calls. I would say the success rate for locator calls would be over 80%. They work for me just about every time out. If you are saying shock calls don't work from a distance because the owl or maybe coyote call threatens them, then you are dead wrong.

firelt72

I am with EFH on this one too. I have not failed to have a turkey gobble at my Palmer Hoot Tube, but maybe 3-4 times in 8 years of hunting. It is a great call when looking for a roosted bird or hunting an area you don't know. I hunted out in KS last spring and had a barred owl 35 yards from me and when I called he about blew our ears off. I called back and the tom at 75 yards about blew our ears off! I think it is just a matter of when and where you use them.

Bernie P.

All I'm saying is they haven't worked for me and I've tried them many,many times.After trying to get a response with them I've had turkeys gobble to hen calls that were close enough to hear the locators.As such I now just start with soft tree yelps.My original point was that you really don't need them.YMMV.

JW

Good point!

After all those calls you use are nothing more than Shock calls used to get the Tom to gobble.......oh one we use that was not mentioned. And use mainly to find the roost in the evening after they have flown up.
A simple Air Horn!

JW