What's the best owl locator call?
 

Thanks for the info

I would have to say the Harrison Hoot'n Stick made by
Hooks Calls.

Learn to use your mouth. It's better than any owl call, and it's not that hard to learn. Just practice, practice, practice.

What do these calls do? Just get the bird to respond so you can get an idea of where they are??
-Jake

My favorite other than using my voice is a Palmer's Hoot Tube.

Locator calls aren't worth bothering with.Unless the birds are right there and perceive a threat they won't respond.When you hear the little chippy birds start chirping begin with some soft tree calls.Look for turkey silhouettes about 3/4 up in the trees.

Exactly. Toms will do something called a shock gobble. Has nothing to do with a threat just some noises makes them gobble just out of reflex. Stop and think about it, you think Nature's natural defenses would cause a turkey to gobble and give away it's location when a threat was near. Certain sounds like thunder will cause them to gobble. One woods I used to hunt we would just wait for this one mule at a nearby farm to start his morning braying. His braying would light up every gobbler in the entire woods. You can use hen yelps and cuts also to locate them but you run the risk of having any gobbler within hearing to start towards you silently and you could end up bumping them.

Locator calls allow you to move and set on a bird without using a turkey call! If a bird answers a call and your not setup right, you can't just close ground, how do you know he's not on his way. Now I agree, when their on the roost they usually tell on theirself, but later in the morning they allow you to get inside that comfort zone without him looking for you. Locator calls can be a very valuable tool in your arsenal!

I'm with SJAdventures on this one.

All I know is I have two owl calls-one wood barrel type one plastic reed one crow and a screaming peacock.I've used all of them more times than I can recall and the only times a turkey gobbled back at one was when it was still dark and I was within 35 yds.Regardless of the call I start with be it loacator or turkey I learned early on (meaning blew it) to already be seated against a good size tree ready for anything.Whether those few times they gobbled to the locator's was due to perceived threat or a "shock gobble" I cant say.