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.

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

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.

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

Oh, so you use your own voice too.:biggrin:

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.

Ya it makes the turkeys Giggle -


JW

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.

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.

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.

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

If your getting 35yds, or like you mentioned earlier "look for turkey silhouettes" maybe you trying to get to close to begin with! Not trying to bash or anything, just saying IMO maybe if you back off a little and don't get close enough to bump rooster birds, all your calls will work better. I know it happens a lot, but for the most part if your looking at him in a tree, he's been lookin at you and he ain't gonna answer ***t!

I agree but as I said there have been plenty of times distant birds (100 or more yards away) that never gobbled at the locators but did so when I switched to the hen calls.

I would say with a little practice. Your natural voice works just fine. The last manufactured call I used was a knight&hale barred owl? I think?

H.S. strut owl hooter works almost all the time, when it doesn't I use a coyote call. Gobblers react to many sounds not out of fear just being surprised.

I think that HS is the same one I have.It has the plastic reed so it's good for producing laughs.My wood barrel is the Primos job.More limited but it sounds good.

I personaly have never had any luck with locator calls. I haven't used them the past couple of seasons but when you never hear anything when using them it makes no sense for me to carry them any more.

I have more luck in the morning with soft yelps and as it get more light outside I add a little volume to it and have had alot of success getting them to gobble this way and I have many times after tring to get a shock gabble with an owl or crow call and hearing nothing then hit the slate with solf yelps and get birds to gobble within 100yrds of me.

I think it all depends on the area you hunt and what the birds are use to.

I like to use my hands. What ever you decide to use. Keep it to one note, instead of the four to five note. A turkey might gobble at the first note, and if your still hooting you wont here him gobble.

I carry a crow call and hoot with my mouth. I don't use either much as I hunt a lot of public land. I would rather them not gobble too much on the roost and attract other hunters. I usually like to let them gobble on their own on the roost and then try a locator after what would be normal gobbling times.