How loud to call?
 

I typically run and gun, sitting is boring :-)


How loud do you call? I tend to start low and quiet, if nothing answers I will call again a bit louder.


I've gotten answers from FAR away when not doing loud calls, but also gotten answers in close when doing louder calls.


What's the right volume? or is it another "whatever works that day?"

"whatever works that day"
yep

depends on the area and the birds in it, too.

I have two simple rules:

1) Always start soft - you can easily overcall a close bird but it's really difficult to undercall any bird.

If there's no answer with a soft call, I will occasionally crank the volume with a friction call with little disregard. My opinion is that if the bird heard the soft call and was already on his way, then it doesn't matter if you crank it up because it usually won't scare him off - rather, it usually triggers a shock gobble from an otherwise quiet bird (and in effect lets me raise my gun).

2) Once the bird answers he decides every thing - use his responses to dictate whether you call soft or loud, fast or slow, passive or aggressive.

Caveat here is that I might not always be talking to him, but rather 'her' - the dominant hen who he's following. I've had great success ignoring the tom and cutting off the dominant hen, which makes her jealous and sends her on a search and destroy mission. On the other hand, I've also recently been quite successful sweet talking the dominant hen - you won't hear much about this technique, but (at least for me) it's been very effective in some of the regions I like to hunt...

And of course, always respect these two mantras and add 'when turkey hunting' to the end (like adding 'in bed' to the fortune from your Chinese fortune cookie).

1) Expect the unexpected
2) Anything that can go wrong will go wrong


S&R

S&R,

One other thing worth mentioning; no animal that is on every predators menu continuously calls loudly from the same spot.

Actually I use that technique (decoys and everything) to kill a lot of coyotes once they get use to my FoxPro.

Sheridan - I assumed Bob was asking about run and gun techniques. And although I understand what you're saying, spring turkeys are the exception to your comment. I've seen toms gobble from the same spot for hours every day for weeks on end - much of it depends on perceived threats. If they're never spooked or alarmed they'll remain vocal for extended periods of time.

S&R,

Our "perceived threats" here in SoCal are coyotes (and sometimes turkey hunters).

If Turkeys stay in one spot calling loudly here they become lunch !!!

I would think cats would be a problem there too, yes?

My experience (east coast and Oregon) is that coyotes will sneak up on any tom, gobbling or not. Toms tend to stick to their leks, and therefore the dogs and cats (bobcats in the east) can pattern the birds.

Thus, I think it's the strutting more than anything. I've seen yotes stalk silent toms, the gobbler simply doesn't see the yote approaching - and the yotes have learned to close ground when the backside of the fan is facing them...

I'm not sure about SoCal, but horned owls also take a fair share of foolish jakes right off the limb in the Northeast...

Yes, we have cats here too.

I have 2 "rugs" hanging on my wall.

I am originally from New Jersey, so I know what great horned owls can do also.

I find for myself it depends.. Here turkeys can be vocal for a while and then shut right off.. Maybe it is a tom and hen ratio I am not sure. But here the hunting has been slow for most everyone. Our way of hunting is mostly in and around woods so it varies a lot. They can be vocal early in the morning and then nothing. This nothing can last for around a week and start right back up for a day or 2. How loud depends on how close they are when they start coming at you. Yes we have a large predator issue as well but a vocal tom most commonly is on the move and trying to stay ahead of him is where it is at most of the time.

I always start soft then get louder. A lot of times I hold off if I am not hearing anything I will try to call a few times at most when the birds are silent.

It all depends on how fired up the birds are that day.

I let the turkey and terrain dictate how loud I'll call. One of the farm I hunt, I know for a fact the typically roost only about 100 yards away from where I set up, and they almost always hit the field in front of me. In that situation I call very soft just to let them know I'm in the area, then let my decoys do the job. For whatever reason at that farm they are loud as heck while in the roost, then silent once on the ground.

Another farm I've got a lot of wide open fields to cover, so I am normally pretty loud there till I see a reason to change it up.

To put things into perspective though, listen too how soft and quiet clucks and purrs are, yet they get turkeys fired up. They have great hearing, so in some cases loud isn't always better.

I'll chime in, the last 50 yards callas low as possible, loud calling has hung up more gobblers than any other reason other than calling too much, tone it down, you can be assured on one fact, if he's gobbling every breath, he's not moving much, when he's quiet is when he is moving, when he's moving don't give him enough reason to stop and gobble, the more he gobbles, the longer it takes to get it done the more chance of something bad happening (another hunter, coyote, etc.).
I call, low first, then loud till I get a response, the adjust depending on what that turkey wants to hear and the distance. Also I do not call to a turkey on the roost, had too many just sit on the limb till 9:00, then turn around and fly off.
RR

I probably call to loud to begin with.

I am, because of age have gotten deaf so I purposely try to call softer.

But I follow exactly like Ridge.
JW

Yep loud to get their attention then soft and sexy from there on out.

once you have a gobbler responding and getting closer, all it takes is a soft cluck here and there, just enough to keep him moving and gobble a bit so you know which direction to have the gun pointed, when you can hear him snap as he gobbles (when you hear it you'll know what I mean) if your sure he cant see you (this is why I'm behind cover instead of in front of a tree) reach down and rake the leaves with your fingers, do it twice, a hen almost always scratches with one foot, then the other, then steps back to feed. this does 2 things, 1) the gobbler has heard hen calls, so he is 75% sure a hen is waiting for him, he hears the scratching that's further proof a hen is there, 2) it seals the deal and he speeds up coming in. turkey hunting ain't hard once you figure out how that hickory nut sized brain works.
RR

Not quite a direct answer to the OPs question. Most posters have answered as best as possible.

I try to work the hunt without causing the tom to gobble more than is necessary for me to place his location or follow his movement. If I know his location and whether he is moving, I mostly stay quiet. Gobbles attract other hunters. I prefer just enough gobbles to get the job done. A vocal gobbler is an advertisement for other hunters and predators.

Another thought. If the hunter is calling and moving towards a stationary gobbler, he will wait for you (the hen) to come to him.