I'm the best Hen caller in the county!
11-05-2017, 03:22 PM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 27
I'm the best Hen caller in the county!
EVERY year I call in hens! I've used various calls: slate, box, mouth....etc. Does anyone else have this problem? I've been hunting turkeys for over 30 YEARS......still calling in hens. I would appreciate some tips.
11-05-2017, 03:42 PM
#2
Super Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 7,436
I don't see a problem. Call in the hens a Tom is sure to follow.
In fact when working a Gobbling Tom and a Hen cutts me off. I switch and concentrate on that hen. Match her cluck for cluck and stop calling when she does but jump on her when she starts calling again. The third time you had better be ready as she will come to find you!
I've shot numerous toms with that trick. I call ticking off my wife.
Cut your wife off in mid sentence and see how she reacts. For. Me I'm running as she has the ole rolling pin in hand.
So to me your calling is working.
JW
In fact when working a Gobbling Tom and a Hen cutts me off. I switch and concentrate on that hen. Match her cluck for cluck and stop calling when she does but jump on her when she starts calling again. The third time you had better be ready as she will come to find you!
I've shot numerous toms with that trick. I call ticking off my wife.
Cut your wife off in mid sentence and see how she reacts. For. Me I'm running as she has the ole rolling pin in hand.
So to me your calling is working.
JW
11-10-2017, 01:12 PM
#5
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: south eastern PA
Posts: 15,426
About 4 years ago I was hunting spring turkey pretty close to my host's home. The sky opened up and the rain came down so I ran to his garage a big double door building and pulled up a stool and sat at the one door. A gobbler was sounding off on the other side of the road so I called to him, each time I called he gobbled but didn't get closer, I figured as long as he answered I would call. Then a hen started sounding off much closer so every time I called the gobbler gobbled and the hen called. All of a sudden the hen stuck her head and neck inside the garage and looked at me, about 10 feet away. Finally her eyes got big and she hot footed it out of there. I just sat there laughing.
11-21-2017, 01:43 AM
#9
Fork Horn
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: PA
Posts: 470
I'm assuming the OP is talking about spring season, since hens are legal almost everywhere that has a fall season.
If you are calling in hens, you are doing everything right, I wouldn't be upset with that. Nothing beats having a live decoy.
If you are calling in hens, you are doing everything right, I wouldn't be upset with that. Nothing beats having a live decoy.
01-10-2018, 10:14 AM
#10
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: SW Michigan
Posts: 1,906
Captain Belly -
Based on how you worded your question, I'm guessing that (1) you're ONLY calling in hens, (2) you're not calling in gobblers or having gobblers follow the hens, and (3) that this is in the Spring when you can only harvest bearded birds.
A few things come to mind:
1) As RR mentioned - you may just have too many hens in the area and they're coming to your call because they think the gobbler is already with you.
2) Hunting pressure. Too many hunters sounding like hens, which makes the birds wary.
3) Depending on the state you hunt, you're hunting during a 'lull' where the gobblers will 99% of the time just not come to a call. There are points in the Spring where a tom will NOT leave a hen they can see for a hen they can hear, no matter how 'hot' you sound - period. Oh, he'll gobble his brains out hoping that you'll join him, but most of the time and most days - in those mid-season lulls, the birds are content to just follow the actual live hen they can see...
4) High predator population and you're calling from 'thick' areas. Many times the pasture edge seems like a great set up, but if you're calling from inside the briar edge - that's really thick and can hide natural predators. Turkeys quickly learn to become call shy and avoid thick areas, especially on lands that hold large numbers of bobcat, coyote and lion.
5) You're simply calling too much, too loud, or your calling cadence is noticeably wrong. If you're not already practicing this - I think one word of advice that every successful hunter would agree with - once you call that hen into eyesight, just shut up completely. Let her do ALL the calling, and if there are any gobblers or jakes in the area, they should investigate.
I'm sure there are other scenarios, but from my experience hunting turkeys in multiple states in the NE, NW and Midwest - those typically are the 5 primary reasons you call in hens and don't see gobblers.
A few questions:
1) What is the bird density in your area?
2) When you travel the backroads, how many longbeards do you see in gobbler flocks in the early Spring, before they break up and start mating?
If you're seeing decent numbers of birds, and 5-6 longbeards in small flocks, then unfortunately the primary problem is most likely something that you're doing wrong (i.e., overcalling, hunting the wrong area, wrong time of day, etc.). On the other hand, if you're just not seeing mature birds, then you may be doing nothing wrong, there's just not many birds to hunt - in that case, the best thing to do might be to move and find different land.
S&R
Based on how you worded your question, I'm guessing that (1) you're ONLY calling in hens, (2) you're not calling in gobblers or having gobblers follow the hens, and (3) that this is in the Spring when you can only harvest bearded birds.
A few things come to mind:
1) As RR mentioned - you may just have too many hens in the area and they're coming to your call because they think the gobbler is already with you.
2) Hunting pressure. Too many hunters sounding like hens, which makes the birds wary.
3) Depending on the state you hunt, you're hunting during a 'lull' where the gobblers will 99% of the time just not come to a call. There are points in the Spring where a tom will NOT leave a hen they can see for a hen they can hear, no matter how 'hot' you sound - period. Oh, he'll gobble his brains out hoping that you'll join him, but most of the time and most days - in those mid-season lulls, the birds are content to just follow the actual live hen they can see...
4) High predator population and you're calling from 'thick' areas. Many times the pasture edge seems like a great set up, but if you're calling from inside the briar edge - that's really thick and can hide natural predators. Turkeys quickly learn to become call shy and avoid thick areas, especially on lands that hold large numbers of bobcat, coyote and lion.
5) You're simply calling too much, too loud, or your calling cadence is noticeably wrong. If you're not already practicing this - I think one word of advice that every successful hunter would agree with - once you call that hen into eyesight, just shut up completely. Let her do ALL the calling, and if there are any gobblers or jakes in the area, they should investigate.
I'm sure there are other scenarios, but from my experience hunting turkeys in multiple states in the NE, NW and Midwest - those typically are the 5 primary reasons you call in hens and don't see gobblers.
A few questions:
1) What is the bird density in your area?
2) When you travel the backroads, how many longbeards do you see in gobbler flocks in the early Spring, before they break up and start mating?
If you're seeing decent numbers of birds, and 5-6 longbeards in small flocks, then unfortunately the primary problem is most likely something that you're doing wrong (i.e., overcalling, hunting the wrong area, wrong time of day, etc.). On the other hand, if you're just not seeing mature birds, then you may be doing nothing wrong, there's just not many birds to hunt - in that case, the best thing to do might be to move and find different land.
S&R
