any words of wisdom on this subject.i have never gotten a response to one,not for lack of trying.every hundred yards i try with crow,hawk etc.live and hunt in the midwest and i hunt where there is a great population of birds.i have been using them during the day mostly.maybe the gobblers are henned up and wont respond.

Locators tend to work better in the roosting time of the day. On occasion they will work through the day , but I have found the crow call seems to work a little better then others. Don't be reluctent to use a couple different sounding crow calls. A sharp loud call tends to work well in the day light hours. Another Locator I carry is the Howler Plus Yote call. I found in the west it worked well...BT

I agree with Adrian. In the dark of morning and at dawn's early light, a hoot owl will work. After daybreak, a crow works better. Mid-day, I think a loud cutt probably brings the best gobble response, but there are obvious problems with using a turkey sound as a turkey locator, so I think it is better to stick with a crow call at midday as well. Another call I use for locating during the day is a pileated woodpecker. Sometimes this will work when a crow does not. I, too, use coyote howling in the evening/at dusk for roosting, with good response, "out west." I have heard turkeys shock gobble to honking geese flying overhead, thunder, town noon whistles/sirens, and car honking horns. Last year I even carried a compressed gas operated air horn like you get for small watercraft, but I never got around to actually using it, so I don't know how effective it might be. My suspicion is that the right tom will shock gobble for it, though.

If your locator calls have actually "never" produced a shock gobble that you have heard, I wonder if you are calling over the response gobble. If you are alone, always start with a short blast on your locator call and pause a moment before calling again. First, using the shorter blast helps to avoid creating a situation in which you have "blown the turkey out of the country" if he is nearby, and secondly, it gives you a chance to hear any "hot" immediate response. If you hunt with another, have the buddy get 10-15 yards from you before you blow on the locator call, so he/she can hear any distant response.

I agree with snowdog a yelp is the best locator during the day. All the others are better while they are on the roost

<<Another Locator I carry is the Howler Plus Yote call. I found in the west it <<worked well...BT

Adrian, who makes the howler plus call? I've got a Dick's $20 certificate about to expire at the end of the month.

I've gotten mid morning responses on occasion using a Primos Power Crow call. But the responses are sporadic at best during the day. Heck, sometimes I've had trouble getting toms to gobble on the roost in the evening using several types of locator calls. They just have to be in the right mood to shock gobble and who knows what puts them in that mood? You just have to be versatile and throw different calls at them until something works. I agree that a sharp cutt from a paddle box call will work about as good as anything later in the morning to coax a gobble out of a lonely tom.

I'm gonna jump on the Crow and Yote train to, I've had better luck with the crow call then with the Coyote(BUT) When the birds are pressured hard they get wise to that crow call because EVERYBODY uses it, I've seen birds hit full gallop when somebody off in the distance hits a crow call and not gobble again for hours- Thats when you break out the Yote call or peacock, that'll lite-em up almost everytime-
Food for thought- I went to west Texas for the first time two years ago and crow called for half of the day with out a response(couldnt figure it out) the second day I realized I hadnt seen a crow for two days, I guess the good Lord didnt bless West Texas with a flourishing Crow colony so the Turks didnt know what it was??? Go Figure-- I got my first shock gobble from a Car door slamming!
And the second from a Cow bellering off in the distance- Guess was I was doing for the next two days??

Coyote howler,goose flute,and pilleated woodpecker all have worked in the areas I have hunted out west.My general perception is locators work terrific in light pressured areas or on birds that have not been hunted period.High pressure areas I just let them do there own thing.The first week in these high pressure zones you have guys walking all over the woods making all kinds of noises doing more harm than good!If I know theres birds in a general area by my preseason scouting or just reading sign I'll "keep my seat and stay off my feet".Patience will kill more turkeys than walking and talking all over your stretch of turkey woods. Even in areas that have alot of birds sooner or later they will sound-off if your willing to give them a chance!Hope it helps Bob....

Hawgnman QuakerBoy makes the Howler Plus, and Dicks do carry QuakerBoy line...BT