I know alot of folks swear by them, but i can tell you that i can make about any loud sound off my back deck and a turkey will respond. Ive tried owl, coyote howl and rooster crowing (all just using my mouth - not especially skilled at any of them) and one will answer back off one if the ridges or fields. Just an observation. Truck horn works as well
Locator calls.....
- Thread starter redblood
- Start date
Makes a difference where you are, I assume you are on private land. Try some of those on public land with no skill or master skill level and you will shut some birds down before they even get started. It's a different breed of bird altogether! Lol
I have the most luck with an owl. I watched an episode of Meat eater where he talked about a list of like 100 things they have heard a Turkey gobble at. I know one guy that swears by an air horn.
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Agreed. Total difference between unpressured private birds and public birds that have heard everything at least a dozen times each day.
It works. Done it out my back door more than once. I can't hardly stand to pull the trigger though
Setterman
Well-Known Member
I see no need for them and don't even carry them. On any given morning there's more than enough crows, owls, hawks, etc to get a bird to gobble if he's in the mood.
Friday morning before sunrise I had a gobbler about a 1/4 mile to my right... he was gobbling a lot. Fake hoot owl comes down the trail from my left. He made it to about fifty feet of me and I said good morning 
scared fake hoot owl bad
scared fake hoot owl badHuntaholic
Well-Known Member
I can owl hoot with the best of them, in fact I can call owls to me. With that said, I quit using "locator" calls years ago. Can I make one gobble? Yes. Does it do any good if hes not in the mood? NO. I much prefer to keep my mouth shut and let nature take its course. If one fires up in the right mood, its game on. If not, I will go find one that IS in the right mood or go home.
catman529
Well-Known Member
Not all birds are the same, some gobble at anything and some rarely shock gobble.
Bird shock gobbled today at a red tail hawk, he was dead 20 minutes later (I was filming not shooting). Sometimes you can't buy a gobble for 100 dollars and sometimes they'll gobble at any loud noise.
Bird shock gobbled today at a red tail hawk, he was dead 20 minutes later (I was filming not shooting). Sometimes you can't buy a gobble for 100 dollars and sometimes they'll gobble at any loud noise.
Trapper John
Well-Known Member
One of the first birds I ever killed gobbled back at me after I sneezed just as the sun was coming up. I tried to muffle it but it still sounded like a wounded elephant. That was years ago on public land in Middle TN.
Any of y'all remember the Screaming Peacock locator call from back in the day? Was supposed to sound like a peacock going off. I actually bought one of those things. Scary thing was, on our private land, it worked. I had more fun with it in the neighborhood, though. The lady down the street actually owned peacocks and I used it to start some drama.
Any of y'all remember the Screaming Peacock locator call from back in the day? Was supposed to sound like a peacock going off. I actually bought one of those things. Scary thing was, on our private land, it worked. I had more fun with it in the neighborhood, though. The lady down the street actually owned peacocks and I used it to start some drama.
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Setterman
Well-Known Member
I bought one, never worked. The worst was the MAD dead silence dog whistle, not only did it not work it would shut up birds. Gimmick garbage
I'd never use one on public land. Generally speaking I've always just found birds gobble fine in their own in the mornings so just never cared to have one.
I do find times I'll use a crow midday if I heard a bird off in the distance and I'm trying to close the gap. In those times I don't want to call and risk him coming to me till I'm ready so I'll try a crow here and there. If he doesn't gobble at it after the first try I won't try it again.
I do find times I'll use a crow midday if I heard a bird off in the distance and I'm trying to close the gap. In those times I don't want to call and risk him coming to me till I'm ready so I'll try a crow here and there. If he doesn't gobble at it after the first try I won't try it again.
Southern Sportsman
Well-Known Member
Just so I can update my compendium on turkey gobbling proclivity to different audio stimuli in different regions of the state, please PM me the coordinates to these ridges and fields. Don't worry, I won't include specifics in the book. I may need to come investigate at some point, but it'll just be me. And I'll send you a signed first edition once it's published.
K, thanks.
cowhunter71
Well-Known Member
Locator calls, along with excessive box call yelping, helps me keep track of the googans every move. Helps me navigate around them when necessary. Nothing screams "I'm an idiot" more than employing these two tactics
I hunted a small farm years ago and there was a peacock close by. Turkeys would gobble at it so I bought one and it worked. I still have it somewhere but don't use any these days. I just let them gobble on their own. Every now and then I might use a crow call or owl in the morning but it's rare.
Huntaholic
Well-Known Member
Glad to see Im not the only one who fell for Mark and Terry's lies!
In the morning's I always carry an owl call but try my best not to use it. The TN property I hunt I can usually run up and down a creek to get split the distance. Just a good layout of it. My property in KY I use it there more just because they roost different places sporadically and like to figure out as early as possible which route to try to get to them. But if I can get away with it I would assume not even think about using it.
