Your favorite locator call?

[Boll Weevil]

This is a what, when, where type question because I know it varies widely. What is your favorite locator to get a response from a gobbler. Early, mid morning, afternoon...what works for you?

Owl, crow, wood duck, goose, coyote, hawk, pileated woodpecker, car door, donkey (seriously...donkey). What's your go to? Got a favorite callmaker or just your voice?

 

[Tennessee Lead]

Before daylight I will scream once with my "bogey man" owl call from Down -N-Dirty Outdoors. It sounds very realistic. I may do that a time or two. If no response just before the woods come to life I may try some soft tree yelps. Then as it is starting to get light if I ain't heard a bird I will pull out my "Heckler" crow call from Down-N-Dirty Outdoors. It is without a doubt the loudest and the most shrill crow call I've ever blown. The "Heckler" is my go to shock call. It seems to work at anytime of the day. It's untelling the amount of gobbles that crow call has produced in the 3 years I've owned it.



Sent from my iPhone that I ain't smart enough to use with tapatalker

 

[drrxnupe]

I've never used a locator. I just take a chance on where I think they may be in the AM. If I don't find 'em in the AM, I walk and call until I get a response.

 

[tickweed]

I owl with my mouth. crow in middle of the day.

 

[Hunt 365]

Cheap owl "whistle" type- $6 quaker boy for first hour of light, then crow, occasionally a woodpecker midday. Once in a blue moon, a loud box call midday

 

[TLRanger]

THUNDER!

 

[catman529]

Early - just listen
Mid - cutting, yelping, crow
Late - cutting, yelping


Sent from the talk of tap

 

[catman529]

Also listen closely every time a crow caws nearby or an owl hoots or train horn or any loud sound.


Sent from the talk of tap

 

[Roost 1]

I don't use locator calls..... But I like any sound that makes one gobble.

 

[muddyboots]

I don't use locator calls..... But I like any sound that makes one gobble.

I'll second this one.

 

[dgolden]

After you have all your gear, walk about 50 yards away from the truck and lock it so it makes the chirping sound or honking. Did this by accident last year and had a couple of them fire up and told me which way to go set up!

 

[catman529]

After you have all your gear, walk about 50 yards away from the truck and lock it so it makes the chirping sound or honking. Did this by accident last year and had a couple of them fire up and told me which way to go set up!

they will gobble at slamming car door too.


Sent from the talk of tap

 

[Boll Weevil]

Not good, bad, or otherwise, simply an observation but didn't realize so many folks didn't use locators.

I always let birds start on their own while on the roost and since there's generally plenty of owls and crows keeping up racket it's not an issue. But if it gets on up in the morning and it's still gobble-less, I put on my walking shoes and am prone to hit a crow call on occasion.

 

[woodsman87]

I try to let them gobble first at day light, nothing heard by the time all the birds are singing, I owl with my mouth.
During the day I crow, or yelp and cut.

But normally, ESPECIALLY in late season, I will sit around or walk slowly and listen.

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Tapatalk

 

[timberjack86]

Normally before flydown I will just listen, If nothing then I might owl hoot. During the day I yelp and cutt.

 

[Jbird22]

@ Daylight - I prefer to stay quiet and let them gobble on their own. If it's past gobbling time and they haven't cranked up I'll hoot a time or two. That's simply because I want to hear them on the limb if at all possible. I've had a few instances where if I hadn't blown a locator then I would've walked away from a gobbler I didn't know was there. Geese are also very good locators in my area. I've heard gobblers go nuts over them before.

Mid-morning - I like to yelp and cutt aggressively. I also listen for hawks and will occasionally blow a crow call.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

Not good, bad, or otherwise, simply an observation but didn't realize so many folks didn't use locators.

I always let birds start on their own while on the roost and since there's generally plenty of owls and crows keeping up racket it's not an issue. But if it gets on up in the morning and it's still gobble-less, I put on my walking shoes and am prone to hit a crow call on occasion.

That's what I've always done.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[PalsPal]

Early morning, if they aren't answering owls/crows/geese on their own, I use a cheap Primos Hoot Flute. It has worked very well for me over the years.

Later in the day, crow call or cutts on the mouth call. You just have to be careful using the cutts, as I have bumped too many coming to me, while I was closing the distance to them.

 

[Layne]

By far my favorite locator is an owl hooter, birds where I hunt rarely every respond to a crow call... there are so many crows yap'n all day that turkeys would go hoarse gobbling at them. I rarely hear a bird gobble at a crow but they gobble their butts off at owls.
I normally just listen when I first get to the woods to see if they'll gobble on their own, if I hear a bird in the distance gobbling I will normally hit the owl hooter prior to making that move. I can't tell you how many times I have had a bird gobble within a couple hundred yds of me that hadn't said a word until I hit that hooter and saved me from busting him going to the distant bird.

Once it gets on up in the day and I'm searching I'll usually cut on a mouth call or box call. One of the best locators during the day is a long paddle call with a high pitch that will get birds to gobble but I really don't like toting that long call around much.

 

[Andy S.]

Trumpet call, hands down. A trumpet in the right hands will pull a gobble out of an old bird like nothing I have ever witnessed, it blows my mind. I had to hunt with a few guys for several years who were well versed with a trumpet to see it first hand before I was made a believer. Now a trumpet is my go to call if I want to make a bird gobble when nothing else will.