Refining the cluck

[strum]

 I have been using diaphragms now for 6-8 years and I  feel the mouth call gives me the best yelps out of anything I have ever tried . This year while listening to youtube real turkey sounds just to start getting my ear back I realized that my clucks suck. The good news is Im working on em and I think Im on the right track. I also suck at purrs but thats a different thing. I am having an epiphany here. 
I truly believe that I can get away with less than perfect yelps if I can realistically cluck. Im saying the cluck is the deal maker or breaker possibly above all other calls. Just talking here.

[Greg Massey]

Purr's are letting ever one know hey all calm and the cluck is the attention getter , you have to let those purr's roll off the tongue again the rubber of the mouth call, and your clucks are taking your tongue and popping it again the rubber of the mouth call... prrr's are little harder to master in my opinion .. cluck is just a cluck...most hens sound awful anyway..don't over think it ...

[1iagobblergetter]

Good news is at least you don't think you are great with a mouthcall but suck. Keep practicing and at some point you'll probably become a master.
I think when people believe that they are great,but are not is when they have a problem.
You don't have to be great with any call to call in a turkey at least at times,but it sure doesn't hurt.  Good luck...

[MK M GOBL]

So on the purr, few ways I have heard them being done, some use tongue tip, others lips and I learned by rolling my throat. Seems to give me my best sound, and range/volume from soft purrs to rattling fighting purrs. I learned this at first by gargling water to get those muscles moving, once you learn to control that then you start with a diaphragm.


MK M GOBL

[strum]

So on the purr, few ways I have heard them being done, some use tongue tip, others lips and I learned by rolling my throat. Seems to give me my best sound, and range/volume from soft purrs to rattling fighting purrs. I learned this at first by gargling water to get those muscles moving, once you learn to control that then you start with a diaphragm.


MK M GOBL

I need to work on this . I am one of those guys who cannot roll my tongue . Tried and tried its nit happening. I saw a vid of a guy doing the purrs with the gargle method. it was the best I ever heard . I havent got it yet sadly.

[GobbleNut]

You have been using mouth calls for long enough that your basic mechanics should be established,...assuming that you have put in enough effort,... which suggests to me that you may be using the wrong call design for the way you call. Certain types of calls just naturally are easier for some people to use than others. 

First of all, there are a whole spectrum of sounds that fall under the definition of  "clucks" and there are different ways to make them.  There is "contented" clucking, "where are you" clucking, and various levels of "aggravated" clucking that turkeys exhibit when looking for you, the caller.  The highest level of aggravated clucking is the "alarm" putt,...and there is a pretty fine line between that and the higher levels of aggravated clucking.

Back to your mechanics:  You can make clucks in two basic ways.  Using "key" words to describe the mechanics, you can either say "puck/pock" or you can say "cuck/cack" (or similar) to make the sounds.  The soft, hollow-sounding clucks are best made with the puck/pock method, while the more aggressive clucks (and "cutts", which are also clucks) are usually easier to learn with the cuck/cack mechanic. 

In summary, try an assortment of call designs* (see note below), and focus on using those key words to develop the sound you want. 

*Note:  If you have a number of mouth calls you use, the ones that you don't think work well for you now can be modified with scissors to alter the sounds.  Don't be afraid to experiment with your calls by changing the cut designs VERY slightly,...a little at a time,...to see if that improves the sounds you get.

[strum]

Thanks GobbleNut .. Yes I have the basics down and Ive killed more birds with the mouth calls than anything eles. I get a little better each year ( I think anyway) Im after the this nice soft hollow clucks your speaking of.  Illl certainly keep working  on em. Actually I Got some new calls in today to try.

[bbcoach]

I'm with Gobblenuts on the cluck.  I use the word puck and do it softly.  A hen will use it softly as a locator call when she is around other birds.  Purring is a little more difficult.  I flutter my tongue but I'm trying to master the gargling or guttural tones made by a dove as well.

[BTH]

Doug Adkins videos on Cane Creek calls Mouth Calls 101 helped me brake some bad habits tremendously!

Once I took the pressure off the frame of the mouth call to purr and let the entire call and frame roll with my tongue .....the purrs came out a lot more realisitic!

Warning watching Doug call will hurt your feelings a tad but it will give you something to strive for.

Each mouth call he has he does a little video for on his website store as well.

[Shady valley birds]

I'm by no means an expert but I get by. I think we all listen to dave and the rest of the grand national champs and  think that's how we gotta do it. And I'm guilty of that myself but you already kill birds so your only bettering yourself for you. The birds don't mind now. I do it Too.

[GobbleNut]

Expanding on this a bit more, there are also variations of the purr that should be understood when calling.  Contented purring and aggravated purring are two entirely different critters.  Contented purring is a sound contented (or unalarmed) turkeys make.  It is a sound that is so soft that it can only be heard when you are very close to unalarmed turkeys. 

Aggravated purring (most often accompanied by aggravated clucking) is the sound most hunters will hear from turkeys that have approached their calling and are looking for the source of the calls. You will almost invariably hear it when a hen (or hens) come looking for you when you are calling.  That sound is discernably different than contented purring,...and has an entirely different meaning in turkey vocabulary.  Decoy users should be familiar with the aggravated cluck and purr in that turkeys coming in to check out and/or challenge the intruding dekes will almost invariably start making the sound.

Aggravated clucking and purring will generally increase in intensity the longer a turkey is close and looking for the source of your calling,...and usually it will reach a point where it borders on putting,...at which time the turkey will begin to depart.  Being able to reproduce the aggravated cluck and purr when a turkey is doing it will sometimes hold them long enough for the hunter to be able to get a shot, so it is a worthwhile call to try to learn to master. 

Of course, the third type of purring is the fighting purr turkeys make when they are going after each other.  Again, a discernably different sound from the other two, or perhaps could be described as a greatly exaggerated form of the aggravated purr.

[ferocious calls]

Having a few Easterns of your own to listen and learn from is Golden. Currently 81 in our coops.
They amaze me with just how many sounds they can make. After 5 years I am still hearing new sounds.

Clucking aggressively has changed the game many mornings when Toms' seemed disinterested in subtle talk. Many times it has turned Tom around when he was moving away.