Raspy or not?

[wvmntnhick]

Speaking only about the use of the yelp in turkey calling, from my experience, I have concluded that there are yelps that hens make when they are just going about their business,...and then there are yelps hens make when they are looking for the company of a gobbler.  Having said that, just like people, turkey voices are not all the same. One hen that is urgently seeking a gobbler does not necessarily sound like the next one,...or the one after that. 

The trick is getting a gobbler to interpret your yelping to be that of a hen that's looking for a gobbler,...and not just that of a hen that is "going about her business".  Depending on a gobbler's state of mind, he might go to any yelping he hears, or he may need some pretty specific sounding yelping before he gets interested. 

If I was to generalize based on what I have personally experienced, I would say that the most consistent producer of "positive" responses from gobblers for me has been a more raspy back end on yelping,...more so than a clear or less raspy yelp.  However, there seems to me to be a "window" of raspiness in calling.  That is, if a yelp is either not raspy enough,...or too raspy,...it will get less-positive results than a yelp that is within that window of what a gobbler wants to hear. 

We always refer to the two-note, or high-low ends of a yelp,...and some people extol the importance of having a good break-over on their yelping.  Honestly, from what I have seen, the important element in the yelp that seems to attract the most gobbler attention is the back-end,...and specifically the emphasis and inflection that is put on that. 

In the end, success or failure in calling a bird is going to be based on what HE wants to hear, rather than what YOU THINK he wants to hear.  Sometimes anything will call them,...and sometimes nothing will,...and sometimes there may be something in between that, if you discover what it is, will bring them to you. 

As others have noted, being able to vary your yelping can, at times, be the key to success.  ...And do not underestimate the importance of sounding like a hen that a gobbler is familiar with,...either accidently or intentionally.  I am pretty certain that many a gobbler has met his end by the sheer good fortune of a hunter hitting on a sound that reminded that gobbler of a current(or long lost) love interest.     

May I just say, I enjoy reading your posts. Always insightful and to the point. 

[perrytrails]

I think just saying clear or raspy is generalizing calling and turkey hunting too much. There are way too many things that play in to killing a gobbler other than the the call itself. Saying the right thing is the most important thing IMO when calling. Being where he want to be is also paramount. The best callers and hunters in the world aren't going to kill many turkeys by calling them down a bluff across two woven wire fences and a wide creek.
Knowing where gobblers want to be and patience will kill more turkeys than any other aspect of turkey hunting. Unless you're reaping them, but that's a different thread.


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I agree, I like a little rasp but raspy or not, patience and being where turkeys want to be will get it done.

Clucks purrs and scratching in the leaves don't have rasp, killed many birds around here.

Sometimes just sounding different than most, like no yelping at all will seal the deal on those older birds who have heard too much rasp...: )

[Double B]

I've come to prefer rasp over clear in general.  Seems like the most vocal hens are more raspy.   I had a callmaker friend (misfire) tell me a call sounded like an 80 year old chain smoking hooker, in a good way.......     Older hens lay first, so I like raspy calls early in the season. And in general, well,  I just like raspy calls! 

[outdoors]

WHERE I HUNT CENTRAL FLA.          PUBLIX LAND
THE OSCEOLAs THAT IVE HEARD ARE CLEAR AND A TOUCH OF RASP AT THE BACK END
OF THE YELP MOST OF THE TIME , IVE HEARD SOME HENS WITH ALL RASP BUT NOT REALY
STONG RASPINESS , VERY MILD ............