Raspy Hens

[Greg Massey]

Do you think we still have a bunch of older raspy hens in the woods nowadays? How many raspy hen's did you hear?  I personally think we have less of these older hens in the woods compared back to years ago when turkey hunting was pretty good in most all states. With today's younger hen's do you think this has hurt the breeding cycle causing a decrease in the overall population? I myself don't hear near the amount of old raspy hen's in the woods anymore, it's mostly all younger hen's. Let's talk calls, so if we have a younger bunch of hen's in the woods do you still look for raspy old hen call or do you look for less rasp in your calls? I know I've talked to some guys who said they didn't hear a raspy old hen all year, just younger hen's. So if this is the case why are call builders building these still heavy raspy call's .. i think we are seeing a chance in what turkeys we have left in the woods of most states. IMO..

[Happy]

On all my years of hunting I have not heard many of these super raspy hens everyone talks about. Most I hear are light/medium rasp and I use calls that sound accordingly.
Every great once in while a turkey gobbler agrees with me. Not saying that they don't exist. I just haven't heard many in the areas I hunt.

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[wvmntnhick]

I don't think rasp has anything to do with age personally. Some birds have it, others don't. That's not saying it can't develop with age but at the end of the day, every bird sounds different. Some sound sweet, others trashy. Some clean, others like they've gargled with gravel. Just depends on the bird, not necessarily age.


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[zelmo1]

I think raspy is just an individual trait, I am definitely not an expert. I do hear raspier hens where I am. I use a raspy mouth and box call 95% of the time. If I go soft it's with a pot and purring is 100% on a pot. I used to think that the raspy old calls were older hens. I thinks it's more of a genetic trait now. Just my 

[mspaci]

Ind turkeys will call both clear & then raspy as well, not an indication of age. They can change in the same series of calls too

[jhoward11]

I had 4 hens behind the house early in the Indiana season who all sounded different. I could actual her 4 different hens going nuts. The loudest and the most vocal was the raspy one, especially on the roost in the morning. I agree they all sound a little different. Isn't that why we buy different calls, and several mouth calls, to find a hens tone that he likes. I'm sure it's different in all areas, but I would say I have heard raspy hens each year.

[catman529]

I've seen and heard some real raspy jennies...can't tell a hens age past 1 year


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[aclawrence]

Are we sure that all the old hens sound raspy?  I don't know but I just assumed all the hens have their own voice just like people do. It's an interesting thought about how many old hens are out there compared to younger hens though.


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[bear hunter]

I didnt hear any raspy hens this year.

[Meleagris gallopavo]

I'm lucky to hear a hen yelp, period.  Usually it's a lone hen on the roost first thing.  When I do hear them they aren't raspy.  Hens don't tend to be vocal around here.  For the most part you're lucky to hear a gobbler after fly down.


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[Turkeyman]

Certainly different hens can sound different...from clear to different stages of raspiness. My favorite is what I call those hound dog hens...sounds like a red bone or bluetick.

[Howie g]

Come to think of it ? I haven't heard a ole really raspy hen in a couple of years .   I've heard a few in years past that sounded like the smoked a carton of Marlboros the night before !  And she was usually the boss hen

[Paulmyr]

Just a thought. It may be just an inflection thing. Is possible all hens can do it. I had a young hen walk by me the other day. She mostly bubble clucked with a couple ki ki runs. When she yelped most were clear high pitched yelps but she put out a couple of the deeper almost gobbler type yelps as well.
Got into a calling duel last weekend with a hen as well. She ran the whole mix at me. Bubble clucks, scratchy cutting, popping cutts, clear crisp high pitched yelps, and the nasally almost gobbler type yelps. Hearing the scratchy cutting tells me she could yelp that way to if she wanted. I gave it all back to her and eventually she came in looking. Even got to hear a 2 note cackle when she jumped up on a log a stretched her wings. She hung out half circling me for about 15 mins looking for the hen she  heard shooting her mouth off.

In 30 years of hunting I've only heard one real scratchy hen call consistently. She came in behind me thought for sure she was a dude sneaking in on the tom I had gobbling on the roost. Was getting ready to let the guy know I was there when she came running by me to steal the gobbler away.

[Spitten and drummen]

Well I can honestly say I like a good medium rasp. Usually my first 2 or 3 yelps are clear and I drop into a backend on the remainder of the series. I think alot of times the rasp comes out in exited calling. When calling soft my yelps are good 2 note but on the cleaner side. To answer your question I believe all hens can get rasp in their calling. I also have heard in the past hens that had no 2 note yelp or high front end. Just a nasty rasp throughout the yelp. I heard a hen a few years ago that sounded like that. There were 4 or 5 yelping but the gobbler really only gobbled at her. I broke out a box and tried to sound like that nasty hen and ended up killing that bird.

[quavers59]

  I think that many years Back- alot of Hens were just Bigger. This probably  also means Older.