Rate Your Calling Ability

[bbcoach]

GobbleNut, I knew you would say sonething like that and I am right there with you   

Depends on the bird you have in front of you.

Personnaly I would assume that everybody on this site is at least a very good caller. Come on, if your passionate enough about turkey hunting to follow this site... You must enjoy calling a little, isn it??

That being said, the bird in front of you makes the difference... Take a hot one, on a good day... and he will come on a string to any of you... I have no doubts...

And take a hard one who's not cooperating well and he will not come to any of us   

Woodsmanship is where it's at... because they don't always cooperate to calling.

I think as Gobblenut and YoungGobbler have said, when we, as hunters, can't strike a bird or can't get a bird to come that last 50 yards or can't pull a bird from his hens, we blame our calling or it's something we did!  Most of the time, we don't have the confidence to say, he doesn't want to PLAY today.  Everything plays into this game.  Having CONFIDENCE in YOUR abilities with Woodsmanship, Setup, Calling, Being Still and so on is the keys to success.  But if he doesn't want to PLAY today, then we need to move on to another bird or get back after him tomorrow.       

[eddie234]

I'm probably just average, but good enough


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[eggshell]

Having been at this a long time and running the gambit of calls, I feel like I've developed pretty decent skills. I agree with many here that on a stage I wouldn't even place, but in the woods I am in the game and a major player. I entered one state contest probably 40 years ago and while we were waiting for results many people told me they thought I was one of the very best and should place if not win. Heck, I never even got mentioned. THe same people won who always win. Right there and then I decided competitions were only a social game and I never even considered another one. Rob Keck told me I had a good hunting quality to my calls but I needed to work on the finesse and finish of my sequences, right then I knew it was not a hunting competition but a stage show. Since I have totally disregarded pure sound quality and focused on timing, tone, volume and cadence. Our wise old owl (gobblenut} is right, just hunt A+ birds and your world class. The greatest compliment I was ever given was during a fall hunt and a buddy was sitting a good distance from me and listening to me work a bird. After I shot it he said, "that was incredible, listening to that conversation. I couldn't tell which was the turkey and which was you". During a hunt I am usually guilty of two offenses, calling too loud and too often, but I am out there to call to turkeys and if I couldn't call to them I would probably not even hunt them.

Now for specific calls:

Mouth/diaphragm calls. I used my first one way back in the mid 1970s and have owned hundreds. I find a lot of variance in commercial calls. If I sit down to find a call I will find one prime call in 5. It's usually a several hour process of trimming and bending. I have thrown away more then I ever used. I have a couple of brands I find more consistent, but I am not going to plug them. Like most of us I have certain sequences I am better at. I do well at cuts, yelps and soft tones. I can't purr worth a crap on a mouth call nor gobble well. When I'm in my wheelhouse I have been told I am a high quality caller. Once I engage a spring gobbler the conversation becomes lower toned and intimate real quick.

Trumpets and wingbones; my buddy said it best....someone kill that chicken and put it out of it's misery. I'm moving on.

Friction calls; I can run a decent slate and pot call and get some of the finer tones out of them. If I need a purr I pull out a slate. Box calls I just don't like carrying and seldom use. So I am less proficient on box calls, but here is where quality craftsmanship is paramount. You will seldom get consistent quality out of cheap box calls.

summary of my BS
mouth calls -  A+
Trumpets and wingbones - Banned from use and threatened with physical harm for even carrying one
Friction calls - B

Day in and day out I am a mouth call guy, no doubt about it. However, I am a stout proponent of the friction calls once we get late into season. There's something inherently unrealistic about most mouth calls that birds pick up on and become shy too very quickly. I think they are too musically tuned.

Now take all this useless banter and just go look for Gobblenuts A+ gobbler.     

[Cowboy]

Knowing what to say and when to say goes along way in turkey calling..that way in life too. That being said, I would consider a pot call my strongest. Trumpet probably second. Box comes in 3rd..My weak point would probably be a mouth call. I can get it done, but probably wouldn't win any Grand Nationals in Nashville....lol

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[Prospector]

Terrible caller. No good on a mouth call. Wish I was- but I'm not. Can call by voice. Slate, box, trumpet pretty much my repertoire.....
Lotta hunters I hear "think" they are good callers

[Sungrazer]

The way my season is going apparently I need to practice more...
As an example I worked a bird for 3 hours first Illinois season, he would not come out of a ravine, just go from one end to other or come up to the edge near me and go back down, I hit a $11 pushpin call and he broke into the field behind me where I first called early morning.
Was just thinking this morning I need to listen to my live Turkey sounds CD and practice more often.
D+

[Dougas]

I have called in the most birds with my box call and then a wingbone call I made.

[Dtrkyman]

Beginning of season, Trash!  Middle of season ok, end of season decent!

I do not practice prior to season for whatever reason, got my mouth calls out in drive to first hunt!

Not much practice needed on a pot, rarely carry a box but can call well with it when I get it out!


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[squidd]

I stink and glad there are 2-yr old birds that like to play!!

[RutnNStrutn]

I admittedly don't practice enough. Every year I say I'm going to, but never do.
Wingbones and trumpets I can't play to save my life.
Diaphragms I'm okay with, but I'm not winning any contests, that's for sure!!
Pot and box calls I'm fairly decent at.
Thanks for the reminder that I need to practice more!!

[Old Timer]

I think a lot of calling a bird in is reading his mood and knowing when to put up or shut up. I would say I'm an average caller but woodsmanship has tagged many of my birds. Use to be big on the mouth and box calls but the last few years I've  enjoyed  pot calls more but use all three. Stay safe,good luck and good day.

[Beardedbird]

Not good but I fill tags

[g8rvet]

The turkeys say I am better with a slate (more answers, more birds killed) and while I have my mouth call in, I am probably at best redirecting them from where I called them to me with the slate.

I rarely strike and finish with a mouth call, although it has happened.

Still stink with a trumpet, but just not enough confidence yet.  I can sound decent and then I sound like doodoo. Frank Cox found my youtube video asking the members how I sounded and said "You don't sound like a turkey, but you can kill a gobbler like that"  LOL  I think I have improved since then.  More rasp for sure.

Was told by a couple of duck call makers that I am a "meat caller" and they would let me call anytime for them hunting (I grunt which they said is old school).  My high ball is just so so but finish and feed chuckle is excellent.

I think a lot of playing any of these calls is about 3 things:
1) Knowing what and when you are saying (B- for turkey A for ducks)
2) Seeing how birds react and adapting (much harder to do with turkeys - you get hundreds of reactions per year with ducks, but in a good year maybe 20-30 with turkeys) (C for turkey A+ for ducks)
3) Cadence and volume is probably more important than sounding just like the hen you just heard. (B for turkeys A for ducks) Hens have a lot of different voices.  I think the best exception to this is sounding like the boss hen to a fall flock. 

[Dhamilton1]

Mediocre at best. I try to practice as much as I can before the season and it sounds pretty decent. Then I get to the woods and it's like I've never called at times. Must be the nerves or pressure I put on myself.

I admittingly struggle with calling too much or too little. Still haven't learned that aspect of the game.


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[Treerooster]

I've always thought reproducing the sounds of a wild turkey is a small part of calling turkeys, Like maybe 15% to 20%. Don't get me wrong I do strive to sound realistic and strive to be able to make wide range of calls. Just think there is WAY more to calling than making realistic turkey sounds.

Like;
-Putting emotion in your calling (you hear a lot about cadence, but turkeys vary their cadence with excitement)
-Knowing the breeding phase the turkeys are in
-Flock dynamics (or flock structure)...not sure what to call it
-Knowing the recent history of the gobbler or turkeys you are calling to
-Hunting/calling pressure
-Timing or when to answer a turkey that has called to you
-Knowing where to call from (a good place to set up)
-Empathy...the ability to see another's perspective. In this case, the turkey's perspective

Those things help me know what to say, how to say it, when to say it, and where to say it from. Also who to say it to...hen or gobbler. And when to just shut up. I never know all those things all the time. I may know some and just guess at some others. But that to me is a lot of what calling turkeys is about.

Then there is the woodsmanship versus calling thing. No. For me calling and woodsmanship are so intertwined (like a braided lanyard) I don't separate them. Why would I, they compliment each other and make me a better turkey hunter.

Examples;
Knowing how to hide...ok thats pretty much woodmanship. Be kind of futile to call up a turkey for it just to see you tho.

Knowing where  to call from. Yeah that may be more woodsmanship than calling. Setting up in an area turkeys generally like to be is going to make me a better caller.

But here is one. Know the breeding phase the turkeys are in will probably dictate HOW I call. That isn't calling??? It doesn't matter...I'll use both.