Can you say "Call Shy"?

[THattaway]

So you fellas don't think there is any possibility that a turkey can connect hen calls with a hunter? I see plenty of hunters walking along in early season, before green up and in wide open bottoms, calling and bumping turkeys they never knew where there. Me, well I think they can be conditioned. Sure, every turkey is 100% killable, but that has nothing to do with some being call shy. I've killed plenty of those too.

[turkey_slayer]

So you fellas don't think there is any possibility that a turkey can connect hen calls with a hunter? I see plenty of hunters walking along in early season, before green up and in wide open bottoms, calling and bumping turkeys they never knew where there. Me, well I think they can be conditioned. Sure, every turkey is 100% killable, but that has nothing to do with some being call shy. I've killed plenty of those too.

I'm not saying they want get more wary I just don't believe they get unkillable. I hunt all public and most of it sees a lot of pressure. Turkeys are stupid. Ever walked up on turkeys that are between you and a fence? They will run up and down it instead of going under it or flying over it like they normally do. Most piles of Turkey feathers I see are near a fence and I figure the predator had a easy meal there.  Turkeys are naturally paranoid cause something is always trying to kill them and I think people confuse them being paranoid with being smart

[jwhunter]

Hard question to answer. A bird is not call shy opening day the 1st morning of season. A turkey is not smart enough to remember that last year about this time behind every yelp is a boom or a bugger moving around in the woods. But I believe as the season goes on turkeys are shy of areas where they have been spooked the past few days. Everytime I have been set up on a gobbler and he pitches off the roost and runs the other way ... He was spooked. Usually by me. It was not my calling that scarred him

[Fullfan]

Sounds like a PA gobbler, he gobbles and 9 guys call to him. Good luck and stay after em...

[BowBendr]

So you fellas don't think there is any possibility that a turkey can connect hen calls with a hunter?

No. I do not give animals human characteristics. There is no way they can put the 2 together. They do not possess the ability to reason, that's what separates us from the animals. Just think about it. The vocalizations of wild turkeys are far too essential to their survival that there is no way they could adapt to fear their own voices.

[GobbleNut]

Being able to "reason" and being conditioned to negative reinforcement are two entirely different concepts.  Why is it that some turkey hunters accept the fact that a rat can be conditioned to run a maze to get to a piece of cheese but cannot accept the fact that a turkey can learn to stay away...or even run away,... from turkey calls if they have been shot at a few times when they approach one?  The concept is exactly the same.

[jakesdad]

So do "call shy" turkeys run away from turkey calls year round,or only in April and May(march for you southern boys)?

If they are scared or conditioned to run from calls,how or when do they decide its ok to mingle with other turkeys,who are calling lots every day?

[BowBendr]

Being able to "reason" and being conditioned to negative reinforcement are two entirely different concepts. 

I understand what you're saying   
I just view it as the "negative reinforcement" the turkeys are receiving comes straight from people pressure, not turkey calls. The woods were dormant for months after deer season and all of a sudden there are outside influences everywhere. Trucks, 4-wheel atv's, hikers, campers, scouters spooking turkeys, newbies spooking turkeys, tresspassers spooking turkeys, fishermen, mushroom hunters.....and....it all coincides with the opening day of turkey season. People go in to hunt, drive right up in there, slam doors, talking loud, stumbling thru the woods to set up the blind 45 yds from the bird....make 12 yelps....birds hit the road....it must be them "call shy" birds again.....

But I don't see turkeys as being able to say, "better not go over there, that's a dude calling with a custom long box with brown chalk.......but I try to see every side of a turkeys behavior, try to pass on birds like that, and go find one that wants to play nicely.

[THattaway]

My comments seem to have been misconstrued. Turkeys cannot reason but are conditioned to responses. If you don't think they can recognize calls then consider they are conditioned to their mother's calls while still in the egg. That would be over the course of no more than 21 days being exposed to it. Threads like this crack me up. I raised turkeys as a kid. If the barnyard tom saw me with a 1"X2" in my hand you can be sure he gave me wide berth even if I was calling. LOL!

I've always considered that public land turkeys are usually exposed to camo clad hunters during deer season, bumped etc. That means at least 3 months here in SC.

I don't mind a call shy tom at all. I actually enjoy killing some of them more than easy kamakazi birds.

[turkey_slayer]

Let me ask you this. I know I've done it as well as others on here. Call a bird up, shoot and miss then call him up an hour or so later and kill him. You would think a stick of dynamite going off where the "hen" was would teach him something. Or, how many birds have you killed that had been shot previously? If getting injured after coming to a "hen" doesn't make you think twice then what would?

[GobbleNut]

 There are exceptions to every rule.  We have all seen turkey behavior that contradicts what we would have expected.  Still, the fact is that anyone that states that turkeys cannot become call shy is denying decades of scientific research that clearly shows that they will,...if they experience enough "negative reinforcement" in approaching turkey sounds during their lives.  That is not opinion or speculation, it is simply the fact of the matter. 

I am of the opinion that the guy that does not accept that reality when hunting certain gobblers has less chance of killing one of those birds than the guy that does.  You can kill call-shy gobblers by using "non-conventional" tactics,...they are not impossible to kill.  But the sooner you realize that you are not going to do it by using conventional calling tactics, the better your chances of getting it done.

[turkey_slayer]

But if there are exceptions how can it be fact? We are just gonna have to agree to disagree

[TRKYHTR]

I am a firm believer that a turkey can't stop being a turkey. Especially in the spring. I have seen turkeys not gobble until almost sun up because of hunting pressure. But just because he didn't gobble doesn't mean he stopped being a turkey. There are going to be gobblers that are not going to breed. Those that have been whooped so bad that they don't want to attempt to get whooped again. Does that mean they are call shy. I don't think so. JMO If you are sounding like a real hen, I sat keep calling until you get a response. Use different tactics but still be a hen.

Joe

[alloutdoors]

Still, the fact is that anyone that states that turkeys cannot become call shy is denying decades of scientific research that clearly shows that they will,

Really? Decades of scientific research you say? Surely then you won't have any trouble pointing us towards at least one or two of these studies that demonstrated this behavior in wild turkeys... right?

[Beard Collecter]

Sorry!! Nope!! I don't buy it!! I do not believe a turkey will ever run from the sound of another turkey because he associates that with danger. They would become extinct if that were the case. I believe your turkey had other plans that day or saw/seen something that you did not. I do not believe he ran or left because he heard hen talk.