When do you start calling?

[brimmyfish]

I figure everyone has their own opinion, but just wanted to see when most of you start calling to a bird in the morning. Do you call while he's gobbling on the roost, or wait until you know hes on the ground? Just curious about others thoughts on this matter.

Thanks

[sswv]

I let him know I'm available as soon as I can.  If I'm the first thing on his mind that morning I might have just hedged the bet a little.

jus my 2cents'

[Candyman]

I normally wait until he flies down to begin calling. Every situation is different but I normally wait. Calling usually keeps him in the tree longer. 

[Cutt]

I normally wait until he flies down to begin calling. Every situation is different but I normally wait. Calling usually keeps him in the tree longer.

I agree, caling to a bird on the roost most of the time will make him wait the hen out. And the fact they have an advantage in the tree to see your calling location if the foilage isn't thick enough, as he then will be expecting to see a hen. About the only time I might call to one on the roost, is if I hear hens right with him, and he difinitely can't see my calling postion.

[Yoder409]

The night before.       

[Gooserbat]

I like to tree yelp once or twice but I don't get fired up until he's on the ground.  I usually always do a flydown even if it's only wingbeats with a turkey wing I carry. 

[wvhoyt19]

If anything, just a soft tree yelp. After he flies down, it just depends on how often and at what volume. Every bird is different as well as the situation.


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[Greg Massey]

I agree i wait until fly down. I let nature take care of the rest. I don't do all that crazy owl hooting and stuff. They are enough owls and crows to take care of all that noise making...The song birds of a morning can tell you a lot..

[Happy]

I go by gut feeling. Around here 95% of the time they have hens pretty close by. Now I don't call much when I do but best success for me when I do is a few tree yelps, wait a bit then a flydown cackle, wait a few more minutes and then some purring and leaf scratching. Now if the bird is really close I prefer to keep my mouth shut. Don't always happen but I try.

[NYlogbeards]

I agree wait until he's off the roost and on the ground unless theres other hens calling, do you guys do the fly down cackle when you start out? I've tried but i always screw up the sequence of cuts.

[Happy]

I start with a few light Cutts and then cackle pretty hard and short then trail it off at the end. Try to mimic the burst of air a hen expels when she pushes off the branch to fly down.

[turkey buster]

Seldom call a bird on the roost. I tend to let him fly down and call soft to take his temperature. If he's hot he will let you know, if he's not then we'll......long day

[brimmyfish]

Main reason I asked is because when I blew my owl hooter this morning, I had a hen start yelping about 100 yds up the ridge from where I was at. I decided just to set up and hope that there was a longbeard roosted nearby. After a few minutes he started gobbling on his own, but there were a couple of hens that did short 2-3 note yelps while they were all still in the trees. I went ahead and make some soft yelps trying to mimic the hens. Once they flew down, the gobbler went silent but hens continued yelping on occasion. They worked down off the ridge but kind of diagonal to my location. They ended up passing behind me at around 50-60 yds with some thick vegetation in between us. I figured that he just didnt care about my calling because he already had the real thing in front of him, but it still made me second guess my setup and my choice of calling.

[Happy]

Your right. He didn't care about your calling. So your best bet is to try and bring his hens. Get them in and you win.

[Spitten and drummen]

I let them start on their own. Plenty of owls and crows to get him firing off. Move in quiet and get comfortable.  I don't call to one in the tree. Once he hits the ground , I do a fly down with a wing. If he is hot I throw in a cackle. If not , nothing but a wing. If hens are around , I try to identify the alpha and start working on her. No hens around I try to get him heading my way aggressively in order to get him close enough before the real deal shows up. If he don't like the aggressive stuff , I will back off. Silence on your part with the exception of leaf scratching now and then with barely audible clucks purrs and ever so soft yelp or 2 or no calling at all. Brief summary of how I start out.