Use locator calls and they actually work?

[Timmer]

Hi all,

Due to the Covid situation my kid's sports were canceled so I got to take my two oldest hunting.  As we were preparing for the hunt we had a great time going through all my stuff and "gearing up."  One thing the kids found and enjoyed were my various locator calls.  For daytime calls I have crow (two), a pileated woodpecker, and a peacock.  For night time/roosting I have an owl (two) and a coyote.  I hadn't used any of them for many years, probably 18+.  I tried them frequently in my early hunting days, and over several years of effort had a bird shock gobble back exactly once.  It was right at sundown and a gobbler was roosting on a limb right over my head.  The reason I have two crow and owl is because I knew they were popular so when I wasn't having success, I bought a second far more expensive one, but the result were the same.  Also, at the time I downloaded numerous sound files and practiced my calling, so I don't think my lack of success was user error.  It just seemed like the birds were used to all the other animal noises in the woods and it didn't phase them.  I have always been a sneak hunter and love the idea of a locator call but I have no faith.   I'm very curious about how many of you have success using them? 

[guesswho]

I rarely use a locator. Not much need.  But when I do it's a voice owl call.   Have really good luck with that.  But about the only time I do that is if I hear one a good ways off and move his way.  Once I'm close if he doesn't gobble on his own I'll owl hoot one time just to pin point where he's at. 

[bornagain64]

They do work. You are trying to get a " shock gobble" from the Tom. Sometimes your locator call surprises/ shocks the bird into gobbling: sometimes it has to be louder and/or faster, but still
Sound realistic.
I have had them gobble at different types of calls: if the regular " who cooks for you", I try the  owl laugh and they gobble.
I have had success with an owl hooter in the middle of the day, so try everything. I usually rotate the type of locator and blow 1 every 100 yds are so when walking, to try and strike a bird.

I have seen where a crow and a hawk are sitting over a Tom and making them gobble. ( almost like they are antagonizing them. So anytime you are turkey hunting and you hear a crow, owl, hawk, woodpecker or other like sounds, stop walking and listen for a gobble.

Another easy call for them to learn and play fairly easy is a push pin and a box call. Just watch some you tube videos and give them a little practice.

Good luck and keep at it.

    John

[tlh2865]

I think its a multi-faceted issue. I have hunted birds that won't respond to them very well, and others that hit them hard, and those two groups can change on any given day. I generally find they will work when a bird is already in a gobbling mood to start with. Because of that I do not use them too much either, let him gobble on his own. But I usually have success using a crow call whenever I do reach for a locator.

[RutnNStrutn]

They definitely work. I use crow and owl calls. Owling works well until about 0800 or 0900. After that I strictly use the crow.
As a matter of fact, the bird I killed a week ago let me follow him by shock gobbling to the crow call. After he skirted me off the roost, I followed his gobbles and killed him an hour later about 600 yards away.
I've never had any luck with peacock or woodpecker calls, nor the MAD Dead Silence call. LOL!! I also used to have a hawk call that worked well, but I lost it in the woods.

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk

[Greg Massey]

I don't use them, but a lot of people have success in using them.  I do carry old Knight Hale crow call with me , but I've not used it 3 years i bet...

[silvestris]

Used properly and timely, they are quite useful, that is if you have turkeys to shock.

[mtns2hunt]

I think presure, how close you are to the bird, how loud your call is and your ability to use the call all play a roll. I find that being very close to a bird increases the odds. I also found that different subspieces respond differently. Merriums and Rios respond alot better than the Eastens I hunt and public land Easterns respond better than private land birds in my experience.

[fallhnt]

Turkey calls are my locator

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[tracker#1]

I use a crow call when I'm moving on a bird to get in front of him. They have zones. When you hen talk they stay comfortable in that area and will strut and gobble from the zone. I let them do their thing and let them move away. I shock gobble them with a high pitched crow call to get the location then circle around in front and set up with soft calling, clucks, and purrs...

[GunRunner]

Just last week, I delivered one suttle barred owl hoot before daybreak.....nothing. A few minutes later, I cranked down on it and he gobbled.  That shock gobble located him at 80 yards from me. I sat down by the nearest tree right away. I had a great hunt that morning, even though I did not get a clear shot at the gobbler. He gobbled only once after he flew down.
That second locator call gave me a great advantage, and without that information I could have flushed him off the roost or walked away and setup out of range before hearing his unsolicited gobble.
As tlh2865 stated....they don't always respond to a locator call. But you have everything to gain and nothing to loose when they do.

GunRunner

[dzsmith]

ive used all my locator calls successfully. crow is my favorite . Darrel Gibson. its a fantastic locator and a fantastic crow killer if you like killing crows. sometimes you have to make more than one attempt to locate. I generally start with softer basic calls and ramp up the intensity from call to call to try and get either a gobbler to sound off or just to stir up crows. Ive stirred up other crows before and the gobbler sound off to them but not me. One of my proudest moments with a locator was with a haydel hawk call. I had been hearing hawks cut up all morning long, and had hear zero gobbles. I decided to call to the hawks with the hawk call, and got them really upset....he answered them, and I killed him 10 minutes later. I do owl hoot with my voice but mostly in the late evening. occasionally ill do it in the morning if I haven't heard a gobble by daylight....but I prefer to let the woods wake up naturually. I carry a haydel woodpecker call as well...it works on occasion but to be honest I hear woodpeckers all morning generally and usually have no need to use one.

[Spitten and drummen]

Only locator I use is owling with my voice. I will cut aggressive up in the morning sometimes. I have better luck with birds that are gobbling on their own even if they only gobble once or twice. Normally Im just slipping quietly around until I find one. Most times crows and other varmits that tend to make them shock gobble are plentiful and I let them do that for me.

[RutnNStrutn]

Turkey calls are my locator

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

Great comment. I'm reluctant to do that because I'm concerned that the gobbler will start moving my way, and I'll bump him. That's why I use owl and crow calls.

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk

[Will]

Great post. I use owl and crow calls. I use an old Lohman wooden crow call because of how loud and ear piercing it is. I will "bump" the third note to a higher pitch that usually will get the gobble.