Can you call a Tom down the hill?

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Buck snort
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Can you call a Tom down the hill?

Unread postby Buck snort » Sat May 14, 2016 12:05 am

Hill country....

I don't turkey hunt, but I overheard someone say it's very hard to call a Tom downhill. Meaning, if he's on the ridge, and you are down in a valley, it's tough to get him to come down the hill to you by calling..... Is this true, and if so, why?


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Re: Can you call a Tom down the hill?

Unread postby muddy » Sat May 14, 2016 12:17 am

The way their legs bend make it easier to walk uphill than down.

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Re: Can you call a Tom down the hill?

Unread postby csoult » Sat May 14, 2016 12:19 am

First one I ever killed I called down hill.
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Re: Can you call a Tom down the hill?

Unread postby backstraps » Sat May 14, 2016 12:35 am

Yes you can. Called two down this year from two high knobs, killed them in the very bottom. Weather had been hot and dry, the bottoms were cooler and lush green new growth, shaded bottoms made it work out.

They're easier to work uphill though.

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Re: Can you call a Tom down the hill?

Unread postby whitetail_addict » Sat May 14, 2016 1:43 am

Yes you can but anyone that has hunted turkeys long enough knows it's not the norm... More often than not they won't come down the hill unless you catch him at the right time. It's natural that the hens go to the toms especially when they are displaying in an open area or up high like that so he's expecting hens to come to him in that situation. When they don't show up he might figure somethings up and move off in the other direction.

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Re: Can you call a Tom down the hill?

Unread postby whitetail_addict » Sat May 14, 2016 1:48 am

muddy wrote:The way their legs bend make it easier to walk uphill than down.

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I don't think there's much to this though I've heard it before. Turkeys go up and down hills all day... Any time they roost up on a ridge for example they come down at some point.

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Re: Can you call a Tom down the hill?

Unread postby dan » Sat May 14, 2016 4:09 am

I have called a number of birds down hill...

The big thing to me seems to be that you call him in a direction he wants to go. Being that my favorite method is to spot turkeys and then call them in it has become obvious to me that calling him the direction he is already traveling works best... regardless of whether its up, down or level.
Turkeys, much like deer, like to travel ridges, and often run the tops. So I think trying to call them down when they want to go level is tough.
The hot ones come in regardless, But an interested one may give up if he has to go out of his way...
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Re: Can you call a Tom down the hill?

Unread postby Hawthorne » Sat May 14, 2016 2:12 pm

Very true. Its hard to get a gobbler to turn around from the direction he wants to go. If you know how turkeys move thru a property is big.

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Re: Can you call a Tom down the hill?

Unread postby JoeRE » Sun May 15, 2016 11:31 pm

Yes you can call a tom downhill but not very often. Play the odds and get above him whenever possible, obviously trying to set up in direction of travel trumps all.

The reason is turkeys are perpetually nervous, worried about something catching and eating them, and they can't fly away from danger, or run as fast back up hill, when coming downhill. When they do work their way downhill its almost always with good visibility along their path so they can't be surprised by a predator.

Even when calling in a bird at the same elevation of me, I have noticed when they make their final approach most of the time they will circle a bit so that they are downhill of my position - they can escape easier either by running downhill or flying. If I am below the ridgeline, and a bird sticks to the ridge, all he is probably going to do is barely stick his head over the crest of the hill - may or may not be in range if he does that.

The no-downhill rule is mostly about the final approach, if you are set up actually in a flat bottom birds are much more likely to work their way down to you then out into the bottom. If you are on a slope trying to call them down to your position - I wouldn't bother unless that is the only bird you can find, and your only possible setup. You are probably going to fail.

I have turned a lot more birds around with calls, and called more birds across obstructions like ditches and fence lines, than the few that I have gotten to come down hill to me on a slope.

Its funny, this spring I had a coyote come in stalking my turkey calls. He approached from below me - why? Cuz he knew that is their disadvantage, cut off their easy escape route. Unfortunately for the coyote 12 gauges shoot downhill pretty well.
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Re: Can you call a Tom down the hill?

Unread postby crappieangler » Sat Jun 18, 2016 3:53 pm

dan wrote:I have called a number of birds down hill...

The big thing to me seems to be that you call him in a direction he wants to go. Being that my favorite method is to spot turkeys and then call them in it has become obvious to me that calling him the direction he is already traveling works best... regardless of whether its up, down or level.
Turkeys, much like deer, like to travel ridges, and often run the tops. So I think trying to call them down when they want to go level is tough.
The hot ones come in regardless, But an interested one may give up if he has to go out of his way...


^this.


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