Why you shouldn't call when scouting

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Uncle Lou
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Why you shouldn't call when scouting

Unread postby Uncle Lou » Sat Apr 14, 2018 12:09 pm

I tried to keep the title short, but I hope that some new turkey hunters hit this thread based on the topic.

So I haven't seen my good buddy Tony in a few weeks, and called him yesterday and asked if he was around we could grab lunch. I was in Fenton heading into the hardware to get a new mail box and he was scouting turkeys with his friend. As I was talking to him I could hear him or Mike calling. I said " hey your not supposed to call when your scouting"

He blows me off and says, yeh, yeh, and call me when your out of the hardware. I hear some more yelps and say " hey your not supposed to call when your scouting". Yeh, he says, kinda like we got this. I hear some yelps again and say " hey your not supposed to call when your scouting". He blows me off again.

I go in buy my mailbox and come out and call him. He is whispering now, and says they are covered up in birds. I bust out laughing, and tell him that is one of the reasons not to call while scouting turkeys. I said " hey put me on speaker phone and I will whisper this", so he does. I said " hey did you too genius' learn anything, your not supposed to call turkeys when your scouting". "Do you know why," I continued, "because they come right to the exact location from where you called them".

So besides me having a great laugh at their expense, I share this so it does not happen to anyone here. I hope they learned their lesson, I hope some others new to turkey hunting learn without going through this.

All comments are welcome, but I had a good laugh.


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Re: Why you shouldn't call when scouting

Unread postby thwack16 » Sat Apr 14, 2018 12:21 pm

Anytime a bird hears a call and comes in to find a rat, he’s educated. Same game as a buck scenting you.

I only call if I’m hunting and willing to sit a good twenty minutes and give a bird a chance to come in silent.

Thanks for the reminder Lou.
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Re: Why you shouldn't call when scouting

Unread postby brancher147 » Sat Apr 14, 2018 12:29 pm

The only calling I do while scouting is crow call or owl call to try and get a shock gobble. The neighbors peacocks work pretty good too. I never use a turkey call.
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Re: Why you shouldn't call when scouting

Unread postby Uncle Lou » Sat Apr 14, 2018 12:31 pm

I appreciate the feedback and confirmation.
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Re: Why you shouldn't call when scouting

Unread postby Ack » Sat Apr 14, 2018 5:12 pm

So let me ask you guys this.....what about the lone tom walking through the woods, that happens to hear an actual hen yelping. He goes looking for her, but by the time he gets to where she was, she's long gone or silent. Is he now considered to be "educated" ??? :think:
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Re: Why you shouldn't call when scouting

Unread postby Uncle Lou » Sun Apr 15, 2018 4:02 am

Ack wrote:So let me ask you guys this.....what about the lone tom walking through the woods, that happens to hear an actual hen yelping. He goes looking for her, but by the time he gets to where she was, she's long gone or silent. Is he now considered to be "educated" ??? :think:
.

I don't believe he is educated, but he is certainly on the lookout. Your not suggesting we go out and try to get away with it are you?

I suppose we could call to a tom, and then split, but what are we gaining?
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Re: Why you shouldn't call when scouting

Unread postby mipubbucks24 » Sun Apr 15, 2018 4:21 am

I gobbled the other day and had a tom answer right back, it was more of a shock gobble but anyways I took off after that cause I did not want him to find me. Kicked some hens out of the middle of the woods when we walked back out.
I would say over all it’s not the best idea, but my dad shoots birds late season every year that have been called to for a month, they still come in.
It depends a lot on what kind of land you are hunting, some of the private that we hunt have so many birds there is so much compition that there always seems to be receptive birds. But on public like a lot of you guys hunt I am sure it’s much much harder, and the birds are way more educated.
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Re: Why you shouldn't call when scouting

Unread postby thwack16 » Sun Apr 15, 2018 5:02 am

Ack wrote:So let me ask you guys this.....what about the lone tom walking through the woods, that happens to hear an actual hen yelping. He goes looking for her, but by the time he gets to where she was, she's long gone or silent. Is he now considered to be "educated" ??? :think:


Not exactly what I said. I was talking about a bird coming in to find a person walking around or doing something to bump them.

One that comes in to never find a hen nor does he get bumped? I assume he bores of looking/waiting for her and goes on about his business.

However, what I’d warn about is how many times he’s actually coming to look. We’re already trying to reverse the course of nature when we try to get him to come to the hen/us. He’s only going to do that so many times before he becomes wary of doing so.
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Re: Why you shouldn't call when scouting

Unread postby stash59 » Sun Apr 15, 2018 5:24 am

Couple of years ago I came across quite a few guys calling from their vehicles while slowly driving down the roads. Surrounding a piece of public.:doh:

Saw alot of the same thing with elk hunters out in Montana. When the elk were near roads they stayed pretty quiet. I've had elk bugling then go quiet. Wondered why then barely heard the vehicle driving through myself.

As good as animals are at pinpointing where sounds/calls come from. I doubt if too many hens that go silent. Don't get found. Even if they're not calling they're rustling leaves, etc. So a seeking tom will still probably find them. So the scenario of a hen getting away may not be normal. At least not before or during early season before hens are nesting.

Years ago I was sitting in an elevated deer blind. It was spring and I saw a tom over 1/2 a mile away. I had my good quality binoculars, so got a pretty good look at him. He was across a drier marsh area on a hillside. I did a couple of series of yelps, just for the heck of it. He sidehilled out of sight. To my surprise about 20 minutes later a tom walked out of the marsh brush only 100 yards away. The length and look of his beard looked very similar to the tom's from on the hillside. Couple of more yelps and he was soon right under the stand.
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Re: Why you shouldn't call when scouting

Unread postby Ack » Sun Apr 15, 2018 4:26 pm

I'm not advocating pre season calling at all, as there is really no reason for anyone to do it if they know how to hunt.

Just saying that I do not believe, in most cases, that a bird can distinguish the difference between a human calling and an actual hen. This also kind of ties in with the so-called "call shy" birds, but that's a whole new topic....don't need to go there.

I agree Thwack....it's the negative experience at the location of the call that will make him more wary.


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