I'm still fairly new to turkey hunting and know I still have a lot to learn about calling. I listen to hens any time I can, and try to pattern my calling after what I really hear out there. What really amazes me is how many turkey hunters I have listened to and thought I would learn from that have actually taught me more about how not to call. I've had them set up close enough to me that I could hear them and listened to them drive birds away that I had coming in on a line.

I had one guest out to the ranch that I was told was a great caller, and he called so constantly and loudly that he never heard the 3 groups of toms he had moving toward him. Wind was blowing my direction so I could hear from a distance. I was set up well north of him and quit calling so he could get a bird. If he had just paused every now and then and let them come in, he would probably have been successful.

My road hunting neighbor across my front fence line calls so blinking fast it doesn't even sound like a hen. Don't have a clue how he thinks he sounds anything like a hen. Then he runs down the road toward where he hears gobbles using his box call as he runs. Birds don't seem to buy his act either.

Had another guy out this year and his calling sounded real good in the cabin. Then he went out to hunt and had absolutely no chance to pull in a tom that was not totally deaf and dumb. I usually hear real hen yelps in short bursts of 5-15 followed by periods of silence. This guy put on a long concert. I quit counting at over 50 yelps and cuts in a string and he was far from done. You could literally hear the birds moving away from his calling.

Naturally you hear the same stories back in camp about how the birds just wouldn't come in that last bit, or must have been henned up, or were totally silent. I wonder how many of those hunts (including my own) could have been successful if we just did a better job of talking them in, or shutting up and waiting them out if necessary.

Scoop you have said a mouthful.... Spot on my friend..
You and I must have the same neighbors!!

Yep. Most people call WAAAAY too much and WAAAAY too loud.

I agree. I learned from my dad who is a very patient man. He is a less is more type of guy. I use the same approach in the duck blind. There are many variables but I think you are always better off by sounding natural and calling in moderation.

I think some feel they are auditioning or American Idol, I prefer to let the Tom do most of the work.

I'm not experienced with turkeys. In fact, I just started hunting them this year.

I have a FoxPro with several turkey calls. The most successful one (two birds down in two hunts), is a gobble that pauses a pretty long time in between and varies the gobbles throughout the loop. I let it run 5 or 10 minutes and pause it for a similar time (unless something answers it).

It sounds more like what I've heard from the real birds and gives them time to talk back to it. Some other calls sound like the caller has ADD and is on Steroids. Too fast & too loud with few pauses. I'm afraid they would scare the birds off.

Had a first time caller out this weekend and IMO he did much better than some of these guys that claim to have all this experience and fall in love with the sound of their calling. Willing to learn, and paid close attention to how the real hens sounded. Did not start the game over calling. We had a fair amount of hen action so he had a good chance to learn from the real McCoy...