Calling when he's on the limb.

[TN-TurkeyTickler]

Alright fellers, i know alot of you have seen many a more springs than i have. Now ive killed'em both ways but have any of you noticed a correlation of success and calling to him while he's still in the tree, or waiting until he hits the ground? Like i said ive had'em at a beard swinging trot at the ass crack of dawn after a fly down cackle and little hat slappin. Other times it was like i hurt his feelings or something. Then I come back kill him the next day by waiting to call until he hit the ground. Anyone noticed a pattern over the years?

[appalachianassassin]

I too have done both with success. now, if I call at all while hes on the limb its 1 soft tree call, only 1. most times I don't make a peep till hes on the ground.

[wvmntnhick]

I'm guilty of over calling a bird on the limb. It seems to keep them up there longer than I'd like and when you're pressed for morning hunt time, that's not a good thing. Usually takes me two weeks to calm down and let them come down before I stop calling to them like a mad man. Honest opinion, I'd limit the tree talk unless you get a fired up hen. After that, all bets are off.

[Uncle Nicky]

I never noticed any pattern with turkeys, other than they never do the same thing twice. From what I've observed a real hen only makes a few clucks and pops on the limb (most days), so I try to follow the same strategy, hens talk a lot more in the fall on the roost, not really sure why. One of the best turkey hunters I know told me, "Never call until you hear the first tweety-bird in the morning".

[guesswho]

I don't and won't. And if somoeine hunting with me does I'll leave them with that bird and come back later.

Once a bird is on the ground it may still be quite a while before I engage him. Once I find what I think is a place he's comfortable coming to, then I'll call. It seems to me that the more things I let him do that he's wanting to do, the more successful I am. Anytime I try to get him to come where he doesn't want to, its to his advantage.

[LeadSlinger]

I don't and won't. And if somoeine hunting with me does I'll leave them with that bird and come back later.

Once a bird is on the ground it may still be quite a while before I engage him. Once I find what I think is a place he's comfortable coming to, then I'll call. It seems to me that the more things I let him do that he's wanting to do, the more successful I am. Anytime I try to get him to come where he doesn't want to, its to his advantage.

I couldn't have said it any better. Once in a great while I'll weaken and give a roosted bird that I'm fairly certain has no hens with him, one single note, but it generally just causes me grief when I do. Very good advice above, in my humble opinion.

[GLS]

The best advice I've ever read was in an old Charlie Elliott book. His two best points were:
1) call once while he's in the tree and shut up and let him sweat and gobble. If he shuts up, even better. A least he won't continue to blabbermouth his location to another hunter if you are on public land.
2) course a bird with a compass. If he shuts up, you know the direction he's in if you get turned around and he shuts up.
I try to adhere to #1 and always to #2.

[hobbes]

When I lived back East, it was very common for me to set up on a bird that was still roosted. However, here in the West it’s almost rare. I hunt big blocks of public land that have relatively low densities and the birds aren’t as likely to roost in the same locations day after day. In most cases, I’ve not had an opportunity to roost a bird. When I hear a tom start gobbling from the roost in the morning, it seems that more often than not I can’t make it to him before he’s on the ground. I call to western birds more than eastern birds. I have to remember to tone it down when I go back home to hunt. I did hunt some riverbottom country last season that allowed me to set up on a couple birds on the roost. I don’t think I made a sound until they touched the ground, but I had slipped in on top of them near a field edge in the dark and they had multiple hens sitting around them. Yelping from my position would have been a bad idea.

I think, in general, planning to not say a word while the tom is in the tree is the best plan, especially for hard hunted Easterns. However, I’m not opposed to calling to a bird in the tree in some circumstances. I typically plan to not say a word and then do a flydown with a wing or a hat once the tom is down (if he can’t see me) along with a short cackle. As has been stated, I want to be set up in a location that the tom is willing to come to (a place that he already wants to be) but that isn’t always possible for me. I’ve hunted Easterns that roost over water that I cannot hunt on the far side of the slew or birds that roost near property lines with fences that I cannot hunt. They are often as likely to fly to one side as the other at least in the specific locations I’m thinking of. In those cases, I will and often do tree yelp to a bird in the tree, in order to coax him my way. I want him to know that there is a hen available in my direction. In the majority of cases it’s a short, quiet, nasally series of tree yelps that just let him know that I’m there. Volume is not the goal. When I think its flydown time, I’ll do the same flydown and short cackle routine to add more enticement to staying on my side of the obstacle. I give no more indication that I may come his way once that is over.

There are other days that I’ll tree yelp to a tom based on how I feel about the conditions, but I think the general plan should be to keep it zipped until he hits the ground.

[Reloader]

I always talk just a little to them on the limb ONLY once I've found a place I feel like he's going to go and I'm set up and ready. More often than not, toms will have hens in the general area when roosted in the areas I hunt. I've found that if I get set up, let things settle, wait til it's about fly down time, give him just some soft tree yelps with a little purring and clucking, and shut up that they flat eat it up. Many times they'll pitch out and at least come investigate a bit before they head over to the hens. If the hens are close and vocal, I fall right in with them and have killed many by having hens come to me.

I don't really understand Ronnie's view on not calling at all to a tom on the limb. The best turkey hunters I've known have at least hit them a little on the limb.

Calling continuously to a roosted tom is ill advised and most times he'll roost longer waiting for them to come to him(nature's way). Yes, he will gobble his head off many times, but you'll find he'll pitch out and head the other way more times than not. A little soft talk to let him know you're there is a different game and the silence after you let him know you're there will flat eat him alive at times.

The above is my experience with pressured Easterns. When hunting Rios in areas of little pressure, I've found you have to call aggressively in many cases as they'll often leave. I know a good outfitter that hunts in Rio country and he said the most common mistake he sees from guys that hunt Easterns is lack of calling. He said he constantly sees guys have birds leave the area because guys don't call much to roosted toms and don't call much when they hit the ground. I'm not sure if it's because those birds in many area will go miles to roost/feed or due to population density. We call like heck when we hunt Rios and kill the snot out of them.

[howl]

Gobblers strut on the limb. If he hears you call from one end of the limb and then later from the other end, he has your position almost down to the tree you are sitting against. If he figures out where you are, he is more likely to walk to a spot from where he can view your position than he is to come in looking for your position.

[swampchicken]

95% never call while he is in a tree. I don't want him to know my position till he is on the ground. Very seldom do I find the right location to tree yelp on the properties I hunt, but when the right location presents itself I do tree yelp but it is very little. Guesswho said it almost to a tee how I like them to do. You put yourself in the right position in the dark and you wont have to give much calling after he hits the ground.

[pedro]

I will if I think he is alone. If I hear hens I wait till they hit the ground.

[turkeywizard]

Just depends how close I am. If I think there's any chance he can see me or where I would hit the ground hell no. But if I'm in the big hills and feeling sneaky and there is dirt between us I may jack him a little or even gobble at him. But I'm weird and like fooling with them more than killing them. But I'd say 8 out of 10 I just hide and let him do his thing

[OLE RASPY]

Just depends how close I am. If I think there's any chance he can see me or where I would hit the ground hell no. But if I'm in the big hills and feeling sneaky and there is dirt between us I may jack him a little or even gobble at him. But I'm weird and like fooling with them more than killing them. But I'd say 8 out of 10 I just hide and let him do his thing

I may jack him a little That's why they call you the wizard.

[OLE RASPY]

Ive called to them on the limb before but not loud. Few tree yelps and maybe a fly down cackle. And I've not called at all to them. Sometimes work sometimes don't work.

[KPcalls]

If he has company, I'll be the first hen on the ground even if he's still on the limb.

[MKW]

If he has company, I'll be the first hen on the ground even if he's still on the limb.

I'm about the same. But, if no hens are talking to him, he gets nothing from me. There are a lot of factors that determine my choice. If he is between me and a hen/s, you can bet he will hear me.

[Roy]

If hes below me, yes. If hes above me or on same level, no.

[GLS]

One exception to sparse calling when he's on the limb: If hens are vocal on the other side of the tree, all bets are off and my only hope is to out call the hens. That tactic fails more often than not, however. Gil

[GobbleNut]

I get to hunt quite a bit nowadays, so I am never in a big rush to kill gobblers on my home turf. Because of that, I often experiment with different calling tactics and approaches to the hunt. I also often hunt with people that I am "mentoring".

Generally speaking, my observation is that calling much to a bird while he is in the tree is usually a mistake. As others here have noted, however, there are those exceptions to that rule. From my experience, those exceptions are generally going to occur early in the season (before the birds have gotten "wised up") and in instances where you are dealing with younger gobblers, and especially multiple gobblers together.

When I am acting as a mentor, I will on occasion let the "student" make calling and strategy decisions on a hunt. That can be a real eye-opening experience. I have hunted with someone and let them call to birds, all the while sitting there thinking "there is not a snowball's chance that this turkey is going to come to us",...only to have the gobbler come running in like he was competing with Usain Bolt. On the other hand, I have also had folks that I took the reigns and did all the calling, using all of my so-called "expertise" to show them "how it is done" only to have a gobbler that I thought was already "roasted" behave like the proverbial scalded cat.

Again, I agree with most here that calling a lot,...or much at all,...or maybe even any,...to a gobbler on the roost is not the best decision to make. From what I have seen, though, I think many of us would be surprised by how often "off-beat" tactics will work on a gobbler that is just in the mood to "go kamikaze".

From our experiences, we all have a tendency to get "pigeon-holed" into a set routine in our hunting and calling tactics. I think sometimes we would be wise just to "let 'er rip" and see what happens.

[Andy S.]

I don't and won't. And if somoeine hunting with me does I'll leave them with that bird and come back later.

Once a bird is on the ground it may still be quite a while before I engage him. Once I find what I think is a place he's comfortable coming to, then I'll call. It seems to me that the more things I let him do that he's wanting to do, the more successful I am. Anytime I try to get him to come where he doesn't want to, its to his advantage.

Ditto, this is as good as advice as you will get if you want to KILL him. I take this approach EVERY time I get on a bird. Furthermore, there are many mornings I don't make a call until an hour after he has been on the ground. I am always taking his temperature, gathering intel and strategizing on how to best approach him and setup where he has to come the shortest distance to my gun barrel. I rarely have an overly exciting hunt (tons of calling and gobbling), but I typically have successful hunts. YMMV

[TN-TurkeyTickler]

Thanks guys, appreciate the feedback. Seems like the consensus is less is more. Seems to be a pretty solid rule of thumb so far.

[quavers16]

I hunt just public lands-so I try not to call to a gobbler on his roost. I don't want him to increase his gobbling and bring in more hunters to my area. Harold Knight wrote that he does not like to call to a gobbler on his roost and I always remembered that. He wrote that in ULTIMATE TURKEY HUNTING. He waits for the gobbler to hit the ground. I used to cluck and tree yelp and they always flew out the other way! If, I do anything-- I will take out my hen turkey wing and rub in a few times softly on the tree above me as high as I can- but that is it.

[poorcountrypreacher]

One exception to sparse calling when he's on the limb: If hens are vocal on the other side of the tree, all bets are off and my only hope is to out call the hens. That tactic fails more often than not, however. Gil

I'm about the same; the only time I call a lot to one on the limb is when there is a lot of competition. Otherwise, I call to him one time with a soft 3 note yelp. I get the call in my mouth and get ready for the next gobble, then immediately answer him with the soft call. I've had a good many to fly down in gun range after doing this. Now it may have been that they were gonna fly down there anyway, but at least I can claim that I called him up.

In the past 2 seasons, I've had 3 different turkeys to fly down in gun range before I could make that call. I shot them all anyway, but I don't like it when I can't even claim to have called him.

The only time I can ever get away with aggressive calling where I hunt in AL is the first few days of the season. After that, it better be soft and sweet or you will send him the other way. I love to go to the midwest where you can call up turkeys with a lot of aggressive calling.

[savduck]

Early season I'm giving him some calls on the limb. Late season not so much.