![]() ![]() It begins as quick clucks and cuts, and as the bird lands the cadence slows and often ends with yelps. Typically, turkeys begin with a tree call indicating their location, then cackle as they leave the roost. The fly down cackle combined with simulated wing flapping is a good strategy when you know the gobbler is on the ground. It’s a fast series of irregularly spaced cuts varying in number from a few to a dozen or more. ![]() The cackle is used year round and generally associated with some type of sudden movement such as birds flying up to, or down from the roost, or when flying a creek, river, fence or from a ridge top. Too much calling and the bird may hang up on the roost, waiting for the hen to come into view, or he may fly down and go the other way. Call softly and just enough to let him know you’re there. Use tree yelps sparingly when calling to a roosted bird, unless you’re in competition with other hens. As fly-down approaches, the yelping gets louder and may be accompanied by soft clucks as the birds position to fly down for the day. These are made by roosted birds, just communicating with their flock members as they awaken. It consists of a series of soft, muffled yelps. In sharp contrast to a thunderous gobble at daybreak that may carry a great distance, the soft tree yelp, or “tree call,” is a short-range sound. Increase the volume and speed of the series, adding clucks then cutting as needed to match the turkey’s mood. All the hen talk may get a gobble response too. Mimic her calls and you may fire her up enough to investigate. In addition to a gobble, listen for a hen responding with yelps and/or clucks. Have a “meltdown” setup chosen before calling in case of a response nearby. Turkey hunting veteran, Ron Jolly, has success in getting a gobble response by putting a bit more emphasis and volume to a single yelp midway through a 7 or 8 note series. ![]() The plain hen yelp is a good call to begin a hunt for a gobbler. This can reveal a non-gobbling turkey’s location to a hunter. Jakes hanging with a strutter will often give a two to four note yelp in response to the gobbler’s spit and drum. A gobbler yelp is a coarser “yawk” and some say sounds something like a dog bark. A series of 2 to 8 notes translates, “I’m here, where are you?” Volume, pitch and cadence may vary depending the bird’s attitude and age.Īccording to famed expert on wild turkey behavior and vocalizations, Lovett Williams, this call is often mistakenly referred to as the “lonesome hen yelp.” The plain yelp, in fact, is made by both sexes. The plain yelp of a hen is the most common turkey sound hunters hear. The yelp is a basic sound that turkeys use year round to communicate their location. Read on for tips on “talking turkey” so they’re convinced you’re one of them. The message being conveyed with each sound and when to use it is as important as mastering the call itself. In the context of modern turkey hunting, to “talk turkey” means communicating directly with wild turkeys as if you’re a turkey. Today, the term “talk turkey” means to get down to business and speak directly. Historical accounts suggest the origin of “turkey talk” derives from colonial times when the first contacts between Native Americans and settlers often centered on the supply of wild turkeys and the day-to-day haggling over them, so much so that the Indians were said to have asked whenever they met a colonist, “You come to talk turkey?” The term actually originated with wild turkeys. If there’s one facet of hunting the grand bird that thrills hunters most, it’s being able to “talk turkey” with wild turkeys. Good communication skills are a big part of success in the human world, and likewise when turkey hunting. ![]()
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