What Sounds do Turkeys Make?

When I got to the roost, the late-season boss gobbler was on the ground.  It was on a small flat just over a rise, and I dared not crest the hill for worry of being seen.  Gripping my crossbow in my left hand, I settled against a small oak trunk and began scratching in the leaves with my right hand, hoping to catch the tom as it crested the horizon at point-blank range.  I scratched again, and the tom gobbled, seemingly a little closer.  A minute or more of silence prompted me to glance down and scratch the leaves, but as I looked up, the tom was clearly in view.  Busted!!!

Wait Them Out

That gobbler that out-foxed me had been hunted many times and was very call-shy.  The spring was arid, and I knew rustling leaves could be heard a long way.  The gobbler above was equally elusive, but I knew where it strutted each morning.  Instead of trying to call it as in the previous day, I sneaked to that spot well before dawn and waited.  Sitting and waiting as the tom gobbled on the roost was difficult, but an ambush seemed the only way to succeed.  Peeking over a rise, I saw the gobbler approaching with its hens and bided my time.  When the bird closed to 25 yards and went to full strut, my arrow pierced its vitals.

When turkeys won’t respond to turkey calls, anticipate their travel and set up an ambush.

Quality Calling Works

The more realistically you can produce turkey sounds, the more successful you will be, especially with a bow and arrow, which requires getting turkey gobblers into very close range.  Box and slate-and-peg callers are easy to operate and may cause a gobbler to come looking for you.  Becoming proficient with a diaphragm caller is a huge benefit because you can make an alluring sound without using your hands.  The two previous paragraphs were created to show that sometimes you can call or ambush a gobbler by making no call.

Identifying turkey sounds and what they mean is critical to turkey-hunting success. The following video explains this well, and I urge you to take a few minutes to brush up on gobbler vocabulary.

Can You Duplicate These Sounds?