By Brandon Wikman
As you read yesterday in “Turkey Chatter: Part 1,” spring time unleashes some of the most majestic sounds of the forest and field. I broke down the very basic fundamentals of the gobble, fly-down-cackle, and alarm call. Today, I want to take it a step further to express a new buffet of sounds you may hear while under the forest canopy.
TREE CALL
The tree call is a very distinct and strategic call that asks for the hunter’s attentive ear. While on the limb, during the break of day, turkey will chirp a soft muffled yelp or cluck to others birds nearby. The monotone sound of a handful series of yelps or clucks is made ever so quietly.
Birds will both cluck and yelp just at first light before they fly down to calm the flock and ease any nerves. Wily hunters will take advantage of replicating this type of call to spark the response from others hens on the roost. Not all hens will answer the tree call accordingly, but I encourage you to at least try breaking the call out to hopefully confirm other locations of birds. This could be a valuable tool that will provide you a needed edge afield.
PURR
One of the most overrated calls in the vast field of turkey vocalization is the purr. Many people don’t take advantage of using the purr while in the field because they’ve watched too many hunting shows where the hunter sparked chaotic gobbles by orchestrating powerful cackles, cutts, and aggressive yelps.
The purr can be one of the best calls you will ever produce while in the turkey woods if used correctly. The purr is what I call a “finishing call” once you have a respondent gobbler out of range. The soft purr is a rest-assured, calm, and nerve-free type of vocalization that coaxes gobblers in that are on edge.
Hens will purr while at rest or simply feeding. They use it to defray any fear among flock members. Next time you are facing a gobbler that is uneasy and just out of range, be sure to slip a few purrs his away to enlighten him that everything is A-okay.
YELP
The most infamous call of them all… the yelp. Every hunter whether they are a newbie or seasoned professional have heard of the yelp and have most0likely used it in some way, shape, or from. The yelp is a "love connection" call between the hen and the gobbler. Yelps come on all styles and form, but the basic hen yelp of stringing 4-5 calls together will be a killer call to take with you into the woods.
Comments