Let’s Talk
Turkey
By T.R. Michels, Trinity Mountain Outdoors
My hunter and
I quietly waited as the sky became brighter. After several minutes
I heard a gobble, followed immediately by another gobble, and then
two more. It sounded like the two toms and two jakes I’d seen last
night were still together. I let the bird’s sound off for about
five minutes, then made two fly down cackles on my slate call,
simulating a couple of hens coming off the roost. The toms erupted
in a chorus of gobbles. When they gobbled later the sound of their
calls was more muffled. I knew they had flown down and were on the
ground. I yelped loudly again and the birds answered back, the
sound coming closer. When it sounded like the birds were about two
hundred yards away, they quit calling. I blew a series of soft
clucks and purrs, trying to convince the toms there was a group of
hens feeding nearby, but I got no answer.
I tried
everything I could to get the toms to answer for the next half
hour, but nothing worked. When the drizzle turned to rain I asked
Bob if he’d had enough. When he said yes I picked up the decoys
and we headed back toward the Suburban. I asked if wanted to wait
and see if the rain would let up. He said he had to get back to
the shop but he’d be back tomorrow morning. By the time we got
back to the house the rain was letting up, so I dropped Bob off
and drove back to where we’d hunted. At the edge of the woods, two
hundred yards from where we’d been sitting were two toms, two
jakes and seven hens. Now I knew why they had quit calling. They
weren’t going to answer me with seven hens nearby.
As a guide and
wildlife researcher I have spent several years studying turkey
behavior. As a result of my research I learned a lot about when
and where turkeys move, which I will talk about in the next issue.
I also made several interesting discoveries on turkey calls, and
learned that some generalizations can be made about gobbling
activity.
1. Some males
gobble more than others. Gobbling is an expression of dominance
and willingness to breed. Adult toms, because of their higher
testosterone levels and social status gobble more than jakes. The
dominant tom of a group gobbles more than the subdominants.
2. More
gobbling occurs in the morning than in the evening. Toms try to
attract hens in the morning, shortly after they wake up.
4. More
gobbling occurs when the bird is on the roost than when it is on
the ground. Most gobbling occurs from about 45 minutes before
sunrise to about 45 minutes after sunrise, with peak gobbling
generally occurring before sunrise.
5. More
gobbling occurs when there are no hens present. Toms in the
presence of hens usually stop gobbling and begin to strut.
6. More
gobbling occurs when males hear other males gobbling. The birds
try to outcall each other for the attention of nearby hens.
Turkey Calls
An
understanding of the different calls turkeys use helps when you
are trying to call turkeys. Turkey researchers have described as
many as 20 different turkey calls. They fall into six basic
categories; Agonistic, Alarm, Contact, Flying, Maternal/Neonatal
and Mating.
Agonistic Calls
Turkeys make a
number of soft Putts, Purrs, and Whines while feeding. These calls
help keep the flock in contact, while spacing the birds out when
their heads are down and they can’t see each other. The bird is
saying, “This is my space, don’t get to close.” The Feeding Whine
or Purr sounds like the call made by a feeding chicken; a soft
errr. It may be followed by one or more Feeding Putts; a soft
contented putt, putt. I use these calls shortly after I use a
flydown cackle, to convince a tom that there are hens on the
ground and feeding. I also use it on toms that hang up out of
range, to calm them down.
Fighting Calls
Fighting
turkeys use an Aggressive Purr. This call is louder and more
insistent than the feeding purr. The call is often interrupted by
flapping wings, kicking and neck wrestling. Other turkeys hearing
a fight often come running to see which birds are fighting and
which wins and loses. The loser often drops out of the social
hierarchy leaving room for the birds beneath it to move up. Any
bird that has a chance to move up in the hierarchy will do so. The
sound of birds fighting will often hens, groups of toms and
dominants, so they can see which birds are fighting in their area.
I use this call to bring in dominant toms when everything else
fails.
Alarm Call
When a turkey
becomes aware of danger it makes a loud, sharp Alarm Putt of from
one to five notes; TUT, TUT, TUT, that is used to warn other birds
of danger. The call is a sign that a bird has seen a potential
predator, and is usually followed by the bird running or flying
away. Do not use this call when hunting turkeys.
Contact and
Maternal/Neonatal Calls
Because the
Contact Calls are used most often between the hen and her poults
they are basically the same as the Maternal/Neonatal Calls. When
turkeys use these calls they are saying “Here I am, where are
You?” The contact calls of young turkeys are the Lost Whistle,
Kee-Kee and the Kee-Kee Run. These are all high pitched calls that
change as the turkey grows.
The Lost
Whistle is the sound very young birds make. As summer advances the
voices of the poults change and the Lost Whistle becomes the
Kee-Kee. As fall approaches the young begin to add yelps at the
end of the Kee-Kee to produce the Kee-Kee Run. These calls are
used by the young when they are trying to locate their mother and
the other young birds.
The Lost
Whistle is a high pitched whistle; peep, peep, peep, peep. The Kee
Kee usually has three notes strung together in a kee-kee-kee. Many
callers fail to recreate this call correctly by using only two
notes, or by using up to five notes. Maybe the name of the call
should be changed to the kee-kee-kee. The Kee-Kee Run is the basic
Kee-Kee followed by several yelps; kee-kee-kee, chirp chirp chirp
chirp. I use these calls in the fall, after I have scattered a
flock.
Adult turkeys
use many different Yelps and Clucks to keep in contact in
different situations. The Plain Yelp is the same as the “Here I
am, where are you?” call of geese and other flocking birds, which
is used to keep the birds in contact with each other.
The Tree Yelp
is often the first sound of the day, a soft, nasal, three to five
note call performed while the birds are on the roost before
daylight. It is a soft chirp, chirp, chirp ..... chirp, chirp,
chirp, chirp, or a variation. There are usually three to four
notes per second, with each note being about .08 seconds in
length. This call is one bird telling the others it is awake and
asking if other birds are nearby and awake. This is the first call
I use in the morning, to see if there are toms in the area and
still on the roost.
The Plain Yelp
is performed when the turkeys are within seeing distance of each
other. It often consists of three to nine notes, all on the same
pitch and of the same volume, with three to four notes per second,
and each note lasting .08 to .10 seconds; chirp, chirp, chirp. I
use this call when toms are up close, or within seeing distance of
the decoys.
The Lost Yelp
is much like the Plain Yelp but may contain 20 or more notes, and
becomes louder toward the end. The bird’s voice may “break” during
the call, which causes it to have a raspy sound. There may be from
three to four notes per second, with each note lasting .10 to .15
seconds.
The Assembly
Yelp is used by the hen in the fall to regroup the young. It
usually consists six to ten or more evenly spaced yelps that are
loud and sharp, with two to four notes per second, and each note
lasting from .12 to .20 seconds. I often hear hens make a loud,
long series of Yelps while they are on the strut during the
breeding phase. I am not sure if this is an Assembly Yelp, Lost
Yelp or a Fast Cutt. But, I do know that toms often show up in
areas where hens are making this call. I use Lost Yelps and
Assembly Yelps to get a tom fired up on the roost, and to keep it
coming.
The Plain
Cluck is used by turkeys to get the visual attention of another
bird. It is primarily a close range contact call, again saying
“Here am I, where are you?” A bird making this call wants to hear
another bird make the same call so they can get together. It is a
sharp, short sound similar to the alarm putt but not as loud or as
insistent; tut...tut. The notes of the cluck are often separated
by as much as three seconds, which distinguishes it from the
faster, closely spaced Fast Cutt. I often hear hens use several
soft Clucks and Purrs while they are feeding. It sounds like putt,
putt, putt, errr, putt, putt, putt. putt, errr. I use this call
when a tom hangs up nearby, or to stop it for a shot.
The Fast Cutt,
or Cutting, is one turkey using the “Here I am, where are you?”
but telling the other bird “If we are going to get together you
have to come to me.” It is a loud, insistent call, and the notes
are strung together in bursts of two’s and three’s, with about a
second between bursts. I sounds like; TUT...TUT...TUT, TUT TUT TUT,
TUT..TUT..TUT, TUT..TUT.. TUT, TUT TUT or any variation of clucks.
The rhythm is somewhat like the flying cackle, and I have used a
flying cackle to get a tom to “shock gobble.” I also use this call
to bring in a tom that hangs up.
Flying Calls
The Flying
Cackle is the sound a turkey makes when flying up or down from the
roost, or when flying across ravines. Many hunters have difficulty
with the correct tempo of this call. Actually, it’s quite easy,
the calling of a bird in the air is directly related to the
downbeat of the wing stroke. It’s when the bird contracts it’s
chest muscles and exhales, it’s the only time the bird can call.
If you are trying to imitate this call visualize the action of the
turkey as it takes off, first with slow, powerful wing beats, then
faster, and tapering off slowly before gliding and landing. I
often use this call to get a “shock gobble” from a tom before
daylight, so I can locate the tree he is in. I also use it to get
a tom to come off the roost in my direction.
Mating Calls
Tom turkeys
Gobble to express social status, telling other males they are
ready to fight to prove their dominance, and to attract hens. The
Gobble is most often heard while the bird is on the roost early in
the morning. Studies show that most gobbling occurs from about a
forty-five minutes before to forty-five minutes after sunrise.
Individual toms also call most frequently at this time. Gobbling
is a means of long distance communication and the tom may expect
the hen to come to him, if she is ready to breed. Many experts
claim that the primary reason the tom gobbles is to get the hen to
come to him, not him to go to them. But, I often see toms arrive
at the strut where the hens are already calling. Whether the toms
are responding to the calling of the hens or not I cannot say.
Use a gobble
only when you are sure there are no other hunters in the areas,
they may mistake you for a turkey.
Hens in the
presence of a tom may Whine, causing the tom to begin strutting.
The medium pitched single drawn out errr of the Whine or Purr may
be used by the hen to get the male to prove how large, colorful
and healthy he is. I use these calls when toms are close, to
convince them there is a hot hen nearby.
Mating Sounds
Once the tom
is near the hen he spends more time strutting; displaying his
colorful head, fluffed up body, and spread tail to impress the
hen. When hens are within visual distance the less audible sounds
of the Spit and Drum can be heard and used to attract them. The
sounds of the Spit and Drum have been described as a chump and a
hum. It’s believed that both the Spit and Drum are vocalizations.
However, after watching toms snap their wings open on gravel, and
hearing the sound of the Spit at the exact same moment, I believe
the Spit is the sound of the wing tips snapping open or hitting
the ground, but I can’t prove it. I do know that peacocks drum by
vibrating the feather shafts of their tail together in what is
called a “harmonic rustle.” The Drum of a turkey may be produced
in the same manner. Toms respond to these calls out of dominance.
Groups of toms, and single dominant birds may respond to these
calls, but subdominants and jakes my be scared off, because they
are afraid of being attacked by a dominant.
If you are
interested in more turkey hunting tips, or more turkey biology and
behavior, click on Trinity Mountain Outdoor News and T.R.’s
Hunting Tips at
www.TRMichels.com. If you have questions about turkeys
log on to the T.R.’s Tips message board. To find out when turkey
gobbling peaks in your area click on Peak Turkey Gobbling Dates
Chart.
This article is based on the Turkey Addict’s Manual ($19.95 +
$5.00 S&H), by T.R. Michels.
T.R. Michels is a nationally recognized game researcher/wildlife
behaviorist, outdoor writer and speaker. He is the author of the
Whitetail, Elk, Duck & Goose, and Turkey Addict’s Manuals. His
latest products are the 2003 Revised Edition of the Whitetail
Addict’s Manual, the 2003 Revised Edition of the Elk Addict’s
Manual; and the 2003 Revised Edition of the Duck & Goose Addict’s
Manual. For a catalog of books and other hunting products contact:
T.R. Michels, Trinity Mountain Outdoors, PO Box 284, Wanamingo, MN
55983, USA. Phone: 507-824-3296,
E-mail:
TRMichels@yahoo.com,
Web Site:
www.TRMichels.com
