Locater calls

TravisLH

Old Mossy Horns
What do you guys have luck with, and am/pm? Last season i had em gobble to a crow call after daylight but had no luck getting set up on them since it was after sunrise. I also tried an owl hoot but that went no where fast.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Brad_Colvin

Eight Pointer
I use a turkey call to locate during the day. Early morning I normally just listen for them to gobble on their own. I do use a crow or hawk call when trying to reposition on a gobbler.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
 

grim reaper

Ten Pointer
Another overlooked locator call is a pileated woodpecker. I've had them respond to that late morning when nothing else worked
 

sky hawk

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Owl in the morning, turkey during the day, and crow when I'm trying to sneak around one and I don't want him charging in at the moment.
 

Randy

Ten Pointer
Where I've mainly hunted in NC for the last 10 years I've had no luck using locator calls pre dawn or after fly up. Tried several different owl calls and sharp cutting on a box with no reactions. We have numerous owls and geese and I guess they're just use to their ruckus. I can remember only hearing one gobble 1 time at a real owl in all those years. They do however react well to real crows and crow calls during the daylight. I've had real good results the last 3 years with a crow call made by Dead End game calls in Wilkes Co.
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
i wouldnt kill many if i couldnt get them to gobble. I cant just sit and wait on one to show up. they need "help" many times to get started or to shock gobble. that's all you need to start the game.

there is not a locator commonly used that will not elicit a response... sometimes. that's the trick, sure you feel stupid when they fail to gobble; but gobble they will if you hit the right cord.

the only bad locator is the one you dont use. you wait for them to gobble on their own and many times you will be listening to silence.

if you worry about how bad other folks can sound and that keeps you from using one, i have no advice. Likewise if you think using locators educates the turkeys i guess you should not use them.

I hold no ideas that they are that smart. :)

I would love to get around some turkeys like Randy has that dont seem to respond to locator calls. that's one thing that i do think i am ok at, getting one to gobble.

It is however downhill from there. LOL.

If you dont use locators because they havent worked, just keep trying, they will work,.
 
Last edited:

QBD2

Old Mossy Horns
A crow is more apt to jerk a gobble on up in the day, than an owl. Hooting can wake one up, but a bird thats really hot will gobble at anything. Using a cheap owl tube will also mimic a mourning dove, and turkeys will answer that as well.

One of my favorite hunts, gobbling time came and went without a peep. I crowed and cawwed, and was rewarded with more of the same. I started hooting, and in 5 minutes I had 6-7 owls going back and forth with me. All that hooting and laughing was more than the turkeys could bear, and I ended up hearing 6 on the limb. It was one of the best concerts I've ever heard;)

Moral of the story, birds might answer your locators, but try to get the natives fired up and let them do the work. There's more of them than there is of you!
 

hawglips

Old Mossy Horns
I owl hoot early and late. Works pretty good if they're on the limb - most of the time. Had one hunt last year out west where we heard multiple birds one morning. Went back the next morning - zilch. Owl hoots, coyote howls, crow calls - nada. Got out my gobble shaker - and bam! got one to gobble back. Ended up killing him 3 hours later.
 

wolfman

Old Mossy Horns
I chased two walk away gobblers one day with my crow call. It was the only thing they would answer. No turkey sound would make them talk.
 

Brad_Colvin

Eight Pointer
i wouldnt kill many if i couldnt get them to gobble. I cant just sit and wait on one to show up. they need "help" many times to get started or to shock gobble. that's all you need to start the game.

there is not a locator commonly used that will not elicit a response... sometimes. that's the trick, sure you feel stupid when they fail to gobble; but gobble they will if you hit the right cord.

the only bad locator is the one you dont use. you wait for them to gobble on their own and many times you will be listening to silence.

if you worry about how bad other folks can sound and that keeps you from using one, i have no advice. Likewise if you think using locators educates the turkeys i guess you should not use them.

I hold no ideas that they are that smart. :)

I would love to get around some turkeys like Randy has that dont seem to respond to locator calls. that's one thing that i do think i am ok at, getting one to gobble.

It is however downhill from there. LOL.

If you dont use locators because they havent worked, just keep trying, they will work,.
I really haven't had a lot of luck walking around using a locator but I do carry them all. My success rate went way up when I just started locating by using a turkey call. I do however always use a crow, or hawk,or even an air horn when repositioning.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
 

bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
Crow call works the best for me but I mostly just listen in the morning. The owls, crows, geese and even blue heron do the work for me most of the time.
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
I really haven't had a lot of luck walking around using a locator but I do carry them all. My success rate went way up when I just started locating by using a turkey call. I do however always use a crow, or hawk,or even an air horn when repositioning.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

i consider using a turkey call while walking or prospecting to be a locator call. box call loud sounds have found more for me than anything after flydown.
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
I chased two walk away gobblers one day with my crow call. It was the only thing they would answer. No turkey sound would make them talk.

i doubled in sc one morning and the turkeys answered a turkey call exactly once but would give up their location as they came tru a swamp answering a crow call. bizzare way to kill them.
 

Wildlifer

Old Mossy Horns
Maybe its where I hunt but locator have a pretty low success rate for me. Owl, crow, goose, I'll give them a try in the morning but more times than not I get nothing. A few sharp yelps from a mouth call usually has better results.
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
Maybe its where I hunt but locator have a pretty low success rate for me. Owl, crow, goose, I'll give them a try in the morning but more times than not I get nothing. A few sharp yelps from a mouth call usually has better results.

oh i think your success is about right. "more times than not " is par for using any locator.
 

sky hawk

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I don't do so good later on in the morning, but before first light I can almost always get a response at our primary spot. Of course it helps if there are 3 or 4 birds within earshot. ONE of them is gonna answer almost every time.
 

TravisLH

Old Mossy Horns
How do yall locate on the roost? Seeing lots of good advice for after flydown


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

QBD2

Old Mossy Horns
Owl as soon as it cracks, if I'm not in a mood to wait on him to holler on his own. I usually wait until I hear a crow, or see one fly over before I hit the crow call.
 

jug

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Dog barking...... Up in rockingham county.... the dogs start and the birds gobble ;)
 

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
I don't turkey hunt but have heard an ambulance come through and it had a turkey singing for all he was worth.
 

sky hawk

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Get somewhere you can hear well - usually a high spot or the edge of an opening and wait for a while in the pre-dawn. If nothing sounds on it's own, I blow an owl call so I have enough time to get set up on him before fly down time. I can do it with my mouth pretty good, but the call is about twice as loud and carries further.
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
How do yall locate on the roost? Seeing lots of good advice for after flydown


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It just depends. If I have a good idea where they are roosted and have gotten tight, I just wait and use turkey sounds. I am not comfortable blowing down the woods with them being close.

If i have no clue which way to go and am at a listening spot I want them to gobble as early as possible so i can get as close as possible before flydown.

I owl early, then use turkey sounds. This is sometimes before other birds like crows and geese have started. A crow is my last resort before i move or just plop down to see if anything develops.

I used to have a train on schedule near Marion sc that was a really effective locator early in the year. he came thru at just the right time. :)

I think the use of locators is really uneeded for most folks now as they are going to "set up" and arent moving around anyway. But if you plan on calling one to you they can be very valuable.
 

turkeyfoot

Old Mossy Horns
Once season is in I rarely ever use locator maybe once in blue moon at roost to locate but even then some good cutting is just as if not more effective. Probably the only time use crow is if making big swing to get in front birds then will hit crow just make sure not to close
 

turkeyfoot

Old Mossy Horns
Some the fun you can have is to get some owls going real good couple hours before daylight especially if you get soem laughing good pre-dawn entertainment
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
Some the fun you can have is to get some owls going real good couple hours before daylight especially if you get soem laughing good pre-dawn entertainment

that laughing is as close to 100% effective in getting one to gobble as anything ime. Twice i have heard them fire up at 5:15 am in the dead dark when that stuff started.
 
Top