What would U ask the top turkey caller?
Turkey
What's the best question he had been asked?
And what's his favorite recipe for legs vs breast.
What calls do you personally use?
Hung up birds, getting them inside 25 yds. Best decoys arrangement with blind for bowhunters.. Also what # of decoys and type of decoys for that blind (bowhunt) setup..
Ed
Hope you have blocked TBMs IP address. Lol!
How to approach public land that is hunted by fellows driving, stopping and calling from their vehicles/ohv's?
Where do babies come from?
Like mentioned above, deke set-ups. What is the most decoys you have ever set up in one spot?
What do you have planned, the first Friday and Saturday in May?
If there's a way, Pat, record some of their calling, and ask how they make those calls.
The normal horny hen stuff is easy, but what about the calls they use from hen to hen, trying to get an ol' matriarch to bring her tom over.
Also, tom to tom calling, like in the fall and winter.
It will be interesting to see if they talk much about calling aggressively or the ol' yep three times, cluck onest, and then wait 42 days and repeat.
Have you ever swallowed a diaphragm?
Calling sequence for different situations.
How there calling may change during a set-up.
How I would love to be a fly on the wall in a certain house in Alabama right now...:)
From writers post, "The normal horny hen stuff is easy, but what about the calls they use from hen to hen, trying to get an ol' matriarch to bring her tom over."
This was exactly how I got my bird this year, the Tom wouldn't leave the hens so I did a couple soft hen calls and they fed towards me but I am not sure if I just got lucky, for that set up it seemed as if I knew what I was doing but I know I probably just got lucky! I would like to learn more about hen to hen talk.
Do they prefer head shots or body, and is there a circumstance that dictates which they use?
I'm in for all the above, but see how many of them multitask, i.e. dip snuff and use a diaphragm at the same time :)
I want to hear about setups, what do they look for in the terrain to stack the odds for a close encounter.
What different tactics for the different regions
Like a PA eastern vs an osceola, or merriams vs ol 'bama battle bird , etc
Who's the most under-rated and under-appreciated turkey pro? LOL, sorry, I had to.
What do the experts consider the second most difficult state to kill a bird in?
Why hunting turkeys has suddenly become difficult? What has caused this phenomenon?
Lack of quality blinds?
Lack of quality decoys?
Lack of quality calls?
How do you call in a dominant bird that is henned up?
Is it possible to break him away from ladys
After trying everything on three different calls and short of the kitchen sink, what's the best fighting purr sequence.
Bottom line...yelps...he's coming or he isn't...hens or no hens, but a good fight, he'll fly across a river for, it actually worked for me.
Dino, it works in a state like Kansas when trying to cover a county full of WIHA, that and some good glass.
OK, these guys are famed callers, but what importance do they put in decoying birds?
We all have stories of pulling that stud-muffin bird with spurs like railroad spikes away with a fan or DSD jake.
Bou....you owe me the amount of beer I spit all over at your "what's the second hardest state to hunt turkeys ?"
Interesting to hear calls from slayer and Joe, and a few others, for comparison.
Also Pat the importance they put on friction vs mouth calls. I've hunted with several world-champion mouth-callers...and all have quality box and slate calls handy.
Why is he not calling for me?
Favorite locator calls. Non-turkey sounds to produce a shock-gobble.
Use different type calls, ie, crow, peacock, etc.
Brands?
Why won't he call me back? Did i talk too much? Did i pressure him into doing something he didn't want to do? Does he think I'm ugly...too fat...not popular enough?!? Does his friend's opinions of me matter?
Signed, all teenage hens!
tobn...so, you've had teen-aged daughters?
You have had female friends go through a divorce?
I hunt public land, which is typically during the latter half of the breeding season. So I'm typically hunting pressured birds and the time of the spring when hens are nesting. I find toms at times to be quite vocal, but it's very unpredictable, and more times than not, when I try to call them I get neutral or negative responses. They shut up, or just continue to periodically gobble, but not in a response to me.
I guess my quick question would be, when hunting during the nesting phase of the turkey rut, do you call less and use more stealthy techniques or ramp up your calling?
Writer, sisters, sisters!
No daughters just a Son, 11 year old. We should be driving home from Nebraska right about now but he lost his hunting privlages due to sneaking around behind the ex-wife's back. One punishment, two homes. Kinda like a pact to extend punishment...poor boy!
Now I am curious as to who will be interviewed.
Very interested to hear the interview Pat. I've worked hard at my turkey calling craft for many years and feel like I can make all the calls really well. Very interested in hearing their take on when to apply those calls and in what situations, etc. I'm lucky to have a "town" flock nearby and have spent many hours in "conversation" with those turkeys learning to call. Looking forward to your feature!
I'm curious of who the interview is with? Is it a stage caller? Hunting caller?.... Yes there's a big diff. I've heard some guys who sound good on stage and have won calling contest then get into the woods and can't kill a bird to save their life. I'll be listening
Yep. I'm with trkyslr on that one. I've seen guys brag how great they can call and struggle to kill with shotguns. I don't think I'm a great caller at all. In fact at times I'm embarrassed how mine sound. But I've learned its adapting to the situation in the woods (time of year, pressure, time of day, bird responses, bird distance, your positioning to the bird etc.) that gets results. You guys interview a stage hero then it's a waste of time IMO. I'll listen to a hunter with woodsmanship skills over a NWTF national grand multi platinum caller any day. This shall be interesting.
Why would anyone think there would be an interview on this site with someone who was not a hunter? let's give the place a little credit.
Bou, I just asked what type of "caller" and hunter it may be... Hoping it is a hunter. As I said there's a diff and if he can do both then I'm interested. Also if his identity was given with some info about him I could see more specific questions asked of pat to ask him that could be valuable for us.
And yes as writer said some audio would be nice to hear with some explanation for that specific call for that specific time. Calling IMO has a lot to do with both timing and speaking the actual turkey language.. Kind of like when and what to say to seal the deal. And also using woodsman ship with the calls to make a difference. Saturday had one for this to a T that was a combo of both that turned into an epic call in.
I WANT TO KNOW...................
How important is it to have motion within the decoys?
How many decoys at certain times of the season?
Using just hen decoys, why and when? Just a single hen decoy?
When to use a full strut tom decoy vs a jake decoy ?
Using both a full strut tom decoy and a jake decoy in the same set up?
My best, Paul
You know, just about everything on this thread has been covered on Bowsite 73kajillion times.
Since they're best known for calling, it will be interesting to see how much, if any, importance these guys place on decoys at all.
I"ve hunted with some champion callers who were like poisoned corn in the woods with how well they could kill birds -Ray Eye, Eddie Salter, Brad Harris, Michael Waddell, Mark Drury....
...and there have been a couple that weren't so impressive. :-)
Paul, regarding your single hens decoy question, I have a good buddy who is a phenomenal caller and straight turkey killer (mostly gun some bow) who mainly uses the solo hen deek. He limits out on tough pressured public land birds every year and guides private for others. He uses the solo Dsd upright hen from March through May during all stages and it works great for him. One thing he and I notice though during probably half or more of those call ins is the birds come in and strut and stay 10-20 yards from the deek leaving him with 20-35ish yard shots, which for a gunner is a chip shot. The other half of call ins they strut up to within 5 yards of the hen deek. I've bow killed a few birds at that 20-35 yard range but deff prefer shots within 20 yard shots. This is where I see the Jake deek is a key for bowhunters as it brings the birds right to the deek for closer shots..... Part or most of the time ;-)
What is more important? Great calling or woodsmanship/knowledge from observation to setup where the birds like to strut and travel.
Is movement of the decoys a key?
When not to call
Early season vs. late season calling
Calling pressured vs. unpressured turkeys
Shock gobbling: how often they use it (every hunt or only when the birds are silent?), calls used (owl, crow, coyote, other?)
Roost set up: do they prefer to set up back a little ways away from a roosted gobbler or push it in close?
How many and what types of callers do they carry?
Thanks Pat, looking forward to it!
One thing I wish I would have thought to mention is getting some information out to guys on how to read your gobbler. What he says, and more importantly what he doesn't say, and how you can use that information to kill him.
Brotsky, that's good stuff rt there I use and listen to on every bird. His response, type of response and number of responses or lack there of influences my next move and or call..
My first exposure to ‘Champion Callers' and expert hunters was around 1982 when I attended a Turkey Hunting Seminar/Luncheon near the NWTF HQ in Edgefield SC. The MC/Host of the event was Rob Keck (most all of us know who he is). The event was nothing like the Hunting Heritage events that take place today, but it was quite ‘the thing’ back then.
Mr. Keck gave a 30 minute lecture/talk about turkey hunting, calling and roosting birds as a prelude to the Turkey Calling Championship. I’ll never forget something said to those of us who were new to the sport about the day's ‘Competition’; it was simply a reminder that the callers we’d be watching and the calls they’d be using are probably NOT something we’d be doing in the woods (regardless of how good we’d become).
At that time, Keck recommended turkey hunters master the standard “yelp”, “cluck” and “purr”, he also recommended fall hunters learn to kee-kee; and not worry about things like assembly calls, fly-down hen- cackles and such. So if I were to have a conversation with a Championship Caller probably ask these three questions:
What type of call do you most prefer using – friction (slate/ceramic/box) or diaphragm?
How soon after hearing a bird fly down from its roost would you try calling?
In your opinion, what calls would you recommend a hunter become proficient in before heading out to the turkey woods?
Thank you
MIlnrick...interesting because the times I hunted with Rob he was all about getting aggressive with long strings of hot yelps, and a lot of cutting.
When asked, he said, "When I go turkey hunting, I go to hear 'em gobble. It's the gobble, not the gobbler that makes spring turkey hunting so special."
...words to live by. :-)
Writer, there was another call-maker (guy named David Loftus- made the "chatter box") who preached and practiced aggressive calling. He would only shoot a bird that he had gotten to gobble and strut.
In any case I'm looking forward to this feature.
Denny Gulvas of PA was one of the best, if not the best. Most of the current champions and past champions are disciples of his. I don't know if Denny is giving seminars these days, but if you ever get a chance to go to one, do it.
"What's it like at the top?"
Hey, do you have any cold beer in your cooler?
Cannot think much more to ask than that!
I really can't think of any "pertinent" questions to ask. I've been doing this for many, many years and I have been through most scenarios while hunting. Further more what works for him, might not work for me. With that said I try to learn and adjust if need be, every time I go to the woods. That's how you get better. I can't wait to read the interview and see who the mystery man is :)
I know the interview is done, but one question that would be interesting & provocative would be, "What are your thoughts on turkey reaping?"
