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  • In late season hunting when all of the hens are bred, what would be a good way to call a big gobbler?
    Answer:

    H.S. Pro Staff:

    Call him just as you would early in the season. He will be looking for a girlfriend, so get him fired up and the let him come find you. Sometimes later in the season you may have to work a little harder getting turkeys located and a little harder to fire them up, but it will pay off. Best of Luck.

  • I would like to know how to keep the diaphragm reeds dry in between the reeds. I am having problems with them drying and sticking together which makes the diphragm sound like a single reed. Any advice would be helpful. Your turkey video was awesome!!!!
    Answer:

    H.S. Pro Staff:

    The best way I have found to keep your diaphragm reed from sticking together is to use a flat toothpick in between the reeds. One other tip if you have diaphragms you are not using keep them in the crisper of your refrigerator to prolong their life.

  • Can you give me some advice on finding and calling late-morning and afternoon gobblers?
    Answer:

    H.S. Pro Staff:

    Hunting turkeys in the late morning or early afternoon can be very productive. Usually about 10 a.m. the hens will start to nest or lay an egg and it will leave those toms looking for a girlfriend. This makes our job as a hunter a lot easier. What I like to do is what I call "cutt'n and runnin'." I will cover as much ground as possible, calling every 100 to 200 yards to try and spark a gobble. If I get a turkey gobbling late in the day my chances of calling that bird in and harvesting him are pretty good. I hope this will help you out in your next venture in the turkey woods.

  • I was turkey hunting recently, and I located two gobblers. I tried calling them in, but all they would do is gobble, but they wouldn't come in any further. In fact, they walked by just out of range. Do you have any tips for calling in an Eastern Turkey?
    Answer:

    Rick White's reply:

    Try and get him fired up with some aggressive calling and then quit calling. That will bring them in lots of times. If you weren't using decoys you might want to try them. You could also try calling and then get up and move closer without spooking the birds and wait them out. Good luck.

  • How do you know if you are calling too much? How high should you be in the tree?
    Answer:

    Rick White's reply:

    I like to put my tree stands about 20 feet off the ground. However, I have shot deer from as high as 6 feet off the ground. I think every hunter has a comfort level of how high they want to be. I would say that somewhere between 16-20 feet would be good in most cases.

    As far as calling too much or too little, it depends on the situation. One thing I don't do is call to a deer that is looking in my direction. Get his attention and if he starts to walk away, call again. I like to rattle and grunt a lot during the pre rut and rut. Try calling a lot and a little and see what works best in the area you are hunting. Good luck hunting.

  • How should you call if the bird is gobbling good? Should you get aggressive or back off a little bit?
    Answer:

    Rick White's reply:

    If he's gobbling good and you can tell that he is on his way don't call at all. If he's gobbling and not coming in, I like to call and get him fired up and then I quit calling. A lot of times he will then come in. Good luck and hunt safe.

  • What is the best turkey call for a beginner?
    Answer:

    H.S. Pro Staff:

    There are many ways to answer this question. Probably the best call to start out with is a slate/glass style call. The reason is that the call is very realistic and easy to get to know how to use in minutes. With today's technology the real turkey sound is built right into the call all that you have to provide is turkey rhythm.
    At the same time if you want to add some more to your equipment and be a bit more versatile pick up a double reed mouth call and start working with that and by turkey season you may have it down. Another great tool is a good instruction aid. There are many great instructional videos/DVDs on the market, These can really be a big help. Best of luck to you.

  • What do you do when a gobbler will shock-gobble but shuts up at yelping?
    Answer:

    Rick White's reply:

    I would start by using a different call than you have been using. Change things up a bit. You could also fire him up by calling aggressively and then quit calling and wait. Or you could try and get around in front of him and wait him out not doing any calling at all. Good luck and hunt safe.

  • In videos I have seen hunters calling hard to birds that seem to be coming in and calling soft/infrequently to birds that seem uninterested and they still kill the bird. How do you judge the way a bird wants to be called to?
    Answer:

    H.S. Pro Staff:

    In all honesty, this is what turkey hunting is all about as far as the calling aspect goes. We call it "taking the turkey's temperature." It doesn't work every time and everyone does it differently, but if the gobbler is hot and you feel confident that he is going to pay you a visit, get him fired up and then lay off and play hard-to-get. If you need to get him excited, if he is not really interested, you need to throw the kitchen sink at him and if that is not working, move positioning and hit him soft and subtle.
    Learning to figure out what mood the turkey is in comes with time in the woods and always doesn't follow the rules. Most of all use common sense in the turkey woods and use our human ability to reason and figure out the situation at hand. Best of Luck.

  • I have a question about turkey hunting. When you go scouting in the pre-season and you hear a bird gobble should you go to that location to get a look at the bird or lay off until the season starts and then go back to that location?
    Answer:

    Rick White's reply:

    You should make a mental note of where the bird was roosted and go back to that area once season opens. Don't get too close to birds on the roost. If you spook birds from their roost they may move to a different roost area. Good luck this spring.

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