# Calling to turkeys preseason



## widetoed01 (Feb 6, 2015)

Is calling to birds illegal preseason? Though I heard once that it may have been something along the lines of badgering wildlife?


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## 01Foreman400 (Feb 6, 2015)

No it's not. 

I also wouldn't recommend it as all you're doing is educating them before the season starts.


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## hambone50 (Feb 6, 2015)

not illegal but not the best idea either...I like for the first time they hear me is opening morning 80 yards out from roost


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## Will-dawg (Feb 6, 2015)

hambone50 said:


> not illegal but not the best idea either...I like for the first time they hear me is opening morning 80 yards out from roost



That's right!!!!


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## sman (Feb 6, 2015)

I am guilty of driving by a field, rolling the window down, and letting loose to a field bird by the road more than once.  Birds I hunt and others.

My apologies, I am a weak man.


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## Gamblinman (Feb 7, 2015)

Sure...ya just don't do it to the birds YOU hunt.


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## GameReaper13 (Feb 7, 2015)

No! 
I was scouting a bit on a WMA a few years ago and heard one gobble. I also heard a box call. I went to the box call and saw a guy sitting against a tree with a white shirt.


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## mauser64 (Feb 7, 2015)

I've done it before trying to get a reaction to see if anything was around but usually only listen.


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## Bucky T (Feb 7, 2015)




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## Unicoidawg (Feb 7, 2015)

No........ just no........


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## six (Feb 7, 2015)

Not illegal.  And I see no harm in it as long as you don't hammer them, and or spook them.  They hear turkey sounds every day.   They are not afraid of turkey vocabulary.  They are afraid of the man making the turkey sounds if they encounter him.  I may just listen one day early, then may try to get a response on the same property another day mid morning.  But that's about it.   I won't try to call a bird in though.  But I'm sure not paranoid about letting one hear me before season.


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## Jody Hawk (Feb 7, 2015)

I choose not to do it but I personally think that's the biggest myth in turkey hunting. Using that logic, I would think you'd never see a mature gobbler killed on Cedar Creek WMA after the first week of the season after they've been educated by every Tom, Dick and Harry that roam the woods down there.


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## icdedturkes (Feb 7, 2015)

six said:


> Not illegal.  And I see no harm in it as long as you don't hammer them, and or spook them.  They hear turkey sounds every day.   They are not afraid of turkey vocabulary.  They are afraid of the man making the turkey sounds if they encounter him.  I may just listen one day early, then may try to get a response on the same property another day mid morning.  But that's about it.   I won't try to call a bird in though.  But I'm sure not paranoid about letting one hear me before season.



I strongly disagree, our birds do not vocalize til season opens thus I refuse to make turkey noises before season making them call shy..


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## rex upshaw (Feb 7, 2015)

Jody Hawk said:


> I choose not to do it but I personally think that's the biggest myth in turkey hunting. Using that logic, I would think you'd never see a mature gobbler killed on Cedar Creek WMA after the first week of the season after they've been educated by every Tom, Dick and Harry that roam the woods down there.



This


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## Esau (Feb 7, 2015)

I sit in the woods and listen to turkeys all year round. They vocalize all the time, usually just clucks and purrs. I have heard gobbles in January many times. All turkeys make fly up and fly down cackles year round. Now with that said I use these opportunities to learn to make turkey sounds. I do not call to turkeys until the season starts, unless they sit outside my basement and listen to me practice.


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## six (Feb 7, 2015)

icdedturkes said:


> I strongly disagree, our birds do not vocalize til season opens thus I refuse to make turkey noises before season making them call shy..



Your turkeys beaks are froze together until spring so they can't make sounds until then.


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## icdedturkes (Feb 7, 2015)

six said:


> Your turkeys beaks are froze together until spring so they can't make sounds until then.



  Probably true


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## antnye (Feb 7, 2015)

I think Kentucky has a pre season calling law. Or used to.


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## Toddmann (Feb 7, 2015)

I don't do it. I don't care anything about calling to a turkey until I can shoot him. I do like to go and listen a couple weeks before the season starts to see if they are in their usual roosting sites before the opener. The usually are.


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## swampstalker24 (Feb 7, 2015)

widetoed01 said:


> Is calling to birds illegal preseason? Though I heard once that it may have been something along the lines of badgering wildlife?



Depends on what state you are in..... for instance if memory serves me correctly it is against the law in Tn.


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## Water Swat (Feb 7, 2015)

Why would you want to?


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## Brad (Feb 7, 2015)

Will someone please tell the hens to stop talking to the gobblers before the season? They just wont cooperate.


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## Double Cluck (Feb 7, 2015)

swampstalker24 said:


> Depends on what state you are in..... for instance if memory serves me correctly it is against the law in Tn.




It is illegal, on WMAs, like a few weeks before the season.


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## GLS (Feb 7, 2015)

If you are caught on a military base in Ga with a turkey call out of season you will be ticketed.


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## swampstalker24 (Feb 7, 2015)

GLS said:


> If you are caught on a military base in Ga with a turkey call out of season you will be ticketed.



Not true at all....  I use to hunt alot a Fort Gordon and one time had the game warden himself tell me I should do some calling pre season to locate the birds.....


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## Double Cluck (Feb 7, 2015)

Only thing I ever see at Campbell is MPs. Don't recall ever seeing a game warden. Not saying they are not there but I have never seen one. MP only seem to be interested in what area you are supposed to be in. Don't be in the wrong one, either. I can see an unknowing MP telling someone to call, so that could or could not mean it is legal.


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## GLS (Feb 7, 2015)

swampstalker24 said:


> Not true at all....  I use to hunt alot a Fort Gordon and one time had the game warden himself tell me I should do some calling pre season to locate the birds.....



I've known folks to get ticketed at Ft. Stewart.


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## swampstalker24 (Feb 7, 2015)

GLS said:


> I've known folks to get ticketed at Ft. Stewart.



Might be an installation specific thing.... I know they have the lead way to make their own rules in regards to hunting/fishing.....

Either way I think it is not a good idea to call to the birds early. In my opinion it is best to just get out early in the morning and listen if you want to find the birds early in season.


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## swampstalker24 (Feb 7, 2015)

GLS said:


> I've known folks to get ticketed at Ft. Stewart.



Lol but then again now that I think about it the same game warden told me that it was legal to shoot a deer in water as long as the deer was not "drinking", so he might just not known what he was talking about.


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## Riverrat84 (Feb 7, 2015)

Big mistake to call before season.


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## Riverrat84 (Feb 7, 2015)

You can learn way more by listening to how turkeys communicate with each other in preseason. You have two months to run a call so use this time to listen.


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## GLS (Feb 8, 2015)

Better not have a buckshot load in your truck at anytime.  Big no-no at Stewart.


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## switchbackxt1 (Feb 8, 2015)

It is in your best interest not to do any preseason calling, it is absolutely absurd to do this. Why educate them before the season comes in?


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## M Sharpe (Feb 8, 2015)

GLS said:


> Better not have a buckshot load in your truck at anytime.  Big no-no at Stewart.



Better not have a turkey load in your pocket during turkey season with your unloaded gun on the seat while driving on Ft. Stewart either!!!


Like Ronnie said, turkeys communicate year around. Biggest thing I've noticed is that when people pre-season call, you hear them drive up in their truck, get out and shut the door, then proceed to call. Dah!! Someone mentioned fly-downs and fly-ups, very seldom hear that here.


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## Curtis-UGA (Feb 8, 2015)

I've hit a hard cut several times pre season to pull a shock gobble out just to locate . I usually do this then leave the area immediately. I see no harm.

I wouldn't however call one in during preseason.


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## Mudfeather (Feb 8, 2015)

Wow....Turkeys are geniuses.

They have the ability to tell a call from real hens. 

All hens apparently sound alike every time the vocalize..thus leading to the above.. 

They do not communicate until opening day of turkey season so please don't call to them.

A gobbler never hears a hen he doesn't recognize so he knows when something isn't right..

Just for the record...Animals cant reason as humans do....They just don't have the mental capacity...However...There instincts are stronger...

When you give an animal credit to reason and feel emotions as we do you do exactly what Walt Disney did to feed the misconception that they are more equal to us...They aint!

What makes a turkey so hard to kill is he has to be cautious about everything...Everything in our woods will eat a turkey from the time the egg hits the ground till he dies...

Just my .02.


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## six (Feb 8, 2015)

switchbackxt1 said:


> It is in your best interest not to do any preseason calling, it is absolutely absurd to do this. Why educate them before the season comes in?



I respectfully disagree.  If they know the one or two calls I make before season came from a man, then their going to know the calls they hear from me during the season also came from a man.  I think the problem occurs when people or several people repeatedly try to call them into view before season and wind up spooking them.   It's not always an advantage, but I think any advantage I gain on some of the gobblers outweigh any disadvantage because they heard me make a call a week or so ago.   

People do it all the time, butI think it's absurd to give a turkeys brain more credit than his eye's and ear's.


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## six (Feb 8, 2015)

Mudfeather said:


> Just for the record...Animals cant reason as humans do....They just don't have the mental capacity...However...There instincts are stronger...



Exactly.  They react instead of think.


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## M Sharpe (Feb 8, 2015)

six said:


> Exactly.  They react instead of think.



But, they do know that that hen didn't just drive up in a diesel truck and slam the door and tell everyone she had arrived!! 

No, what he does know is that she's not going to be calling with an abnormal sound right on top of her because that abnormal sound represents something out of the ordinary. Just like the birds quit singing when you pull up! One of the reasons a lots of veteran turkey hunters gets to the woods hours before daylight is so the woods can wake up naturally!!!


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## six (Feb 8, 2015)

M Sharpe said:


> But, they do know that that hen didn't just drive up in a diesel truck and slam the door and tell everyone she had arrived!!



That's why I always honk the horn before I call.  So they will think there has to be a real hen by that truck because no person would ever blow the horn then make turkey sounds.


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## M Sharpe (Feb 8, 2015)

six said:


> That's why I always honk the horn before I call.  So they will think there has to be a real hen by that truck because no person would ever blow the horn then make turkey sounds.



That'll make 'em shock gobble too!!!


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## gregg (Feb 8, 2015)

I can see both sides of the discussion..... turkeys may not be the smartest birds, but they somehow seem to catch on quickly to the additional calling.....at least to me they seem to be more difficult to hunt as they encounter more "turkeys" during the spring.....is it the calling, the spotting of predators/humans, a combination of both, or my imagination


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## Unicoidawg (Feb 8, 2015)

six said:


> I respectfully disagree.  If they know the one or two calls I make before season came from a man, then their going to know the calls they hear from me during the season also came from a man.  I think the problem occurs when people or several people repeatedly try to call them into view before season and wind up spooking them.   It's not always an advantage, but I think any advantage I gain on some of the gobblers outweigh any disadvantage because they heard me make a call a week or so ago.
> 
> People do it all the time, butI think it's absurd to give a turkeys brain more credit than his eye's and ear's.



and that is the exact reason NOT to call to them. If everyone thinks..... hey what's one call gonna hurt. Then they call them in and bump them you have a educated bird. Up here in North Georgia where these mountain birds are already somewhat call shy to begin with you mess with them much you can forget calling them up and have to resort to ambushing them. There is a spot on a local mountain WMA that the road goes up into a bowl with the mountain all around on both sides. It is isolated, no roads besides the old dirt road your driving in on, no houses, pure wilderness and the only thing these birds know of man is that silly things that goes across the sky and makes a humming noise everyday. I have seen it if you drive in there predawn with your lights on the birds will not gobble, but if you parked a 1/2 mile back and walk in they would go crazy at sunup. Not saying that the things know that it is a human coming to get them, but they do know that 330+ days of the year that loud thing bouncing up the road there is not there and all things are normal. Like has been said they are not a very smart bird per se, but they are very, very, very instinctual and I say why risk it. Also another way of looking at it is this, as much as I love to watch hunting shows and stuff they have really put a lot of guys in the woods that have no clue about turkey hunting. These are the guys who will educate turkeys before the season starts. Ole duck commander wanna be pulls up and lets out a couple of calls and the bird answers. Most seasoned guys would now know, "Hey there he is, cool I got your number ole boy" and slip off with the bird being non the wiser. Instead duck commader boy says, "Holy cow there he is, I'm going to call him in" and just keeps hammering until he either scares the feathers off the thing or he walks up in his lap and see the guy sitting on his yeti, with his khakis on and the full beard shining and spooks. I have been chasing these things for 25yrs now and Lord knows I learn new things every year and am no expert, but I do know the more they are messed with the more likely you'll have a call shy bird. JMHO, good luck and be careful this spring.


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## grouperdawg (Feb 8, 2015)

They may have a little brain but turkeys were way easier to call in thirty years ago in ga so imho it must be bred into them or something


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## dawg2 (Feb 8, 2015)

holy cow...


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## gregg (Feb 8, 2015)

Unicoidawg said:


> and that is the exact reason NOT to call to them. If everyone thinks..... hey what's one call gonna hurt. Then they call them in and bump them you have a educated bird. Up here in North Georgia where these mountain birds are already somewhat call shy to begin with you mess with them much you can forget calling them up and have to resort to ambushing them. There is a spot on a local mountain WMA that the road goes up into a bowl with the mountain all around on both sides. It is isolated, no roads besides the old dirt road your driving in on, no houses, pure wilderness and the only thing these birds know of man is that silly things that goes across the sky and makes a humming noise everyday. I have seen it if you drive in there predawn with your lights on the birds will not gobble, but if you parked a 1/2 mile back and walk in they would go crazy at sunup. Not saying that the things know that it is a human coming to get them, but they do know that 330+ days of the year that loud thing bouncing up the road there is not there and all things are normal. Like has been said they are not a very smart bird per se, but they are very, very, very instinctual and I say why risk it. Also another way of looking at it is this, as much as I love to watch hunting shows and stuff they have really put a lot of guys in the woods that have no clue about turkey hunting. These are the guys who will educate turkeys before the season starts. Ole duck commander wanna be pulls up and lets out a couple of calls and the bird answers. Most seasoned guys would now know, "Hey there he is, cool I got your number ole boy" and slip off with the bird being non the wiser. Instead duck commader boy says, "Holy cow there he is, I'm going to call him in" and just keeps hammering until he either scares the feathers off the thing or he walks up in his lap and see the guy sitting on his yeti, with his khakis on and the full beard shining and spooks. I have been chasing these things for 25yrs now and Lord knows I learn new things every year and am no expert, but I do know the more they are messed with the more likely you'll have a call shy bird. JMHO, good luck and be careful this spring.



Yep!


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## chuggins3473 (Feb 8, 2015)

Thank goodness!!  I thought I was the only person on here that felt that way!  Preach it brother


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## trkyhnt89 (Feb 8, 2015)

I had three blowing down the woods this morning......only used a hooter. Does that make it ok?


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## GA DAWG (Feb 8, 2015)

It should be illegal. Need to change the law. Who's the turkey biologist on here?


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## Curtis-UGA (Feb 8, 2015)

I called a jake and gobbler up to my truck last year. Videoed him with my phone gobbling and strutting. Went back 2 days later and killed him off the same food plot. 

   Their instincts are incredible but they are not smart.


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## Brad (Feb 8, 2015)

The last thing we need are MORE laws.


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## chuggins3473 (Feb 8, 2015)

Any pressure on turkeys makes it tougher to kill one.  So why do you want to put pressure on one before you even get started?  Don't make no sense to me


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## GA DAWG (Feb 8, 2015)

I only call to them before season on public land. That way it dont mess up my private land.


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## six (Feb 8, 2015)

I don't use an owl call before season.  I don't want them to be call shy come opening day.


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## 01Foreman400 (Feb 8, 2015)

If anyone has some land around Walton County that I can get some calling practice on before the season please let me know.


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## GA DAWG (Feb 8, 2015)

01Foreman400 said:


> If anyone has some land around Walton County that I can get some calling practice on before the season please let me know.


You can go to Dawson Forest with me. Prolly call in 8-10.


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## Timber1 (Feb 9, 2015)

If I were a gobbler and got called from and to the same spot  repeatedly I would get tired of walking over there and not finding a hen. Probably just ignore that flighty hen altogether.
That being said I do call at birds before the season with both turkey calls and crow calls a very limited amount. In Tennessee it is illegal to use a turkey call before the season so of course I dont there.


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## spurrs and racks (Feb 9, 2015)

*calling to turkeys preseason*

omg


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## GameReaper13 (Feb 9, 2015)

GA DAWG said:


> You can go to Dawson Forest with me. Prolly call in 8-10.



As if turkeys on Dawson forest dont have enough pressure. They know every make and model of calls made...


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## GA DAWG (Feb 9, 2015)

GameReaper13 said:


> As if turkeys on Dawson forest dont have enough pressure. They know every make and model of calls made...


I mainly use the squealing hen call. Its a miricle call on the Forest.


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## gregg (Feb 9, 2015)

GA DAWG said:


> I mainly use the squealing hen call. Its a miricle call on the Forest.


Oh, you've done it now, the harvest count will double this year


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## elfiii (Feb 9, 2015)

Unicoidawg said:


> No........ just no........



End of thread right there.


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## Timber1 (Feb 10, 2015)

How else are you going to know the proper place to set up your blind and put out your decoys if you dont call to them beforehand?


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