grnhdhntr_1

i hunted turkey as a kid with my uncle.about 15 yrs ago. he taught me how to call with a box and a diaphram. i continued to practice on both, even though i wasn't hunting and can still call pretty well. i guess that my main question is. what is a locator call and how and when do you use it? i don't remember ever seeing or hearing one used. also do i need to get get a decoy? can you bring birds in with out them? i see a ton of birds on my families property. always out in the fields feeding. should i set up on the field edge about 30yd from where they feed. Or, back in the thin timber where they seem tho be coming out? sorry to sound like an idiot. just looking for some help. thanks.

Rory/MO

really if your going to be sitting, you wont need a locator call unless your scouting. a locator call is a crow call, owl call, hawk call, or anything that will strike a bird. you dont really want to use a turkey call as a locator, because the turkeys will start going towards you right away if theyre gonna come to the call. and as long as you get there early enough (well before daylight) on that field edge, or in the woods, and set up a decoy or two, you should have some luck.

good luck and welcome

SwampCollie

Good advice from Rory.

A locator call is exactly what its name implies... something just to make a bird gobble and give away his position. Lots of useful locator calls acctually come from nature and your natural surroundings. For example, there was a place I hunted when I lived in SC that was in relative location to a fire house. Every morning, at 730 sharp, they would roll the engine and the ambulance out and do a quick "siren check". No finer locator call in the world... every morning you'd hear five or six in any direction sound off... any day of the year... no matter the weather.

I've had them gobble at closing car doors, flocks of geese, car horns, freight trains, and they really go off at thunder. Crows, owls, coyotes, hawks... sometimes with young birds that have apparently just learned how to gobble, you can acctually yell obscenties at them and have them gobble back.... not exactly productive for hunting... but extremely entertaining

What call you use really depends on where you are hunting (geographically). Most of my hunting is done in my native VA, so coyote calls (though there are yotes around here) isn't really productive. If they are in the mood, they will gobble at it though.. just like anything else. What really works in my part of the world is the owl call. Usually when you start up with it, you'll get a real owl to respond, then another owl to call back to it, and pretty quick you have a whole parliament of owls going off. A turkey can only take so much, and if it doesn't work the first time, he will eventually gobble, perhaps to just say... hey keep it down I'm still trying to sleep. As more owls call in different places, eventually one will be close enough to a turkey to make him respond. Owls and turkeys are kind of like Red Sox and Yankees or cowboys and indians... not the best of friends. Sometimes a turkey will gobble from several hundred yards away, but typically you need to be inside of 250 yards or so. Depends on the conditions, and the time of year. As spring rolls into summer and vegetation immerges, your calls will be muffled and you'll need to be closer.

Owls of course, work at last light and first light.. so blowing the owl call in the middle of the day is not advisable. Once I hear the first real crow of the day caw.. then I know its time to switch from the owl to the crow call. Makes sense to me anyway. If you hunt near a river, and have geese around, then bring the goose call... this has been a real ace in the hole for me over the years.

Arrowmaster

I use an owl hooter before daylight. I use a crow call once its starting to break daylight and thru out the day. This is a perfect example last year. I was hunting Missouri and I had just arrived at my blind. So I settled in the blind and got everything ready to go. It was still dark but the east was starting to lighten up. I thought ok lets give a couple owl hoots. I started owl hooting and next thing I know I hear an owl directly above my blind not 10 feet above me. He started hooting and the next thing I know I hear 5 different gobblers going nuts. I had no idea this owl was above me. Talk about giving you a rush. Once it began breaking day I gave some hen yelps and next thing I know the owl flys off. 15 minutes Later I have a gobbler on the ground dead at 28 yards...

gmil6184

Welcome and don't worry about asking "dumb" questions, you gotta learn somehow and its better to learn from our mistakes then have to go make them all yourself haha.
As for locator calls, everything above is spot on so I wont bother repeating it. The fact that you can already call is a huge first step and yes you can bring them in without a decoy, in fact i don't use mine that much. They can work really good though, I like to use them in fields where the birds can see them coming from a long way off. I usually just use a hen or two, but some people have good luck with hen and jake combos. They are a nice tool to have, but not really necessary.
As for where to set up, if you know they are going to come to that field then i would prob set up right on the edge of the field and wait.

grnhdhntr_1

THANKS FOR ALL HELP GUYS. YOUR ADVISE IS GREATLY APPRICIATED. HOPEFULLY I DON'T SCREW ANYTHING UP AND CAN POST SOME PICS LATER THIS SPRING. THANKS AGAIN!