03/18/2001

You never know what could cause a turkey to gobble. In Virginia, there is a noticeable absence of longhorn cattle. Until that fateful spring turkey season in Kerr County, Texas, nearly 20 years ago, Jim Clay had never seen a longhorn at close range.

The Virginia turkey-call manufacturer stopped his truck and stepped out for a closer look. The impressive longhorns probably thought Clay meant to feed them. One big spotted steer let out a long, loud bellow. Over the hill, two turkeys gobbled in answer to the sudden sound and Clay ran to get set up.

"I would never have chosen that place to call turkeys but I knew the birds were right over the hill," Clay recalled. "I sat down with my back to a live oak tree and started calling. Within five minutes, I had two longbeards strutting in easy shotgun range. I credit the longhorn with an assist."

The throaty "gobble, gobble, gobble" of the wild turkey is an irresistible siren song for spring hunters who love to talk turkey with a wild bird that talks back. The hunter calls, the turkey responds. Call again and the bird answers. Maybe he's closer this time.

Listening to the timbre of a mature gobbler's voice and charting his movements through the woods is the essence of spring hunting. Many hunters would rather "work" a gobbler and have him drift away at the last second than to have a tom stroll silently into shotgun range.

Ray Sasser / DMN Virginia turkey-call manufacturer Jim Clay calls to a distant gobbler in Kerr County.

What is this sound called gobbling, the nebulous auditory thread that connects a turkey to a turkey hunter? Turkeys gobble in the spring to attract hens for breeding. That's why turkey calling can be frustrating. In nature, it's the gobbler that does the calling. The hens come to the gobbler.

By reversing the natural order of things, spring hunters are trying to fool Mother Nature, not to mention one of her more alert creatures.

During the spring breeding season, gobblers greet dawn's first light with their calls, which have more than one purpose, according to Dr. James Earl Kennemer, executive director of the National Wild Turkey Federation.

Kennemer said the primary purpose of gobbling is to attract hens but the challenging call of a boss bird may also intimidate subordinate males.

"We're not certain what role gobbling plays in domination, but we know turkeys develop a distinct pecking order and gobbling helps keep subordinate birds in their place," said Kennemer.

Yelp like a hen and a gobbler may answer. He may also respond to the bellow of a longhorn, the roar of a jet plane, the cawing of a crow or the whine of cars passing on a nearby highway. Why do turkeys respond to unnatural noises?

Mississippi turkey hunting pro Will Primos believes the breeding season toms are pumped full of hormones and living on the ragged edge.

"Mature gobblers stay keyed up during the breeding season," said Primos. "They desperately want to hear a hen and they're always ready to respond to a hen yelp. Each one wants to be the first gobbler to sound off when a hen yelps. As a result, gobblers wind up gobbling to sounds a hen turkey couldn't possibly make."

Veteran hunters refer to such responses as "shock gobbling." The pros use a variety of calls to solicit shock gobbles, thereby pinpointing a turkey's location.

"I don't like to make hen turkey sounds unless I'm hidden and ready for action," Clay said. "You never know when a gobbler is close by. If you yelp like a hen, he might run right in on you. If you see the turkey at the same time he sees you, that's a tie ballgame and the turkey wins any tie."

Clay uses locator calls that mimic hooting owls, screeching woodpeckers, raucous crows or yipping coyotes. One of Clay's friends uses a trumpet to locate turkeys and another carries a masonry trowel that makes an irritating ring when whacked against a rock.

Clay, who frequently shares public woods with a crowd of hunters in Virginia, once experimented with a dog whistle. The device emits a sound so high-pitched that humans ears cannot detect it. A dog can hear it. So can a turkey. Clay gave up on the dog whistle when he determined its effective range was only 150 yards.

There are days when turkeys simply refuse to gobble. Even pros like Clay cannot explain what happens. He used to think that weather affected gobbling cycles.

"For several years, I kept records of weather conditions and how many gobbles I heard," Clay said. "Some days, turkeys just refuse to gobble. Other days they light up the woods. I was never able to determine that weather conditions make any difference to the birds.

"Gobbling is the neatest sound in the spring woods, but you should never get discouraged when turkeys aren't gobbling. The more a tom gobbles, the worse it is for you because he's attracting real hens as well as other hunters."