They hang out in a small orchard, the old lady that owns the orchard and the other old lady that live next door hate the birds. They are very predictable, King Tut is over there strutting evry day in the open part of the feild between the two orchard blocks. I can stop and watch their antics with my binoculars, in fact...this morning I am going to take my gobble call and see how they reply. I have two Toms in my yard and they really respond to it. I havent really ever used it for hunting, but I might this year. I use the same little 6" Carlton friction box every year, and it has always worked for me, I can do fairly good with a mouth call, but if I am 30 yds from a bird in a tree, I really trust that box to bring him down right in front of me. Just a few soft clucks and leave it alone. I have also been thinking of trying some of the other sounds (not everybody knows about these) When Toms are strutting, they make a spitting sound followed by rattling thier feathers....it almost sounds sonic. I can do the spitting sound, but the rattle is tricky, I can almost get it right with my mouth. I had an idea to try and imitate it....remember the old child game with a button on a string? You twirl the button between your hands, and then pull the string tight at the ends, and it goes B-r-r-r-r-r-.
These sounds are very quiet, you have to be close to a Turkey to hear them, but I have been amazed at what they hear, I have been 50m yds away and just try to open a pocket to get my mask and they gobble. I am sure they hear better than we do.
