A whole lotta cluckin' and yelpin' goin’ on at the Texas State Turkey Calling Contest last weekend

There was a whole lotta cluckin’ and yelpin’ at the Bryan College Station Texas Best Western goin’ on last weekend at the 2021 Texas State Turkey Calling Contest. Contestants of all ages came from all over to win fabulous prizes and grab their place to compete at the National Championships in Nashville next year.

When you make turkey calling sounds, you speak a second language.

To do so effectively, you need to know the calling sounds to imitate  birds and fool them into range. While roughly thirty call distinctions  can be heard in the wild, fewer than half of these turkey vocalizations  are usually used. Some hunters make just several. Others employ as many  calling strategies as possible.

Many spring gobbler hunters make two basic calls: the plain cluck and  hen yelp. Others include roost clucks and tree yelps (a.k.a. “tree  calling”), fly-down cackles, cutting (loud and fast clucks), lost yelps,  purrs, gobbles — even the kee-kee sounds of young birds to enhance  their turkey calling game.

By making turkey calling sounds while hunting, you can communicate  directly with the spring gobbler you’re after. Other times you can try  to lure a territorial hen into range, hoping this boss bird will drag a  strutting tom along to your gun or bow. Fall birds respond well to  calling too.

Vary the turkey calling sounds you make the same way real birds do.  Listen to turkeys as they call too. They’ll teach you plenty.