How Far Can Turkeys Hear Your Calls?

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

(Photo courtesy of Bob Humphrey) Three of a hunter’s best qualities could be patience, camouflage skills, and understanding of a turkey’s natural tendencies and patterns. A good camouflage will not only help you blend in with your surroundings, but it will also break up your human form. It’s also helpful to have a background the break up or conceal your silhouette.

One of my more important lessons came while trolling down a power-line right-of-way one morning. It was one of my regular haunts, and even though I knew the woods on either side were often home to birds, they seemed to have developed lockjaw all of a sudden. I chose to adopt a run-and-gun tactic, making stops along the way as I hiked down the swath in an effort to hit a bird with my box call. Still, my efforts were proving largely ineffective.

As I neared the top of a rise, I stopped once more, unlimbered my favorite “boat paddle,” and prepared to let out a barrage of loud shouts when I glanced down my back trail. About a quarter of a mile behind me, I noticed what at first glance looked like a trash bag belonging to a contractor blowing in the wind. About thirty minutes had passed since I had stopped to make a phone call, and a quick glance through my binoculars showed that it was Old Tom, walking full speed ahead.

Though there’s not a lot of science to quantify it, we know wild turkeys have very keen hearing. It is not so much their ability to hear, but how they use it that is most remarkable. As stated earlier, they have an amazing ability to recognize sounds and pinpoint the exact place where they originate. That day on the power line confirmed what I had later seen many times over the years, even though I had seen it before. I’m positive that if a bird is inclined to do so, once it hears your call, it will find you exactly.

“IF YOU LOVE WILDLIFE AND WANT TO IMPROVE HABITAT SUBSCRIBE TODAY!”

Here, as in most turkey hunting situations, patience is the key. Most hunters nowadays, myself included, prefer a run-and-gun style of hunting. “If it’s not happening here, I’ll go some-where else and make it happen. ” And it works, sometimes.

(photo by Tes Jolly) Just because you don’t hear him, doesn’t mean he doesn’t hear you. He may be coming to you silently – this is when patience pays off. All too often, after leaving a set-up, a hunter returns to find a “strutter” fanned out exactly where they were set up. Turkeys typically aren’t in a hurry.

Just as often you might be better off going “old school. Just because you can’t hear them doesn’t mean they’re not there or that they won’t respond, even if they are silent. If you scouted sufficiently, you know they should be there somewhere. Sit down, yelp three times on a box call and wait a half hour, or more. Then repeat. If the bird does eventually move silently into range, it will still be a dead bird, even though it might not have the same thrill as a gobbling, strutting bird approaching your decoy with courage.

As evidenced by their large vocabulary, wild turkeys have mastered both the ability to identify the source of those sounds and to understand them. What to us sounds like little more than turkey noise represents a diverse range of messages.

Yelps, clucks and purrs all convey different messages, which can also vary with tone and inflection. Turkey calling is the topic of countless books and articles, so we can’t go into too much detail. In conclusion, you must learn Turkish fluently through listening and observation if you wish to benefit from it. And that’s not even their keenest sense.

The most complex retina of any vertebrae is typically found in birds, despite the lack of research on the vision of wild turkeys in particular (photo by Tes Jolly). The single cone photoreceptor in a gobbler is spectrally sensitive to wavelengths which are approximately 400 nm in wavelength in the ultraviolet light range.

The fabled sight of the wild turkey can be attested to by anyone who has ever moved unintentionally at the wrong time. First, the basics: with a slight head turn, their 300-degree stationary field of vision can be extended to a full 360 degrees. So you’re not going to sneak up behind them. Additionally, because of head movement, they are still able to recognize spatial objects more accurately than predators despite lacking the predators’ superior binocular vision, which is provided by forward-facing eyes.

Surprisingly, far less research has been done on the eyesight of turkeys com-pared to that of deer. Because of their response to changes in the color of the head and neck appendages and our occasional inability to hide ourselves and our instruments, we are aware that they are color-blind. According to a Scientific American article, the turkey’s retina has seven different types of photoreceptors. Unlike deer, which are crepuscular, turkeys are diurnal, meaning they’re most active during daylight. They may be able to see in low light almost as well as humans thanks to their single rod’s light sensitivity. However, they have six different kinds of cones, two of which are actually “double cones,” in contrast to humans who only have four. Additionally, according to the article, one of those cones has a spectral sensitivity in the UVA light range, but I was unable to find any evidence to support this claim. At the very least, that makes blue and purple very bad colors to wear while turkey hunting. Furthermore, it is recommended that you avoid using ordinary household detergents that contain fabric brighteners and instead wash your hunting clothes under a UV lamp to see if they glow.

Their high magnification does not fully account for their visual acuity; rather, it is primarily explained by their rapid movement detection and detail processing skills. Turkeys’ senses are even more developed than those of other birds because they spend the majority of their time on the ground, where they have developed over eons of avoiding predators.

Your first, best defense in overcoming them is good camo. As a result, patterns like Mossy Oak Obsession were made to obfuscate the distinctions between man-made and natural settings, like spring woodlands. That means camo from head to toe, and specific attention to detail. Shining brass grommets on leather boots or the sun reflecting off a polished blue shotgun barrel could be more than enough to draw attention to you.

“SUBSCRIBE NOW! BECOMING A GAMEKEEPER IS THE BEST LIFE. NOT JUST THE BEST WAY TO PRODUCE GREAT HUNTING!” ” .

And you’ve got to remain as motionless as possible. If you can see them, they can see you. Often, even when you can’t, they can. Turkeys, in contrast to humans, lack a sense of urgency. When they perceive any kind of threat, they will freeze for what can occasionally seem like an excruciatingly long amount of time. Don’t sneeze, don’t swat that mosquito, and don’t shift your weight. Even the heavy breathing and nervous shaking of an excited hunter could be enough to give you away.

The more you know about a turkey’s senses, the better your chances of “neutralizing” them. Wait until his fan obscures his vision or until his head vanishes behind a tree or other obstruction before making a last-minute adjustment to a strutting tom. Otherwise, move SLOWLY.

Sometimes you have no choice. Additionally, turkeys have an incredible knack for landing on the incorrect side—or, conversely, the right side if you’re a right-handed shooter—though this is probably more of a coincidence than a deliberate attempt. You can’t beat them on the draw, so trying to move quickly into a better shooting position will almost always end in failure. This could lead to a miss, no shot, or worse, a wounded bird. If you must move, move slowly. Even though it will still recognize you, if you’re lucky, the bird may pause to take in what it’s seeing. If you need to move and they’re in the open, move while they’re moving.

You stop when they stop. Then, wait for them to move again before continuing. Even better, if you can, wait until they are hidden by a tree or until a strutting fan obstructs your view.

A “Bird-Brain” With Senses So Acute It Makes Them Seem Clever

Bob Humphrey | Originally published in GameKeepers: Farming for Wildlife Magazine. To subscribe, click here.

(photo by Tes Jolly) A wild turkey’s hearing is remarkable. It is not so much their ability to hear, but how they use it. They have an amazing ability to hear sounds at a considerable distance and to pinpoint the exact location of the sound’s source. Their eyesight is possibly even more acute. When their head is motionless, their field of vision is about 300 degrees, and they most likely have far better color vision than humans.

How come, more often than not, a bird with a brain the size of a walnut defeats us?

I first struck the bird from a long way off. A few loud knocks on a box call resulted in a cooperative gobble, and a few more gave us the impression he was actually moving in our direction. We took up position immediately, shoulder to shoulder, at the base of a big live oak. I instructed my partner to raise his gun to his knee and point his left shoulder in the direction of the bird.

The bird responded aggressively for some time before characteristically going quiet. While my accomplice grew increasingly restless, I strained eyes and ears for any trace of the turkey. The deep, resonant boom of a strutting tom was close, but he didn’t hear it. Then I spied the tips of a tail fan just over the rise in front of us. “Don’t move. Don’t even breathe,” I whispered emphatically.

As a guide, I’ve had the honor of being present for many first encounters between hunters and the undisputed “king of North American game birds.” ” ” Not all turned out as hoped, but that’s part of the game. One of the many things I’ve learned is that a novice hunter should never undervalue a wild turkey’s keen senses. They rarely march obligingly in, and you’ll probably miss the shot if you wait until they’re almost in. Move now and you’ll be left with little more than a lesson on what not to do.

“IT’S ABOUT CREATING A LEGACY FOR ALL FUTURE GENERATIONS. SUBSCRIBE TODAY!”

It is often said of turkeys, “If they could smell you, you’d never kill them. Maybe, but the senses they do have are among the best in the natural world, having evolved over eons of natural selection to ensure the species’ survival. Even novice hunters occasionally encounter a “foolish” bird that makes them feel like a hero. But to be successful more often, you have to study your target, find their benefits and drawbacks, and come up with plans to capitalize on them. The best learned lessons often come only with experience and frequently failure. Fortunately, those long, scaly legs do have a few “Achilles’ heels. ”.

Mistakes You Make After Hearing A Turkey Gobble

FAQ

How far can a turkey hear my call?

Do turkeys have good hearing?

What is the hearing frequency of a turkey?

How good can a turkey see?