Originally Posted by Bustinbeards
Originally Posted by hawglips
Originally Posted by BhamFred
if you leave before the bird comes in there is no harm/no foul. Just the act of calling isn't going to spook a bird. Calling him up and letting him see you is a different story...


Exactly.


What about the silent birds that slip up on you like ghosts, the ones that you never knew we're in the area? Lots of birds like that on public lands.


The guy I'm talking about hides and doesn't let them see him. So, he never spooks them. And he calls just like a live hen. I am not exaggerating to say that he averages better than 1 bird every 2 times out hunting. So, it apparently works very well for him.

I don't like to go into the areas I'm planning on to hunt before the season. I live too far from them to do that much anyway. I don't typically like them to have any idea humans are around until I squeeze the trigger come time to hunt. Human activity is not good if the idea is have the turkeys be at ease, IMO. But sometimes I need to know if there are any birds around. So I will call before the season if the need is right, which is not very often.