MASTERING TURKEY TALK WITH WILBUR PRIMOS

Cutting, The Wavy Call and The Purr

EDITOR'S NOTE: Turkey hunters understand the basic language of turkeys, but perhaps not the subtleties of that language. Often the subtle variations in the volume, rhythm and pitch of a turkey's call mean just as much as the kind of call it is. Sometimes these variations may mean even more. The most skillful turkey hunters -- the masters of the sport -- know how to add these subtleties to their calling. This week, avid deer and turkey hunter, Wilbur Primos of Jackson, Mississippi, the founder of Primos Game Calls, will share some of his secrets to use turkey talk effectively to attract even the most stubborn birds.

Cutting:
Cutting is what the northern boys have decided to call what hunters in the South have always considered to be excited clucking. The call is still the same. Those Yankee hunters just decided to give it a newer and classier name. Cutting is a series of fast, excited clucks put together to show another degree of a hen's excitement. The best way to explain what cutting means to an old gobbler is to relate it to what can happen at a bar. A man sits on a stool beside a woman he's trying to pick up, and suddenly she gets excited. That's the reason cutting is such a deadly call to use for an older gobbler.

The Wavy Call:
This is another call that's often overlooked by hunters. I use the term wavy because the pitch changes as the call is given, starting on the crest of a wave and then sliding down the side and climbing halfway up the side of the next wave. A hen gives this call when she's extremely content -- when the sun is shining on a spring or a fall day and she's out in the middle of a field, far from danger, chasing crickets or grasshoppers, just happy to be alive. It's a feeding call, and the sound is sort of "Pee-uuuu." I'll use this call with the basic yelps when I'm trying to act unconcerned about a gobbler. I want him to think I could care less whether he comes over to where I am. Then he'll decide he has to influence me and show me just what a fine gobbler he really is, so I'll get excited and be ready to mate with him. When the tom comes over to impress me, that's when I'll take him.

The Purr:
The purr is another contented call of the hen. She doesn't think, "Now I'm going to give a purr," but instead just gives it when she's happy. She's really not conscious of giving the purr. The purr may compare best to a woman's humming. She's not humming because she means anything by it. She's just happy with her situation and her surroundings, and humming is the best way to express her contentment. Many times, you can use the purr early in the morning to communicate to a gobbler that a hen is contented and has no intention of mating. This call will often cause the tom to come to the hen and try to get her interested in him.

What you must remember about using hen calls is the two attitudes a hen turkey may express when she hears a gobbler. One attitude is excitement. She's ready to breed and anxious for the gobbler to come and mate with her. The other is a coy, contented attitude. The hen doesn't really care who the gobbler is or where he is. Often, an old gobbler ready to mate will come to this kind of hen quicker than he will to an aggressive one. But neither technique works on all gobblers. Some toms like the coy type of calling, while others prefer the aggressive, come-on-let's-get-it-on type of calling. Being able to determine which type of calling is best is what separates the master turkey hunters from the novices.