A very effective call sequence that I like to deploy in the turkey woods is the flydown cackle. Oftentimes (but certainly not always) a hen will erupt with an excited rapid-fire type sequence of cut like calls when flying down from the roost. She may cackle when flying across a swamp or a fence or even just to jump over a log along her path. Who knows why the rhyme and reason for it all? One thing is certain however if you spend some time in spring turkey woods, you’ll hear some cackling. For this reason, it is important to know how to imitate the cackle of a hen turkey. Now this is not a difficult call sequence to perform and a box call, mouth call, push pin call and even a slate call can all do the trick. I personally like to utilize a diaphragm mouth call like the Ol’ Delilah, which is a three reed combo cut. This frees my hands up for things like, well shooting! Furthermore calling in gobblers sometimes requires some associated sounds that can add to the realism of your calling sequences. This brings us to the meat and potatoes of this article which is about using a wing during your flydown cackles. As a kid I recall being out with those folks I learned the ropes with and would see them remove their hat and use it to emulate the sound of a turkey's wings flapping as they delivered a staccato burst of excited hen sounds. This totally made sense to me as to why this would be a good way to garnish an already effective sound. I utilized this same tactic up until the early 2000s when I added an actual wing to my vest. The coarse tips and stiff shafts of the feathers open up a whole new spectrum of realistic sounds that a hunter can bring into his or her early morning delivery. One of the best longbeards I’ve taken to date, I hunted for four days straight. I had him and his harem within 60 to 80 yards on a few occasions over those days. But he was not falling for my scheme it seemed. On the fourth morning, I slipped in there tight on him and the only call I used was a real wing. Once he lit off and began letting his ladies know it was time to wake up. I gently drug the tips of the wings down the bark of the tree behind me. He acknowledged with a thunderous eastern gobble. I waited a few moments and duplicated the same scenario. I used the wing to then create a flydown without the cackles and created the image in his mind that one of his girlfriends was right about where he expected her to be. Within a few short moments, he was in view, and rest is, as they say, History! Adding a wing to your vest for Spring Gobbler can open up a cache of new sounds that have proven successful. There are a few commercial options that may do the trick. Yet another good alternative is to prepare yourself one with an actual wild turkey wing. Now if you're still trying to get that first bird under your belt, You may have to find a friend that has harvested a bird. Either way, below you will find some tips on preparing yourself a wing call to tie onto your vest and hopefully, aid in bringing a gobbler out on your back come next April. Good Luck & Make Him Gobble!
Edward McKellar
Get your hands on a wing. After you or a friend harvest a bird then most everything you need is available. First decide if you want a left hand or right hand functioning wing. For me, I am right hand dominate so I prefer using the turkey’s right-wing.
Next, you will need to remove only the section that holds the primary wing feathers. There is a joint that connects the radius & ulna to the section with the first and second digits as they are called. You can use a strong bladed, sharp knife or quickly cut through with a good pair of diagonal cutters.
At this point, you’ll need a sharp knife like a scalpel or X-acto. There is a small amount of soft tissue that should be removed in between these digits to speed the curing along with a host of other benefits. Though some folks choose to let them dry just as they are.
DO NOT detach the feathers from the digits here!
After removing this tissue I put a small amount of borax into the void left.
The wingtip will have a natural shape and I usually tape it with masking tape and hang it up for several weeks to cure. Upon drying the feathers will be firmly affixed into a natural shape and perfect for making the sound of a turkey's wings to fly down.
After completely drying, Use a sharp drill bit to quickly punch a hole between the bones in the first digit.
Run a string about 24” long through there and tie a sturdy knot onto it.
Now you can either attach a clip of some sort so it can attach to and from your vest or just tie it off. I prefer keeping mine fastened to my vest as often times I will not put it away until after I get up from the tree in the morning. Sometimes this may be in a hurry as I dash towards a flopping bird.
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