Push-Pin to the Rescue

For a lot of turkey hunters, a push-pin type call is the first call they master. Once they get on something else, they leave the push-pin behind. Yeah, I get it. A push-pin is kind of limited, but it does work. I especially like it for the terminal phase– for those last few calls before the gobbler sticks his head out.

I’m passable with a mouth call. However, I always place a push-pin next to my right hip. I can’t count the times I:

a) had the mouth call out of my mouth
b) had a turkey hang up just out of range
c) had a hen show up at the last minute.

Sometimes it’s an emergency play. Sometimes it’s strategy. I can let my right hand fall down off the trigger and give a little pull on the push-pin. Sometimes it’s to back up my mouth call. Sometimes it’s to add a voice to the presentation to deal with a gobbler just hung up out of range. A pushpin is also my answer to hens intruding at the wrong moment. I can’t purr all that well with a mouth call. However, I can make any kind of purr I want with the pushpin. Usually, when a hen shows up, I give her the meanest aggressive purr I can. That usually drives off the hen and it also seems to stimulate the gobbler.

This past year, my Gobbler-of-a-Lifetime was only about 20 yards away when he pitched down from the roost.. I was way too close, but I just clammed up and let the hens around him do all the calling. When they moved off into the pasture, they dragged him past me. What call did I use? That Quaker Boy Easy Yelper has been with me since the mid-80s. I didn’t give him much, but it was enough to indicate there was a feeding hen off to his left. As he left the woods, his mind was on that mystery hen.

Full story and podcast here: