Ever since the first Spittin’ Feathers CD, I have been hooked on the idea of recording turkeys. Mike Battey’s work was groundbreaking, and to this day he’s got some of the best recordings I’ve ever heard. About 5 years ago, I started seriously working on doing recordings of my own.
Everyone has their own angle on turkey hunting. Some get off on making tight patterns with their shotguns. Some people are all into making calls. Me? My favorite end of turkey hunting is making recordings, and my season starts about a month and a half before the Spring Gobbler Season, when the turkeys are just coming out of their winter flocks.
During season, it is really simple to keep a Digital Audio Recorder handy and running, so besides turkey sounds, I also record my hunts.
How to Listen:
UPDATE: You can just click on the links now; there’s enough bandwidth. However, I’ll keep PLAN A and B up for folks that have trouble.
PLAN A: Probably the best way to listen to one of these podcasts is to first click on the post. In the post is a link to the podcast itself. Right click on that and then Save As to your local hard drive. The podcasts are in .MP3 format and can be played from any device. I limit them to under 15 minutes or so per segment. My server is with FatCow.com and the performance is bovine to say the least.
PLAN B: Yes, you can just click on the link and it will play off the server, but it can get frustrating. Try it both ways and see what you think. A lot depends on the type of connection you have. Down at camp, the tin cans need to be brushed extra clean and the string needs to be pulled extra tight to get a consistent play directly off the server. It also requires that I be holding onto the cold water pipe when I click the mouse.
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The Podcast Library
PODCAST: Encounter at Dead Skunk Hollow
Last Sunday, I was able to get out one last time and record material for a podcast before season starts. Actually, it was KY’s Yute Season, but my Yute was with her mother and was unavailable for hunting with her grandpa. It was a shame. I seldom see turkeys this active on the weekend before the start of Spring Gobbler Season.I witnessed two things I have never seen before. First off, just before sunrise, I noticed my glasses were getting dirty. When I got them off, they were wet. After I put them back on, I realized I was seeing … More . . .
PODCAST: Foxtrot Charlie @ The Honey Hole
Foxtrot Charlie is a buddy of mine. He’s been a big game hunter for decades, and only recently got interested in domestic offerings. I invited him to Deer Camp last fall. He had a ball. I invited him out for Spring Gobbler. He came out with me to the Honey Hole to get his first introduction to the hardest game on the North American Continent. Here is my 90+ minute visit with him while we listened to the turkeys doing their thing. Podcast — Foxtrot Charlie @ The Honey Hole Views: 6 Related posts: Requiem for the Honey Hole PODCAST: … More . . .
PODCAST: Peyton Place At the Honey Hole
This was my first time out to the Honey Hole this year. The turkeys have been very active due to a warm end to the winter. I had hens and gobblers sounding off over a 10 acre patch with me in the middle. It was a wild morning. I even had a hen pitch down off the roost and walk right up my back side. So here is the Podcast. I hope you enjoy it. Podcast — Peyton Place @ The Honey Hole Views: 10 Related posts: Requiem for the Honey Hole Turkey Season Transitions PODCAST: Gobblers at the Honey … More . . .
PODCAST: T-Minus One Week at the Honey Hole
It was a bit windy, but I made it out to the Honey Hole. I was surrounded by gobblers and hens. At one point, the nearest gob flew down from his roost about 50 yards from me and made a beeline over to some rowdy hens. When I left them, there was love in the air. So here is the Podcast. I hope you enjoy it. Podcast — T-Minus 1Week Just click on the link above to listen In other doings, Angus and Moose are down for the weekend getting chores done. I gave Moose a pop-up blind for Christmas. … More . . .
PODCAST: Back at the Honey Hole
It was good to be back at the Honey Hole. Frankly, it’s just a good time to BE. I managed to connect with some gobblers, including the latest incarnation of the Virginia Rambler. So here is the Podcast. I hope you enjoy it. Podcast — First Time Back Just click on the link above to listen  I’m down at Turkey Camp awaiting the arrival of Daddy Moose and the “Stone Cold Turkey Killer.” Mooselette will be going out for her first Yute hunt as an actual hunter. I’m killing time in the rain at the moment, but I managed … More . . .
PODCAST: The Virginia Rambler Goes Down
This did not take a whole lot of editing, but it turned out pretty well. I was out earlier today in the fog and managed to bring a gobbler in and close the deal. Some quick notes. First off, the extraneous pops and cracks is water dripping off the trees. The fog was extremely thick. Second, I sound like I’m on death’s door throughout the podcast. It was just that I was a tad wheezie from all the fog. I actually feel better than I’ve felt in 5 years. Don’t worry. I still feel fine. For close to twenty years … More . . .
PODCAST: Closing the Deal
This is the first podcast of 2022, and it is a good one. I got out to the Honey Hole just as a roost of hens to my left was pitching woo to a roost of gobblers to my right. Over a half-hour the loudest gob and the most vocal hen decided to hook up. The gobbler practically ran the hundred or so yards between the roost trees, and met up with the hen and her girlfriends at the base of their roost. The deal got closed. I just let the audio roll without comment. I hope you enjoy it. … More . . .
PODCAST: Another Galloping Gobbler
I’ve got a theory about gobblers. It is all about gobblers’ personalities. You see, I’ve been watching many generations of turkeys live and die on the property. Some traits, like the motor-mouthed trait that I first saw in Mister Moto, seem to be genetic. However, there are some traits that seem to go with the land. If a gobbler starts inhabiting a given section of property, they seem to inherit the traits of gobblers that have come before him. That is how I seem to have many Mister Naturals that all seem to select that same strut zone out behind … More . . .
PODCAST: A Little Bit of Everything
I finally got enough audio for a podcast. The turkeys have not been cooperating this year. This AM, I managed to catch them at the Honey Hole. It’s a long one, and it has a bunch of gobblers, hens and crows sounding off. This is one you’ll want to just lay back and listen to. Just click on this link: Podcast –At the Honey Hole, 2021 Views: 8 Related posts: PODCAST: Closing the Deal PODCAST: Return to the Honey Hole 2018 PODCAST: Another Galloping Gobbler PODCAST: Gobblers at the Honey Hole PODCAST: The Kitchen Sink at the Honey … More . . .
PODCAST: Yute Hunt 2020
This should have been a triumphant announcement. Mooselette had shot her first gobbler. However, a worldwide pandemic interfered. It was just not to be. Okay, I can live with that. I went out alone this AM with the umbrella mic, ready to record some more stuff– hopefully enough for another podcast. For the second week in a row, a gobbler keyed on the mic and came running up. This time, a gobbler on his way to meet a hen calling off the property, came right by my set-up at the Honey Hole. You can hear him spitting and drumming right … More . . .
PODCAST: The Mistaken Gobbler
We had a hard rain and thunder on Friday night. However, it was still in the low Sixties when I got up. I had to wear a short-sleeved shirt out to the Honey Hole and still managed to work up a decent sweat. I rounded the last curve in the track– had the gate to the field in sight. “Gobble!” There was a gobbler that seemed perhaps 60 yards away, perhaps only 40 yards away from the Honey Hole itself. I was shielded by a large cedar. I decided to set up the umbrella mic in the middle of the … More . . .
PODCAST: The Kitchen Sink at the Honey Hole
I was not expecting all that much this morning. I just wanted to get out with my recording equipment and make sure everything was ready for the upcoming season. I really enjoy recording the turkeys and if I could walk away with some sound, any sound, it would be fine. I went out to the Honey Hole. I had not been that far out at the farm since the first week in December. I heard a couple of gobbles on the way, but nothing like I was going to hear once I got settled in. Yikes! What you will hear … More . . .
PODCAST: The End of Pepe LePew
I was missing some pieces, so it took extra long to assemble the podcast from the hunt yesterday. The reason for the name is that the gobbler chased a unwilling hen about 400 yards, trying to mount her unsuccessfully. I couldn’t figure out why this gobbler was zig-zagging in and out of the pasture and the adjacent woods, until I saw the hen. His over-zealous attempts at mounting her eventually led to his demise. I’m convinced the hen came towards me, because she was trying to fob him off on a more willing female. The original recording lasted well over … More . . .
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