Leaf Scratching Question

BuckFever1613

Senior Member
After reading the post about leaf scratching i have decided this may be a call i want to do.. My question is how exactly do you do it. do you just gently slide your hand through leaves or is it an agreesive slide or what. if anyone has any info for how to better do this technique please let me know.
 

Randy

Senior Member
Have you ever watched a turkey feed? It is a scratch scratch, pause, scratch scratch, pause type rythem.
 

wack em

Senior Member
How hard you do it may depend on how far away the bird you are calling to is, If a bird is 100 yards out i am throwin some leaves pretty good, and you better bet they are hearing it. If a bird is at 25 yards but just over the hill and i need him to take a few more steps i just barely roll the leaves. Remember to scratch leaves some movement is required, so be careful when that big tom gets in close.
 

whchunter

Senior Member
Scratching

To heck with a bobble head decoy. I'm going to build a scratch decoy :smash:
 

blindhog

Senior Member
Also a longer pause between scratches may help. If each scratch produces more food they will have to peck longer between scratches, not that a gobbler has food on his mind, but mama hen might.
 

Booner Killa

Senior Member
I'm gonna tell ya, that's the best call in the arsenal right there. If he locks up just out of sight, scratch semi-agressively and he won't be able to stand it. Turkeys will get loud scratching. I almost closed the deal on one Fri morning and that was all we did after we struck him and set up and they can hear a lot farther than you think they can.
 

neckringer

Senior Member
yup.scratchin works.
people also dont realize how many times a bird gobbles at them just for walking!!!
 
I killed my biggest to date last year with a flap-n-scratch. It is a small bag with some sort of plastic bag or something, but it sounds just like leafs. It has worked not only for my hunt but for many of my buddies as well. I did a tread on this call back months ago, search Flap-N-Scratch!
 

hambone44

Senior Member
As posted in the thread, I usually scratch just as a turkey would. As I stated, it is obviously a call for close quarters, but a very believable and productive one when standard calling fails.

Act as if your hand is the turkey's foot and using your four fingertips(excluding your thumb), reach out a bit and pull the leaves (hopefully nice dry big leaves) backwards rather quickly in a sweeping motion and as you pull sort of lift your hand such to "toss" the pile. Then, sweep the pile forward the same way then back again right behind that one, then forward again...the end result should be "scratch...scratchscratch...scratch...the last little scratch is often done off balance by a turkey..and is not as loud and forceful as the first 3, but honestly,
as long as it is a fairly rapid 2 or 3 scratches, and the gobbler can hear it, (and then throw in a very soft cluck or 2, put the call down and get ready), it should work fine.

Turkeys can hear so unbelievably good...you can believe you WERE heard, don't overdo..just a sequence or three will usually do. :fine:
 

ALLBEEF

Senior Member
:huh: Sometimes I use a tree branch to scratch with - never had it work though- guess thats the reason- I ain't using my hand.:huh:
 

Ricochet

Senior Member
scratching in action (see Jake in pic)

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This place looks like someone came in with a rake and cleared off all the leaves now.
 
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