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Knight & Hale pro staff member Mark Prudhomme is scary good with almost any type of turkey call he picks up. However, when you hear him hit that first note on his Signature Series owl call, you immediately realize that things just got real. With countless owl-calling championships and years of true turkey hunting experience under his belt, Mark can definitely teach us a thing or two about shock-calling. Here are three quick-hitting tips from the master himself that will enable you to get the most out of your owl call this season.  

Shock-Calling Tip 1: Give Him A Single Dose

For starters, hit gobblers with one extended note to break the ice and make contact. In many cases, this single, lengthy hoot will be all it takes to wake that longbeard up and trigger a response right off the limb. It’s important to remember that opening up with a series of several hoots can potentially prevent you from hearing that initial gobble over your own calling.

Shock-Calling Tip 2: Talk The Talk

If the single dose doesn’t get the job done, switch over to the standard 9-note cadence of the barred owl - Who Cooks For You, Who Cooks For You All. Try to roll your tongue at the end of the last note to give it that signature stuttering purr. Listening to actual owls and practicing with your call can make a big difference in the woods, because it adds realism to your calling.

Shock-Calling Tip 3: Fire Them Up

Get more aggressive and go with a calling sequence that includes a series of barred owl laughs. This high-impact tactic will often make a tight-beaked gobbler lose it on the limb. Throwing the laugh into the mix can get a gobbler fired-up, or even generate a spirited conversation between actual barred owls in the area. This makes your job that much easier, because having several owls hooting and laughing ultimately covers more distance and drives longbeards absolutely crazy.