Are Cutts, Clucks and Putts the same?

barry · Post by **barry** » November 1st, 2012, 4:49 pm

The following is from an article by a renowned turkey expert. What's your opinion?

“A cluck is a soft sound; a sound of contentment. As that turkey gets more excited, it starts putting. It’s a sound with more emotion to it. Putting is excited clucking, and cutting is excited putting. It’s all the same sound."

GobbleNut · Post by **GobbleNut** » November 1st, 2012, 5:27 pm

The difference is like someone saying "fire" on the firing line of a shooting range as compared to someone yelling "fire" in a movie theater. The sound is basically the same, but the meaning is totally different. Although we humans sometimes do, turkeys usually have no problem diffentiating between a cluck, a cutt, and a surefire putt.

I once watched a group of eleven gobblers and five jakes strutting in a group one morning from about twenty yards away. They were doing their pre-breeding-season dominance sorting as they fed and making an array of sounds. Many of them had been doing all sorts of clucking,...from contented to more aggressive stuff. All of a sudden one of them made a cluck that sounded just the same to me, but every gobbler came to full alert all at once. They looked around for just a second or two and went right back to what they were doing again. It was obvious that one of them had made a sound that sounded like an alarm putt to the others.

I was filming the whole time and have gone back a number of times to review that sequence. I have never figured out why those gobblers thought that one cluck was different from the rest, but every one of them knew it from the second the one gobbler made that sound.

guesswho · Post by **guesswho** » November 1st, 2012, 6:33 pm

barry wrote:The following is from an article by a renowned turkey expert. What's your opinion?

I think he or she may be tone deaf and may not really know what the cluck their talking about.

Turkey Talker · Post by **Turkey Talker** » November 1st, 2012, 7:39 pm

They are not the same

drenalinld · Post by **drenalinld** » November 1st, 2012, 7:42 pm

When they make sharp cutts followed by running or flying, I assume it was alarm putts???

ICDEDTURKES · Post by **ICDEDTURKES** » November 1st, 2012, 8:50 pm

barry wrote:The following is from an article by a renowned turkey expert. What's your opinion?

“A cluck is a soft sound; a sound of contentment. As that turkey gets more excited, it starts putting. It’s a sound with more emotion to it. Putting is excited clucking, and cutting is excited putting. It’s all the same sound."

Albeit I love Ray Eye, and his teachings. I do not agree with him on this.. Having read this many times and heard him preach it many times, I think he is trying to simply it so the average hunter is not concerned with making an alarm sound... Another perspective, may be that many hunters called the cluck, the putt years ago.

I think everyone can agree the "cluck" and "cut" are very similar.. But with each hen the tone and excitement can vary.. And with cutting the intensity of clucks intensifies with cutting.

Some say the putt is the rhythm or body language that it is put into it.. But I can assure you, ONE putt, without me seeing the turkey and I can tell you Oh **** we are busted.. I cannot describe the tonal difference, but recognize it in one note..Even a gobbler doing searching clucks is much different than a putt. I cannot say i have ever heard a caller duplicate this tone to a T.

dirt road ninja · Post by **dirt road ninja** » November 1st, 2012, 9:13 pm

drenalinld wrote:When they make sharp cutts followed by running or flying, I assume it was alarm putts???

This cracked me up. I assume the same! Great stuff!

Hognutz · Post by **Hognutz** » November 1st, 2012, 9:58 pm

Here is my two cents worth. Putts can be on both ends of the spectrum. They can be inquisitive and they can be the last thing you hear from them. A cluck, to me, is a happy sound that they make when they are content..And the cutt is an excited call when they get a little anxious and or rambunctious. I think that they are three related, but certainly separate calls..

TRKYHTR · Post by **TRKYHTR** » November 1st, 2012, 10:11 pm

I have to disagree to a certain degree. All of us turkey hunters at some point have gotten busted by a turkey while out hunting. I don't think the noise that they make when they leave in a hurry would be considered cutting. That article would suggest that. I think turkeys do vary their sound when excited just like we do. I believe there is a difference between a cluck and a putt. Putts can be inquisitive and alarming but they are still putts, sharp quick higher pitched notes. Clucks are softer and more content but can get exciting which I believe to be cutting. I also believe that a turkeys flydown to be of the clucking/cutting variety and not the putting variety. Unless they are scared from their tree. Just my .02.

TRKYHTR

Post by **Hoobilly** » November 1st, 2012, 10:46 pm

ICDEDTURKES wrote:
barry wrote:The following is from an article by a renowned turkey expert. What's your opinion?

“A cluck is a soft sound; a sound of contentment. As that turkey gets more excited, it starts putting. It’s a sound with more emotion to it. Putting is excited clucking, and cutting is excited putting. It’s all the same sound."
Albeit I love Ray Eye, and his teachings. I do not agree with him on this.. Having read this many times and heard him preach it many times, I think he is trying to simply it so the average hunter is not concerned with making an alarm sound... Another perspective, may be that many hunters called the cluck, the putt years ago.

I think everyone can agree the "cluck" and "cut" are very similar.. But with each hen the tone and excitement can vary.. And with cutting the intensity of clucks intensifies with cutting.

Some say the putt is the rhythm or body language that it is put into it.. But I can assure you, ONE putt, without me seeing the turkey and I can tell you Oh **** we are busted.. I cannot describe the tonal difference, but recognize it in one note..Even a gobbler doing searching clucks is much different than a putt. I cannot say i have ever heard a caller duplicate this tone to a T.

been there with the "gig is up" putt

gblack15 · Post by **gblack15** » November 2nd, 2012, 9:11 am

This is what is awesome about this forum.

pdqt · Post by **pdqt** » November 2nd, 2012, 9:08 pm

So I gather from this topic, a cutt and a cackle are the same thing? I have heard them "cutt" or "cackle" when flying up, down, and when flying from a dog. Some how I think they can tell the differance, just like a cluck, or a putt.
I know some people cutt when they are calling. What do you think that means, or conveys to the bird!!! GO AHEAD AND TEACH AN OLD MAN SOMETHING.

hawglips · Post by **hawglips** » November 3rd, 2012, 6:11 am

It's just us humans trying to describe sounds made by turkeys with our language. Whatever you choose to call it, there is a difference.

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