Turkey calls

[Phillip Carr]

I am looking to purchase a Slate turkey call and thought I would ask the advice of the turkey hunters on the Parker site which calls they have found to be of excellent quality and sound the best. I went on line to see what I could find, but there are way too many calls. A guy could go broke buying calls trying to find the right ones. I know that like many things it can be just a matter of personal preference, but I am hoping there are some turkey hunters here that can help me to purchase a good call. Feel free to PM if you prefer.
Thanks in advance,
Phil

[Dean Romig]

I like a mouth diaphragm and a box call. For me, it is too easy to make a mistake with a slate or glass call. Just a minor tap of your stick on the surface (works like a megaphone) will send nearby turkeys to distant cover. Just my HO... others will have different experience.

[Todd Schrock]

Phil, I have been using Cane Creek Calls by Doug Adkin in Kentucky for the past 15 years. His Pro Custom Slate, friction call, is one call I rely on. The web site is canecreekcalls.com. Doug will run a call for you over the phone so you can hear its sound or he will spend as much time as you need to figure out what you are wanting in a call.
I also use some custom calls made by Tim Sanford in Florida. Rutnstrutgamecalls.com is his web site. He also will spend as much time as needed to make your call like you want. His calls have also been my go to calls for the past 15 plus years of turkey hunting.
Todd

[Mills Morrison]

I use a slate call, but I think the important thing is finding the call that works for you. I have a big collection of calls as a result of looking for just the right one.

[Wayne Johnson]

I'm really enjoying this forum. If nothing else, it helps me take some trips down memory lane. If I tend to ramble at times, forgive me, or tell me to just shut up.

I've never done any turkey hunting, but I might have to give it a try this spring just to have an excuse to take my Parker out in the woods. Since I know little and nothing about it, I'd be shocked by any success but on the other hand, if I don't kill anything, I don't have to clean it. :) Sort of catch and release hunting. Any morning in the woods is a good morning I suppose. I heard a turkey just yesterday when I stepped out on the porch about first light.

I've got a box call that my grandfather made, I don't know how many years ago, but he's been dead for about forty years. I suppose the call is much older. I never knew him to do any turkey hunting when I was a kid. There weren't even any turkey's around that I knew of.

It's a simple cedar box, about 4x3x1, carved out of a single block of wood. It's got a small piece of slate about 3" long that you rub chalk on, then rub the lips of the box over. It sounds pretty good to me, but then I'm tone deaf as a post.

No help to the original question, I know. :)

[charlie cleveland]

a boxcall is the easist and best call in my opinion.lynch calls made in miss. are my favorite my call is a model 100 made in 1965..its brought a many of a gobbler to his doom...but to be honest i always liked the diaphram mouth calls but i cannot get the hang of it so i stick to the box call..they do have a wet weather one also...but all things aside stick to the one you like best and have the most faith in...im still hunting that majic call myself heck im like mills ive got a tow sack full of them... charlie

[John Taddeo]

I have used Smith box calls for years. Mr. Jim smith would hand tune each of his butternut calls and he strived for a rolling pitch yelp. I met Jim at his shop one day and purchased a few boxes from him and observed as he tuned a box (amazing). He has since sold the rights to his calls to another manufacturer, though should anyone come upon one of his original boxes do not hesitate to buy it. As far as slates, take a look at "Talking Stick" calls.

[Phillip Carr]

Thanks guys for all of the information so far. I guess I really should have asked what is your favorite Box, Slate, or mouth call. Whjat I really want is some calls that experience shows works. Sounds like I have some calls to look at.Turkey calling is something I have not done a lot of but plan on doing a lot more of. I will start my quest today for some calls.

[Steve Cambria]

Phil,

Trust me, it's not the brand of the piano that will get you to Carnegie Hall.
I would get to a Cabela's or Bass Pro,etc. where you can actually try them out.
Pick the one you feel most comfortable with. They'll all call turkeys.

Like any game calling there are 3 ways to become skilled 1) Hang around much better callers than yourself 2) Buy a CD and play it as far away from your wife as humanly possible or 3) Get into the woods and listen to the real thing. Rhythm and tempo are far more critical than any brand name.

I killed my first gobbler on a picturesque ridgetop in Lockwood, NY back in '85.
Used a Paul Butski slate that I bought the evening before at a neat old sporting goods store in Elmira that looked like the back drop for a Norman Rockwell painting. Most likely a Walmart parking lot by now!! Luckily I bought two more on my trip home and have used them ever since! Good hunting.

[tom tutwiler]

Lots of good slate and glass pot call (that's what they call those round calls that use a striker). As important as the call itself is the striker. They come in wood, plastic and all sorts of other materials. Each striker can make a call sound different, and I mean different by a whole bunch. Even strikers that look alike and made with the same material (hickory for example) can sound totally different when used. I think the best thing is buy a couple of well known slate or glass call as well at three of four strikers and then get a DVD of folks showing you how to use and and practice like crazy. I think slate/glass pot calls work real well for Eastern Turkey's. However if you are hunting out in the Midwest and chasing Rio's, IMO you will have better luck with a box call. Wind always blows out that way and you need volume IMO. I think Primo's makes consistent sounding calls over all. I think their Power Crystal is a very consistent and rather cheap call and most folks can use well. I've had one for years and they just plain work imo.

[Bill Murphy]

I don't hunt turkeys, but I carry an Olt's CT-220 cranker in my console to annoy turkeys and groundhogs as I see them on the side of the road. I usually prefer an unaided mouth call for turkey, but the Olt's cranker is a favorite of the groundhogs.

[Mills Morrison]

The problem I have with box calls is getting them to be quiet when they are in my vest. They tend to rub around and make odd sounds. With slate calls, you put the striker in one pocket and the slate in another pocket and that problem is solved. Dean is right, though, that a false strike with the slate call is more obvious to the turkeys. I have not used a diaphragm call, because a friend of ours almost choked to death on one. My Dad and brother swear by them though. I have a wingbone call from my first turkey, but it is too much a work of art to use heavily. You just have to find one that works for you, though.

[Phillip Carr]

I am seeing the turkey calling thing is like SXS shotguns you really need at least a dozen. I always laugh when I hear Jeff Foxworthy response to his wife asking him why he needs another gun.
" Didn't you just buy a gun last week?"
His response, Yes Honey but that was a short range weasel gun, I need a long range weasel gun. LOL