Turkey calls

[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.

[TOOL MAN]

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.

[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.