Turkey Calls

          Perhaps one of the most important things to know when turkey hunting is how to call, and, almost more importantly, when to call.  But first off let me define “calling” for those who don’t completely understand/are new to the subject of hunting.  Calling it the “art” of mimicking the sounds an animal makes, the philosophy behind it is that if you can mimic the animal well enough, it will make other animals want to seek you out and join you; or in the case of turkey hunting, mate with you.  In order for you to call one must purchase one, or multiple of many different types of calls. These calls come in many different shapes and sizes.  There are diaphragm calls that you put in your mouth and blow air over thus creating the “cluck” that female turkeys create that attracts the male “gobblers”.  The science behind it is a thin piece of latex that is stretched  across a “U” shaped mouth piece so when air passes over it, it vibrates (similar to using a blade of grass to whistle).  The upside of this call is that it requires very little movement to use.  This makes it very useful when in clutch situations and the bird is just out of shooting range however would still be able to see you if you moved.  It is also used to get the bird to pause long enough to get a shot off.  The cons of this call is that it is not nearly as loud or clear as the box or slate call, making it very hard for birds that are further away to hear.  Below is a picture of one such call.

              

          My personal favorite the box call is simply that, a box with a lid that is pulled side to side making the “cluck” of a female hen.  The way the box vocalizes is using the edge of the box which is cut on an angle so the edge of it looks like an upside down “V” and the curved lid that is pushed across this edge.  The pros of this call are that it is extremely loud and clear.  This allows one to call in birds from miles around, usually gobbling all the way there.  The cons of this call are that it is an extremely visible call so once you can see the birds, they can see you, and the only thing “protecting” you is your camouflage.  At this point it would be wise to use the diaphragm call discussed earlier.  Another thing that will render these calls useless is water.  The calls require chalk to function well and sound clear, when they get wet the chalk washes away and the wood expands and softens.  If the call is used at this point it will tear the edges of the box apart not allowing it to be used again because the edge won’t be there anymore.  Below is a picture of one such call.

                TO BE CONTINUED