Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting Let's Talk "Turkey" A Minute... What call and by who do you like best?

Let's Talk "Turkey" A Minute... What call and by who do you like best?

For me it goes like this:

Mouth Calls = "Woodhaven Custom Calls" and more specifically I like the "Jim Pollard" style, the "Classic V3", and the "Doug Crabtree" style... Very easy to blow, stretched just right, and long lasting...

Crystal Pot= Again, "Woodhaven" with their "Cherry Classic Crystal" and anything put out by New Moon Game Calls, both have their place in my vest and both sound a good bit different but both talk turkey with the best of them.

Glass Pot= I find it mighty hard to beat a Cody Woodsman for quality and price...

Slate Pot= New Moon Game Calls and Woodhaven for this area for sure; depending on the striker used both can be made to sound throaty or high pitched.

Short Box= pick your high dollar poison... Dad's calls are a tough number but it takes a true master of the wood to really make a box sound right; the master is dead - long live the Gobbler but Dad's is a short box.

Long box= talk about pick your poison, rape your wallet; the long box division can eat your back pocket up real fast. American Friction (Bruce Worth) makes a good call for a decent price, yet it'll still set you back a C-Note...

Push Pin= Don't own or use them, never heard one that sounded like anything other than a sick goose.

Scratch Box = Close Calls Butternut scratch box is pretty dang good. I really like it...

Tube Calls = Harry Burkett makes a great tube call; goes by Lavender Mtn.

Wingbone/Trumpet = Can be EXTREMELY pricey but to me it's a winner when using New Moon Game Calls (Alan Sentell) or a Gibson.

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I'm not a call collector, just a serious turkey hunter!

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I bought into a few dozen Cannon Country mouth calls when I was told they were going out of business. I never opened one that didn`t sing. Hard to say that about many brands. Beautiful tone, volume for locating, nice hard cutts for getting one fired up, and purrs to mess him up real good and look over that last hill.

Bud and Betty all the way for glass, I hunted with a really wealthy dude one morning on his place, my only trip. It was 4000 acres almost surrounded by the Hatche river, turkey galore, but my invite was after 4 hunters had about tagged out. We had birds all morning, but he called so much, I kept my calls in my pocket all morning. He finally must have gotten tired or something and left a window of opportunity and I began softly calling, I used the wingbone and glass. Within 10 minutes we had a gobbler step out in the field in range, but all I saw was his head, no beard. He was very strict on what was killed so I passed the shot. We later were locating and I pulled out the glass and this rich dude walked across the gravel road and put his nose right in the plalm of my hand wanting to know what call I was using. Those Bud and Bettys are way ahead of any friction out there and I have ran a bunch of them.

Don`t use or carry a box.

Bought a Bud and Betty scratch box to learn on this spring.

My favorite is the trumpet call, made by a fellow Memphian, F. Cox, he has won the annual call not sure which division but I think 5 blue ribbons at the annual NWTF gatherings. I have a picture of my collection, all are still here with the exception of the wing bone and cane call at the bottom. I ran it and his 3rd box call on e-bay and both sold. The wingbone alone brought $3300.00, the box $3727.77. The same fellow bought them both for a museum in Georgia I am told. Sea Isle, Georgia is where the $7127.77 cashiers check originated. The 2nd call on the right is the sister call, made out of wood that was the last piece from a call Cox made for Dick Kirby, thats pretty cool, and the reason for the tan lanyard, you just don`t get a tan lanyard from him without a good reason.

Love them slates too, and have an affinity for nice strikers, love bodock, rosewood, hickory, and even carry a carbon.

I use Woodhaven the most and have a few of Knight and Hale calls. I have mouth calls and several different styles of pot and peg calls from these companies. I am thinking about giving Primos calls a try this coming spring.

Dad's box call, cedar and purple heart. Really, sweet box. Has a real turkey built into it. If you don't think so, just draw the paddle over the call lips and you'll hear it for sure... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Supreme glass call, another sweet call that has a real turkey built right into it. I used the Woodhaven diaphrams last year and just didn't care that much for them.

I have lots of custom glass,copper,slate,aluminium and crystal pot calls, lots of trumpets and wingbones,shortboxes, longboxes and scratchboxes but when I get to the woods I only use a diaphragm I can do anything on them I can do on the other calls but with more emotion, less handmotion and unefected by the weather. Legacy, woodhaven and tom teaser are the diaphragms I use.

Tim-
Those are some awesome trumpets! Too pricey for my blood but WOW they are super sweet. I have a couple friends that are EXTENSIVE call collectors and have seen some works of art like those before. Congrats on the nice collection...

I knew Cox as a friend, and these didn`t cost me much if anything. I had to pay for the 2nd from left as he did an agreement with a guy who financed his idea of a 3 piece call. It is acrylic and the one used by the contest callers. You talk about THE TOP names use this call in the big contest every year. The guy did 110, was supposed to do 100, Cox got pissed. It is called the Green Hornet.
I am very proud of these. Don`t think an ole longbeard won`t holler at one either.
The one with the tan lanyard is the one I carry in my vest, also the smaller bodock. The 3 with white mouthpiece are all ivory, with ivory bead.

I just started learning how to play a trumpet a couple years back and am still a basic novice at it but I've heard some real players yelp on these from a 100 yards away and it sent chills up my spine! They sound as real as any feather covered hen.

Cox used to tell me that the wild turkey hen had been recorded on some electronic devise and the calls that closely matched this signature was the trumpet call. Keep at it, some days it will absloutely amaze you. If you ever hunt the fall, the trumpet can absolutely master the kee kee.

I'v had good luck on Merriam's turkeys with a Lohman Double Thunder box call, HS Strut split v mouth calls, a Lynch jet slate, an Old Yeller composite slate, and one push pin call that does work, a Keowee, which is plastic peg on slate and does great purrs, clucks, and cuts. I've got a 15 year old Keowee, then called Al Willis calls, that has never needed retuning, although I've replaced a couple of o-rings.

Premium Game calls from Dierks Ark make good mouth calls. Find a model you like and buy several more and they will be consistant in their rasp & tone. (unlike some of the mass produced calls) I like the blue "Raspy Hen". I'm told their slates & glass calls are good too.
I've got a Cody Slate thats good and a scratch box that Travis Garcia, Alma Ark made that turkeys really like.
I will sometimes carry an old Lynch Box but rairly use it.
I dont have a push pin box but I have heard a couple that clucked, purred and cut pretty dang good. That was several years ago when Dick Kirby was just getting started at Quaker Boy.
I refuse to pay the price for a Woodhaven.

An awesome box call that I purchased years ago was a Whitefeather"THE CLASSIC"....I want to say that Primos bought the pattern out and started producing a version they call "The Heartbreaker"..... Hey! four longbeards in at one time, the first time ever in the woods will make a believer out of anybody...lol But seriously, there has been about 25 birds called in closer than 60 yards in the past 6 years with just that one call..... recommend you try one!!

A primos power crystal is one of the best friction calls that I have ever seen.... wouldn't be in the woods March 20 without one!!!