Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting In the beginning.........

About a month ago, I ran across this hacked up 35mm film can ( less the reed) in a box of odds and ends hunting stuff. 40-some years ago......around the age of 14-15, I made a tube call from a 35mm film can, a piece of surgical glove that my mother (an RN) brought me from the hospital and a few wraps of black, electrician's tape. Total cost..... zero.

My (5 years) older brother and his best buddy were expert turkey hunters back then. Neither had ever killed a bird, but......

So a day or two before spring season opened, I showed my call to my brother's buddy. Played it for him. He said, "That's the good thing about homemade calls. When they're junk, you can throw them out and you're not out nothing."

The first morning of season, I called two jakes in to 20-couple yards and shot my first ever wild turkey. I called my brother's buddy and asked him how he did. He had worked one and was "just THIS close". He asked me how I did. I told him I called two in and shot one. He was speechless. Told him "That's the good thing about those homemade calls...... When they're no good you can just throw 'em out and you're not out nothing". 😏

So, I had a doctor appointment a couple days ago. While sitting in the exam room, I spied latex gloves (not easy to find in these days where everyone is allergic). The nice nurse was kind enough to send me home with a couple gloves. This evening, I cut a fresh reed and stretched it......success first try......and 40-some years later, the call that started it all is back up and running. I just need to lock it all in with some black tape. 😁

Today was our fall opener. I'm don't really get excited to shoot a fall bird. But, I believe one of these days, soon, I need to hit the woods one more time with this call that started it all......

The forums are full of expert turkey hunters that have not killed a turkey....some even make turkey calls.

How many turkeys do you have to kill before you're an X'spurt 10, 20, 40 50, a couple hundred or more ?

I've known some turkey hunters that could count on their fingers the turkeys they've killed and thought they were X'spurts only to be humbled by a dry year pretty quick.

Books have been written by people that have only killed a couple handfuls of turkeys.....turkey hunting has really strange effects on some people.

I know a guy that's killed a few hundred turkeys and he sits in an enclosed/igloo blind over a decoy spread....hes killed numerous slams even held the record for Goulds spur a few years is he an X'spurt ?

Honestly he doesn't know jAck....I found out first hand when I took him to a WMA on the Mississippi River that I was tagged out on and he scared off two gobblers I had coming in that morning.

Do you ever really become an expert ?

Slams and money can't get you there....

Nice Yoder! Go forth...

That is cool. Give it a whirl.

I should have punctuated my post differently. It should have been "experts". That was my point. They had never killed a bird. But they knew all about it.

As far as how many do you gotta kill to be an expert ?? I guess that depends on what one's definition of "expert" is.

Expert: "A person who has a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of or skill in a particular area".

Obviously NOBODY is gonna kill every bird they try. But to run a high percentage might make a guy an "expert". What that percentage is......... ?? 1 in 4 ?? 1 in 2 ?? More ?? Less ?? I don't know that answer.

Years ago, in the mountains of West Virginia, a guy who was on the same pro-staff as me ran into an old local along a backazz country road. They got to talking and my buddy handed the fellow a brand new diaphragm call to take and try. Told the old fellow he was on pro-staff for that company. Old guy looked at him and said, "So you're a professional, huh ??" My buddy said, "What do you consider a professional ??". Old guy looked at him and said, "I suppose a guy with young legs". Point being, that old fellow could very well have been a better turkey hunter than me and my buddy put together. But the guy who can get where he wants to go will kill more birds.

Do you really ever become an expert ?? According to the definition above ?? Yes. But does an expert kill every bird he tries. Heck no. Does a guy EVER get to the point where there's nothing left to learn ?? Heck no. Not if he's being truthful.

Cool bit of nostalgia there Yoder. You can guess who I first saw run a tube call. I miss those days.

👍😉👍

How do you run that thing, suck on it or blow into it ? Do you cut the bottom out of the canister ? I've got some latex gloves. Might try making one if I can find an old film canister. I know I've still got some around here someplace.

The traditional call was made from a steel snuff can....you can punch a hole in the bottom like I did on this one or you can cut the bottom out entirely....with the bottom cut out it gives you the option to stick a moistened finger on the bottom of the reed and manipulate or strum the bottom of the reed on some notes.
The late Kenny Morgan was the best on a tube call I ever heard....he ran a double reed snuff can stuck in a wooden tube. The tube had two grooves cut in it and the reeds were held in place with two rubber bands and he strummed the reed.
I had one he gave me and I could play the hell out it when he set the reeds.

The tube call is okay if you like to tinker....the rubber read is going to need pretty much constant adjustment.
I prefer a call that when pull it out I know for sure the sound that's going to come out of it.

You put your lower lip across the flat of the cutout and your upper lip around the outside of the lid. Then blow down across the reed. There's about a 3/8" hole punched in the bottom of the can. Way back when....... I experimented a little with cutting discs of styrofoam with a hole in the center and fitting that inside the call. Made the tone a lot less "hollow" sounding. But in the end it really made no difference to the turkey's ears.

Or a Doan's pills can or a hand-turned wooden tube. But at 14, or so....... I didn't have too many snuff cans laying around. Just Red Man sacks...........which make a poor turkey call. I just used what I had on hand.

If you can't find one.......... I've got about a half a chop sack full of them. I might could spare one.

I tried to use a snuff can call once. I was never confident that I could make it make the sound I wanted when I wanted it to make it ....lol
Never hunted with it

They used to make a goose call of similar design

Yoder, cool call

Thank you, sir.

I remember him teaching me to gobble with one. He said you position it and say “took-a, took-a, took-a”. When he did it sounds like a gobble. When I did it, it sounded like someone saying “took-a, took-a, took-a”.

I don’t think I ever did get it figured out….

Most tube calls have a gOosey sounding jake yelp.

I hope you didn't bring home the glove the doc did the finger wave with.....

"Started it all"....started what your call making career ?

My serious obsession/sickness with calling wild turkeys in the spring.

So who's pro-staff were you on ?