Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting Which box call?

I'm fairly new at Turkey hunting and have only been doing it a couple seasons. I have a slate call but i am interested in purchasing a box call. What would be a good quality box call for somewhat of a beginner? Thank you. Mike

The Lynch World Champion was my first box call and it was pretty easy to learn. It's a good box call and will last a lifetime with proper care.

https://www.mackspw.com/Lynch-World-Champion-Model-102F-Box-Turkey-Call

Yessir Lynch are mighty fine calls. I’d personally only buy a call made of cedar. To my ear they seem easier to play and they sound raspy and realistic.

Solid choice.

Lynch Foolproof would be another good one to learn on. Quaker Boy Grand Old Master is good.

The sky's the limit with box calls.......depending on how much you wanna lighten your wallet. But, any of the above choices is good. Were I to be looking at the Lynch calls and wanted the best call for the $$ I'd look on eBay for a nice, used one made in Liberty, MS rather than Thomasville, GA.

Just about anything that’s on sale. Truth. Being called a bird brain isn’t a compliment for a reason. Don’t get caught up thinking one call is magical. Been there early in my turkey hunting career. I made sure my kids knew better. They all work the same way.

Pretty much. Yep.

There is no magical call. The magic is in what the person HOLDING IT does with it. That being said............ Eddie Van Halen didn't play a guitar from the toy section in Walmart. There ARE a lot of cases where you truly DO get what you pay for.

I started on a Quaker Boy Grand Old Master that I still have and use occasionally. Has called in plenty of birds. Box calls are pretty straight forward and easy to use. My first tip on running one, keep the paddle on the box. DO NOT pick it up to move it back at the end of the call. They are designed to not make a sound when you draw it back to start another call. It messes up your tempo and sounds horrible.

Devil's advocate here - Eddie didn't LEARN on top of the line gear to start with either. Learn on "what I can get my hands on" and then when a master - people line up to make you high end stuff.

I have a Penns Woods Waterproof Wizard. I probably used that box call more than any other I have. It is pretty inexpensive and sound phenominal. It seems to be higher pitched than any other box call I have. You can make some seriously loud calls on it.

http://www.gamecalls.net/products/Penn_s_Woods_Waterproof_Wizard_Box_Call-754-374.html

I'm pretty sure Gamecalls.net is out of business. But if you can find one somewhere, it's a good box call.

I have an old Lynch fool proof hen. It's a one sided call and I think it sounds better than the world champion. At least the one I have.

My world champion is a Liberty MS model. It looks like I got some gun oil on it. I should clean it up and see if it's marketable. I haven't used it in 20 years.

The only thing dumber than a turkey is a chicken.

My friend inadvertently called in a Tom once, when using a tree increment borer. Every time he turned the handle, the borer made a sound like a yelp. Next thing he knows, a Tom came in on a string.

That's the beauty in all of this, you can make it as complicated or as simple as you'd like it to be. Glamorous or ugly... and all points in between. If we only ever got what we "needed", Yugo would still be making cars! And all the personalities an opinions expressed here, is exactly why I'm very picky about whom I hunt with! And that's my opinion! Lol!

My 2 go to calls are the Lynch 1 sider fool proof & the Quaker Boy "Grand Old Master". I've used both to call in Merriams here in CO. Rios in TX. Easterns in KS. I have other box calls & slates but they usually sit in the gun cabinet or my turkey vest never seeing the light of day.

Back when I started. I got the Quaker Boy & a Dick Kirby VHS tape showing him using that box call. I'm sure tapes are on U-tube showing how to use a box call.

I think 90 % of turkey hunters started out with box calls, there's something about calling a tom in with one. I don't use them much anymore, except when I'm hunting merriams. Especially on windy days. Was lucky enough to meet and buy a call from Dick Kirby at the last NWTF event in Nashville back 2010 I think.
Great call maker and was very happy to discuss calls and hunting.
The call I don't want to leave at the house is my Cane Creek slate call.

I started many many years ago with the Lynch fool proof as the name somehow seem to relate to me. After many years and great success with it I started using Paul Meek calls which I also really like for their variety. Paul made a mini long box call he designed for me which we call the Terminator for use in our big country we hunt here where you are calling birds clean across canyons. About 20 years ago he talked me into using a scratch box. It is a fantastic call and the one I still have that I haven't stepped on or lost has a number of toms brought in with it. I think a lot of hunters think Turkeys are really dumb but I think it all depends where you hunt them. The birds we mostly hunt are very smart for the most part. They are just happy at the end of the day to be alive to have dodged the coyotes, pigs, Mt. Lions and Eagles etc. versus the hunters around orchards and vineyard's that are use to people.

David Hallorans Purple Heart and Cedar box call, Great sound.

Purpeheart/cedar is a super wood combo.

Good sounding call. BUT.........dude is goid with a box call, too. You could put any number of calks in a guy like his' hand and they'd sound great.

But Halloran DOES make a top quality call.

Which box call?
Well, the one that feels best in your hand.
The one that you make the best sounds with.
The one that you can afford. (?)

During the height of the turkey "rut", you can call in turkeys with a squeaky gate hinge! LOL!

My first attempt at a box call sounded somewhat like a mouse with a foot caught in a trap! It was horrid.
I built it on a whim out of scrap wood in the morning and used it to call in two toms that afternoon! 😜

Calls are like anything else. Try several and get the one that works best for you.

What Martin above said.
It really makes no difference, any box call will work. I use several and can tell no difference in the results.

Pretty much.



Depends what you wanna do.

Not ALL box calls are created equally. Some have WAY more realism in their sound than others. Some have a WAY better "roll-over" than others. Some will purr. Some will not. Some will kee-kee. Most will not. Tones vary...........and some will carry better than others. Some play softly better than others.

Boils down to how fine of a tool do you want to work with ?? And what is your budget ??

Lynch Foolproof.

Mentioned before. And not for no good reason.

Solid choice. Yep.

Marlin Watkins makes a good box

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I know YOU'RE right !!!

I've played a couple hundred Marlin boxes and have YET to find one that wasn't ALL turkey !!!!!

Do I detect a biased opinion? Lol! I still like, and have, a couple Quaker Boy box calls. Just about never carry them anymore though, but still mess with them.

Primos Box Cutter 254 Turkey Call Single Sided…



https://picclick.com/Primos-Box-Cutter-254-Turkey-Call-Single-Sided-195287783082.html?refresh=1

No bias from me. 😉

It ain't bias if it's the truth.

I consider Marlin a friend and he makes an OUTSTANDING box call. He's probably been the most in-demand builder for the last 10+ years. There's a reason for that.

But there are a bunch of OTHER guys who put out incredible calls, as well.

Very good production call. 👍

Primos doesn't put out gimmicks. Just a LOT of really good box calls.

Billy White , hustlin’ hen. Great Box Call!!

White Feather.....bought in late 90's and have killed a lot birds with it. Forgot what paid for it, but for a call back then it was expensive. Looks like it never been used.

I've got a couple of Primos box calls and they are both very good. I have a Waterboard and a Foggy Bottom and not only do that produce great yelps and clucks, I can get good kee kees out of them.

I took the plunge and ordered a David Halloran Ebony & Walnut short box and a Ebony and Black Limba longbox. I've never had a long box before. There's a 4-5 week lead time on that one. Looking forward to getting them.

Can’t go wrong with the Lynch, especially the older ones.

You'll be a happy man come mailbox day.

My primary call is a home made wingbone yelper.

I have a Quaker Boy Grand Old Master that I've been taking out since the early 80s. The first time I stroked it, I had a gobbler answer. That's what got me forever hooked. It still keeps bringing them in.

My #2 son works a Lynch. He's been using it since he was a yute.

Is this considered a box call?! Doing some cabinet clean-out in my shop on this crappy January Saturday and came across this thing. Been a very long time since I used it...

popular call

I have that same call. Maybe only used it once or twice. Nice concept and will play wet. But sounds high pitched and screechy to me.



I bought this on clearance at Bass Pro last year. I think I got it for like $12 or something like that. I have to say, it sounds great. Yelps are very good sounding and it has a little pin next to the big pin for clucks. You know, I've never had a bad Quaker Boy call. I think they're a very underrated call maker.

When I found it in the back of the cabinet, of course I ran it. Reminded me of why it was in the back of the cabinet....

I just received one of the Zink Calls Wicked Series Turkey Box Calls.

Zink says they teamed up with NWTF Grand National Champion call maker Marlin Watkins.

Poplar and blood wood. Looks as good as it sounds.

I have been using a Quaker Boy Grand Old Master but this one will make it to the woods this spring.

Chris

Spoke too soon. I like "waterproof" box calls. Picked this QB Hurricane waterproof box call up recently for under $30. All that rough finish could be forgiven if it sounded good. You can get some very basic flat yelps out of it. But 3/4ths of the sound rails produced zero sound. Just a really bad call overall. (If you want a very good "waterproof" box call, the Primos Waterboard is a way, way, way better choice. In fact, it's an excellent call overall.) But the Quaker Boy Hurricane - AVOID.

So that's it? Can it be tweaked and re-sealed? Worth it to mess with it? I haven't carried a box call in so long, it's like I never used one. So asking the questions, not making slight of anything. But like anything else, need to weight it against time/effort to usability. And I guess, what do you want to make of it.

I picked up a couple of HS Strut waterproof box calls late last summer. Clearance price at Orschelns.

They sound very good but I was concerned the "coatings" on the sides and lid would wear thin with heavy use.

No idea. Too cheap to worry about. I left a public review and that review will cost them more than I spent on the call. That's just a mess of a call.

I have probably a dozen box calls ranging from down right inexpensive to moderately expensive. All sound at least good, some great. This QB is simply bad. Not going to bother with it.

I'm still waiting on my Halloran box calls I ordered a few weeks ago. Built to order so I have a few weeks to go.

Just got a email that my David Halloran box calls will ship today. Yay.

Still new and unused. Nothing special, but a decent call. I'm just a dedicated mouth call only turkey hunter for whatever it's worth...