What is the best Turkey Call to use?
Hemlock Ridge Custom Turkey Calls® receives many emails from hunters every year, asking; “What is the best Turkey Call to use”? When I go afield I always have at least three types of calls in my vest, a Box Caller, a Pot & Peg Caller and Mouth Calls. Each of these types of calls have strengths that shine in particular hunting situations.
Box Callers really shine when you want allot of volume to reach out and locate a tom from atop a high Ridge or through a hollow. They cannot be beat when it comes to volume. Just as all callers however, they can be used effectively, with practice, in just about any situation and can imitate all the vocabulary of the Wild Turkey. The Box call is also the easiest for the novice hunter to use. A new hunter can pick up a good sounding box and sound like a Turkey on his first try.
Pot & Peg Callers are hard to beat when it comes to subtly coaxing a wary tom into a commitment with some “love talk”. In the right wood / surface combination they can also be capable of cranking up the volume. In the turkey woods the Pot & Peg caller is my medium range, come to papa, turkey caller. For tree calling from a set up at dawn, I prefer a slate surface. Slate can produce soft, subtle, realistic clucks and yelps of a hen often makes and is one of the best turkey calls to use as the first glimmers of light filter into the turkey woods. Glass, crystal aluminum and even copper are hard to beat for the sharp cuts and notes with lots of rasp for fly down cackles and calming purrs. Their performance really shines also on damp wet spring days.
Diaphragm Callers offer hands free operation and are perfect for getting that tom to take the final steps into pattern range. In addition to getting him to “stick his neck out”, mouth calls can be used in conjunction with other hands on callers to imitate more than one turkey at the same time. Just as with all other callers, with practice, the mouth call is capable of imitating all the vocabulary of the Wild Turkey. My preference in a mouth call is the 3.5 reed “Ridge Cutter” mouth call. Not all hunters however tolerate a mouth call well due to gag reflexes or other issues. Like everything else in turkey hunting, with patience and persistence, this can be overcome.
“If you could take only one into the woods, What is the best Turkey Call to use”? A Hemlock Ridge Custom Turkey Call!