Turkey calls for the beginning novice and the experienced wiley hunter.  

   

Wild turkeys have been known to make up to thirty different kinds of sounds. We, as hunters are most concerned with only five to seven of them. From these sounds , turkey calls have been produced to imitate the most useful vocalizations that turkeys make. There are several different types of Turkey calls on the market today to choose from. I will try to explain how some of these work .   The most common of turkey calls, is the friction call. They are easy to use by scratching a small  wooden peg or striker ,as it is called, across the rough surface of the call which can be made of aluminum, ceramic or slate. This creates the lifelike turkeys sounds.            The second , and my favorite of  all of the turkey calls, is the box call. The sounds from this call are also caused by friction from rubbing the top across the box of the call.These are the loudest and can carry the enticing sounds through heavy woods and strong winds.             The third type of turkey calls, is the simplest to use .The push –pull call is used by pushing or pulling a small piece of wood across a stationary peg. Rubbing some plain chaulk on these types of calls can rejuvinate the sounds if it wears out.

 

The next type of turkey calls is used by many experienced hunters.   Tube turkey calls can make almost every sound that a gobbler  has in its expansive  vocabulary.It is made from a hollow tube with latex stretched across half of the opening.          The next type of turkey calls and probably the oldest type is the wingbone call. The  Great American Indians used these to sound like a hen ,then lure a gobbler to them.You can suck softly on these wingbones to create the yelping sound.

          

   Diaphram turkey calls are inserted entirely in the mouth of the user and needs a lot of practice to use effectively. These create the most lifelike sound of any of the turkey calls.

   Locator type turkey calls are used to find out the location of the birds. Loud noises such as a crow’s call, hawk’s scream or even thunder can cause a big tom  to gobble.    

  All of these turkey calls can produce the yelps,clucks, putts , purrs, cutts, gobbles, and cackles that are needed to draw a bird to you. I hope that I have helped you to decide which of these turkey calls  you will use to bag your next  trophy.        Thanks for your interest.          T Smola    e-mail   turkeyfinder@comcast.net