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Turkey Calls => Mouth Call Making Discussion => Topic started by: StruttinGobbler3 on February 03, 2020, 10:35:20 AM

Title: Proven Recipes
Post by: StruttinGobbler3 on February 03, 2020, 10:35:20 AM
I’m just starting to delve into making my own mouth calls. I bought one of the little jiggy hand jigs and have been experimenting. Some of the calls have turned out decent, but I’m using the latex sent with the jig which is not labeled as to size, etc. I want to order some material from pioneer or brookside, but need to know which size and colors are best. Which are most commonly used, and what cuts and stretch have you all found success with? Thanks.


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Title: Re: Proven Recipes
Post by: GobbleNut on February 03, 2020, 02:58:04 PM
This advice is kind-of a repeat from another recent thread but here goes:

I would start out with proph (.0025), .003, and .004., and others close to those if available. From my experience, anything heavier than .004 is "iffy" in terms of making a good-sounding turkey call. Again, the latex is made in batches and mostly for other purposes than turkey calls so, depending on what batch you get a particular color from, the tonal quality may vary.  Get an assortment of colors in those thicknesses and then experiment with them.  It may take some time and calls to begin to figure out what works best for you, but that's just part of the process.

As far as cuts go, I would recommend following the cut progression I have advocated here over the past few years.  A lot of calls are based off of the center V-cut design, so you can go through a cut progression based on that and test your calls for tone and quality of sound after each cut.

The basic progression is the following:
1) single angle cut at center (or offset to one side or the other,....it can make a difference depending on your calling mechanics)
2) complete the V-cut with the other angle cut
3) pull/cut off one side tab (right or left) for the combo cut
4) pull/cut off other tab for the batwing cut
5) alternative to side tab pulls is center tab removal for ghost cut
6) modify any of above as needed with end-of-tab clippings and reed edge-shaving until you get the sound you are looking for,...and that may vary on each call you make.

Warning: make sure to cut the top (long) reed only in your calls to start with.  Big cuts in the secondary reeds will often deaden the sound of your calls.  If you can't get the sound you want by cutting the top reed, you can change the tone some by making very small nicks in the secondary reeds, if needed, and you want to experiment. That will probably be the exception rather than the rule in your call making, though.   

Your call construction is only limited by your imagination, and quite honestly, the combinations of materials, reeds, spacing, cuts, etc. is endless.  Call materials are cheap so don't be afraid to experiment a little....