Glass vs. Slate

[Swamp Rooster]

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Hello,
I am fairly new to turkey hunting and I am looking for some new calls. I have decided on a pot call, however I'm stuck between choosing slate or glass. Which generally sounds better? What are the pros and cons of both? Thanks!

[scoot12]

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Slate is generally considered easier to play and has a more mellower sound usually.  The soft clucks and purrs are generally what sets a slate surfaced pot apart from other surfaces.  A glass call can do the same but usually can get louder and the yelps and cutts are sharper sounding.  Personally I feel a correctly conditioned glass call will run as easy as a slate call and will do everything a slate call will do but a little better.  Scoot

[Swamp Rooster]

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Is sand paper ok to use on glass calls, somewhere around 100 grit?

[870BkWht]

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Sandpaper will work and I'm sure lots of guys use it, but I prefer a conditioning stone or even a piece of drywall screen.  The drywall screen will allow the glass dust to not clog like sandpaper would.

[SS Calls]

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Slate is generally considered easier to play and has a more mellower sound usually.  The soft clucks and purrs are generally what sets a slate surfaced pot apart from other surfaces.  A glass call can do the same but usually can get louder and the yelps and cutts are sharper sounding.  Personally I feel a correctly conditioned glass call will run as easy as a slate call and will do everything a slate call will do but a little better.  Scoot

 

[Mabren2]

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I agree with Scoot's statement.

 Sandpaper will work for glass, but what I don't like about it is that all of the grit is not uniform in shape. That means you will undoubtedly get some ridges that are deeper than others, and for me anyway, it makes the call tougher to run consistently. On my calls I prefer a stone, and choose the drywall screen over heavy grit sandpaper.

[2nd 100]

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Drywall screen or a conditioning stone for glass , scotchbright for slate.
For me,  I strike more birds on a glass call  and get them coming to the gun then I switch to a slate call for the finish work ,done this without thinking for years , then an ol man pointed out that i was changing calls to kill em. (BTY that ol man  was Harold Fowler) so there may be something to it because he does it also.
Now for what you really didnt want to hear , I really use aluminum ( thats more tempermental ) all the way to the gun. Personal quirks !
It's what makes it fun...

[Jgarrett]

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Get you a good 2 sided call, 4 strikers, scotchbrite, drywall screen and go get you a bird

[Stump.270]

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I use glass or crystal 80% of the time and switch to slate if I have been workin a while I use a conditioning stone and then finish it with emry cloth on glass but in slate a scotch rite or 400grit sandpaper works best for me and if I'm trying to strike one mid mornin I will go to a aluminum that I lightly ruff with scotch rite and chalk on anadized I have a Jeff graham I use 150grit drywall screen with


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[WillowRidgeCalls]

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It's a matter of tone choice between a slate or glass surface, both surfaces will play the same loud or soft. A glass surface has a little more character in the voice than a slate surface does, and is much better if you hunt in a high humidity area or light rain. Myself, I prefer a glass surface, and I condition mine with a stone for a nice even surface (and it shave your fingers, also keeps greasy or wet fingers off the surface), scratch it up, blow the dust off and go to it.

[New Yorker]

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Have you ever been hunting and you hear the worst caller in the world butchering a call only to find out it's a mature hen? Turkeys are not judges at a calling contest. Find a call that you can run comfortably. It really doesn't matter how perfect the sound is. Turkeys will come into it. The preference shouldn't be based on what other people think, it should be on what call you have the most confidence playing. The best callers in the world don't kill more turkeys than anyone else. If I was you, I would focus on ease of playablity. Work on building your skills with the different vocalizations and mess around with some calls to see which surfaces work best for which vocalizations. In my opinion, an aluminum call is something that every hunter should carry. But like i said, whichever surface you play the best is what you should be hunting with.

[Spitten and drummen]

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find a surface you like and can play consistently. practice with it and learn the basic yelp and cluck. you will be on the road to killing a bird in no time. after you are really confident with those 2 basic calls , start expanding your vocabulary with it. in no time you will be proficient in your calling skills. in the end , the first surface you start with will expand very quickly to many others. most likely you will become addicted , like most of us on here , and you will own more calls than you will ever need. good luck.

[Rick Howard]

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If I could only take one pot call... I would want something that plays well rain or shine.  Glass in a synthetic material pot with a synthetic striker gives you the best shot at this.  As much as I love looking at and making calls from wood... Synthetics have an advantage in the function department.

I contidion my glass calls with 120 grit drywall screen then move to a stone on the spot I like to play to even it out.  You can condition the glass with any grit you like but it changes the way it runs and sounds. If you buy a custom made call Ask the maker what they use before you change it so you know what your starting point.  Personally, I would just go with what they reccomend on their call.  They took the time to tune it so I don't have too.

[scoot12]

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These are all awesome point guys have made.  I think cadence is the most important and add some feeling in your calling.  I listened to a lot of hens yelping and clucking this past fall while in my bow stand and most sound raspier then I could have imagined.  Great time to listen to turkey talk.  Scoot