Rebuild

[Rzrbac]

This was my worst season ever. Lots of reasons for it, few gobblers and all of them old. No time for preseason scouting and limited time to hunt.  I called in a total of two gobblers. One had several hens with him as well. I committed to pretty much a trumpet this spring. I normally run only mouth calls but I've called in birds with pots and boxes before. I just feel I capture he emotion of a hen using mouth calls and I'm trying to do the same with trumpets and occasionally a tube. I pulled my pots and box out of my vest, they are done. Nothing wrong with the calls, the one aluminum I pulled sounds great. It has that sound I really like, high pitched with a lot of rasp.

I'm now thinking if I should run friction calls anymore I want something more clean sounding. I hate the idea of carrying slate but I'm seeing several threads on different color slates. I've always liked the sound of slate just seen guys struggle to make good sound when the weather isn't dry.

I'm also considering a new box. I watched a video of a guy named Tim Bullock running a box on his website. I loved the way it sounded but maybe he's just great with a box and can make all of them sound good.

It's time to revamp my call arsenal. I've bought 3 trumpets with one more on the way. I get bored running the same calls so I'm gonna devote the off season to adding a variety of hen sounds.

Curious to hear members thoughts as to calls that aren't so raspy. If I want raspy I can handle that with a mouth call. I may even look at scratch boxes, I've heard some that sound amazing.

[outdoors]

Is this just a excuse to buy some new calls
Or you're just being hard on yourself because ......

[Rzrbac]

 

Probably a little of both.  I've tagged a lot of gobblers doing it the way I always have. I figure after 30 years it's time to change it up a little. I've always been a fan of raspy and aggressive calling. I just need to add some new tricks and it will force me to have to improve.

[outdoors]

    

[Yoder409]

Is this just a excuse to buy some new calls

There's ALWAYS an excuse to buy some new calls.............   

[Rzrbac]

I'm open to any suggestions for a good sounding short box and some type of clean sounding slate/ceramic or any other material that will play in less than ideal conditions.

[3bailey3]

Richard Hudson hen box and a Larry Halford red slate.

[Happy]

Personally, not a fan of overly raspy calls. At times they work and work really well but I prefer a higher pitch with light rasp. The wingbone hasn't done as well for me this year as a pot and diagram. That is partially do to the operator I am sure. A diagram has been and probably always will be my primary call. That being said after this season is over I am going to get 2 pots and  2 wingbones or trumpets that I really like and focus on learning to get the most out of them I can. I have toyed with the idea for a while but I believe that will be more effective than having a multitude of calls. Besides I am not big on packing a lot around in the woods.

[Chris O]

I'm open to any suggestions for a good sounding short box and some type of clean sounding slate/ceramic or any other material that will play in less than ideal conditions.

2 of the cleanest sounding box calls I have are a Shag Hill Purple Heart over butternut and a SS walnut over cedar both are great players. I also have a SS kwila over poplar that is fairly mild and sounds great also.

[tracker#1]

If your looking for ceramic pot look up "Stumpy" on here, it's a killer....

[Happy hooker]

It sounds to me like your a "prime" candidate for a quality longbox,,with all the unique and wide range of calls you can do with it,,especially emotion.

Do you have 5 minutes to spare??? Google "Dan Wittenberg turkey calls" and watch his video,, from the descriptions and desires in your post his calls or any longbox have your name written all over it.
Besides it's a great video anyways.

[Techn9cian02]

I tend to use crystal calls when I want I higher pitched clean sound, but my real suggestion would be a Padauk striker it's so light there's essentially no rasp no matter what surface call you use. Hope this helps ya


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[tha bugman]

I really like my Black Feather Game Calls Glass Pot- very versatile

https://youtu.be/NIiMhTNl5kA

and I don't leave home without my Eckle Smith Cluck and Purr Box call

https://youtu.be/VG3TqgOVxEA
https://youtu.be/EBmCgonJfKE

[Kybowhunter12]

I have a Tim Bullock short box and long box call that I use. They sound great to me. I have only tried the two I have of his but they suit me fine. I have a maple over walnut short box and a persimmon over butternut long box.