Turkey hunting forum for turkey hunting tips

Hi everyone, I have hunted turkeys before, but this will be my first season of really trying to get one. I have been told by some that you can get by with one call (box call in my case) and it has worked for them, but others have told me that I should have multiple (box, slate etc.). Should I be carrying multiple calls? 

Man, you are asking the wrong crowd.  Most of these guys are gonna tell ya that if you don't have one pot call in every known species of wood along with every surface available ( I think there are just over 2.6 million possible combinations) you are poorly equipped.   :funnyturkey:

i always take 2 pot calls - one slat, one copper, 4 strikers and one box call along with 4 or 5 mouth calls. 

Pretty sure I've killed 90% of my birds with mouth calls the last 15 years...

Take whatever you are confident in.  Get proficient on what you hunt with. 

Your better off with one that your good on than 10 that you struggle with.  But at the same time if your good on 10, I'd take 6-8.

I carry mouth calls and one pot for purring on. Hardly ever pull the pot call out


Also keep a haint gobble call with me Incase I run across the need to use it. Only needed to once but it was exciting when I did, just didn't get to kill the bird but he came in mad!

Quote from: guesswho on March 17, 2019, 09:29:32 PM
Your better off with one that your good on than 10 that you struggle with.  But at the same time if your good on 10, I'd take 6-8.

Yep.

You will go full circle where you carry every one just to make sure, then realize you only depend on a couple. I go with mouth call and a copper.

Thanks for the answers so far. I've gotten good with my box call and have been able to call birds in, but not get a shot. Only reason I asked is because I'd like to be as light as possible


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Quote from: guesswho on March 17, 2019, 09:29:32 PM
Your better off with one that your good on than 10 that you struggle with.  But at the same time if your good on 10, I'd take 6-8.

X2

You can absolutely get by with one call. Will you leave some birds there you mighta killed with other calls? Yes but as was said you should know how to run em. Start somewhere and really learn what you have, than add calls

Quote from: DKG on March 18, 2019, 10:11:26 AM
Thanks for the answers so far. I've gotten good with my box call and have been able to call birds in, but not get a shot. Only reason I asked is because I'd like to be as light as possible


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I generally try to not hunt if it is raining, but if you are so inclined, make sure that your box call will run wet, or spend a little time learning a diaphragm call. 

Quote from: spaightlabs on March 18, 2019, 02:33:21 PM

Quote from: DKG on March 18, 2019, 10:11:26 AM
Thanks for the answers so far. I've gotten good with my box call and have been able to call birds in, but not get a shot. Only reason I asked is because I'd like to be as light as possible


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I generally try to not hunt if it is raining, but if you are so inclined, make sure that your box call will run wet, or spend a little time learning a diaphragm call.

Your box call will never get wet if you put it n run it in a bread bag. Sounds don't change either

Nice thing about mouth calls is I carry a half dozen with me, light and take up virtually no room... Other than that I run a Slate call and have a glass call along too with 4 strikers. I can sound like a dozen plus birds like this.


MK M GOBL

I think your cutting yourself short on just carrying one call, you never know on a given day , what the birds may respond to.... you may have to try several different calls to get that gobbler to fire off .. yes you can kill a bird with one call, but it may not be the call you have, so get yourself couple good boxes one of the boxes needs to be younger bird and the other one just plain nasty, couple pot calls slate and glass and couple good mouth calls ... get you good snakewood striker and diamond wood striker ...

1 of each:
glass
slate
short box
long box

To start the year when it's cooler and I can use my super elite 3 vest  I like to carry lot's of calls,  I carry 2 boxes, 2 pot's, 8-12 mouth call's "all in a small fishing lure box",  1 Tube call,   

By the end of the season when its warmer " I will refrain from say HOT her in NY"  and I wanna cut down on weight and stay cooler i carry 4 mouth calls, 1 tube call, and usually 1 box call .

If you can run only 1 call and sound good on it that'll be just fine.   If you get good at other type calls your gonna naturally wanna carry them and try to work a bird with them. 

Turkey hunters are very a divers bunch, Your gonna find guy's that carry 1 call 2 shells, wear no camo and kill their limit every year,    THEN your gonna find the guy the carries more calls than MIDWEST TURKEY CALLS, wears camo everything including socks and underwear and carries camo TP,   " I lean toward's this side" find what works for you and enjoy it.

Quote from: nyhunter on March 19, 2019, 06:00:03 AM
To start the year when it's cooler and I can use my super elite 3 vest  I like to carry lot's of calls,  I carry 2 boxes, 2 pot's, 8-12 mouth call's "all in a small fishing lure box",  1 Tube call,   

By the end of the season when its warmer " I will refrain from say HOT her in NY"  and I wanna cut down on weight and stay cooler i carry 4 mouth calls, 1 tube call, and usually 1 box call .

If you can run only 1 call and sound good on it that'll be just fine.   If you get good at other type calls your gonna naturally wanna carry them and try to work a bird with them. 

Turkey hunters are very a divers bunch, Your gonna find guy's that carry 1 call 2 shells, wear no camo and kill their limit every year,    THEN your gonna find the guy the carries more calls than MIDWEST TURKEY CALLS, wears camo everything including socks and underwear and carries camo TP,   " I lean toward's this side" find what works for you and enjoy it.

I'm in NY as well. I'll pick up some other calls and start working


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Don't use any call that doesn't sound turkey when you run it. If you have to, find a good turkey hunter that knows what he's listening to and have him judge. Personally, I use a long box, a slate, a glass and a few diaphragms...for different tone more than anything. They're all turkey or they wouldn't be in my vest. Or if I couldn't run them right I wouldn't use them. So as far as how many calls...show me a consistently successful turkey hunter with only one call that he's perfect with and he'll kill turkeys on a regular basis.

I carry way more than I need but flock talk has helped kill alot of gobblers over the years.

I turkey hunted for thirty years and only carried 1 mouth call every year. Since joining this forum, I usually carry about 15 on me with 15 more in the truck just in case. And the number is growing every year. I was late to the woods several times last year because I couldn't decide which Lonzo to take.

I carry about what Turkey-Man does; 1 long box, a slate pot, a glass pot, and 3-4 different diaphragm calls.  I strike the birds with the long box, work them closer with one of the pots, then coax 'em in close with a mouth call. I can & have called birds with any one of those calls by itself, but the combination seems to work best for me.

I used to carry 3-4 pots, too many strikers, 2 boxes, a dozen mouth calls, and a scratch box. It didn't take too long to figure out that I just didn't need that many calls or the extra weight to get the job done.   

Jim

For 15 years I carried one K&H pot call, ceramic. I killed my share of turkeys.

Couple years ago I found this site and now I carry 5 or 6. I haven't killed a turkey yet.

Go figure

Thanks for the input everyone. I picked up a glass call, a crow locator call and a new box call


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Quote from: Turkey-Man on March 19, 2019, 05:03:31 PM
Don't use any call that doesn't sound turkey when you run it. If you have to, find a good turkey hunter that knows what he's listening to and have him judge.

Now Turkey-Man gave you some very wise advice. A good mentor is worth his weight in turkey calls!!

Quote from: guesswho on March 17, 2019, 09:29:32 PM
Your better off with one that your good on than 10 that you struggle with.  But at the same time if your good on 10, I'd take 6-8.

Well said...  Use the call you can use well.

I have calls I like and am comfortable with...  I carry a box call, a scratch box, and a few mouth calls.  Sometimes the woods are quiet till you pull out "that call," and then the woods light up.  Maybe that call sounds like a slutty hen that was recently tramping the woods.

If I could only take one type of call to kill a bird, it would be mouth calls.  Very versatile, but the most difficult to use well...  Currently I have a lot more fun playing a scratch box, or even a good box call.

Quote from: Marc on March 26, 2019, 01:53:43 AM
  Sometimes the woods are quiet till you pull out "that call," and then the woods light up.  Maybe that call sounds like a slutty hen that was recently tramping the woods.

I believe this is a bigger factor than most people realize.  Hit on the sound of a hen that the gobblers in an area recognize and all of a sudden they can get interested when they had otherwise been ignoring other calls. 

It's a good idea to pay attention to the hens you hear in an area and use a call that imitates one of the most vocal ones.   Going back into an area after the turkeys have dispersed from their morning breeding groups and imitating one of those hens you heard can sometimes be the difference in firing up one of those gobblers,...or not. 

In addition, although turkeys have different sounding "voices", there is also a median consistency of sound to be found in a lot of them.  Some hunters have calls that have keyed-in on that median sound,...and from my experience, hunters with those calls have the annoying habit of consistently calling up gobblers with them.  Those calls are often boxes or pots that the hunter can easily control the sound with little variation. 

I know a couple of guys with calls like that,...and I am pretty certain there are a few here on O.G. that have them, as well.   

 Your wife will leave ya, your kids disown ya, and your own dog will bite ya. LOL... Just so you know.

Quote from: tal on March 27, 2019, 07:29:31 PM
Your wife will leave ya, your kids disown ya, and your own dog will bite ya. LOL... Just so you know.

Haha. Not married, no kids and my dog won't do anything, think I'm safe


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When I 1st started a little over 30 years ago. I used to carry 3-4 pots, a couple strickers, a box, and a couple mouth calls. Since then I have become proficient at mouth calls and it's pretty much all I use. I still carry a couple pots. A glass and an aluminum that I killed my 1st bird with but they usually never come out of the vest. It's 2 mouth calls that get the work load. A clearer sounding cutting 2.5 and a medium raspy split VIII. I find if I'm not striking them with my mouth calls my pots won't do it either. I don't feel the need to carry the kitchen sink around the woods with the hopes that one might strike a gobble. Besides if I'm trying to all them calls than to strike a Tom  I'm calling to much. I can change the pitch of my mouth calls if I want to sound like more than one hen.

A couple calls that you are proficient with and feel confident with are enough to get the job done. Practice until you reach that comfort level. Woodsmanship is also so important in being a successful turkey hunter. You can't make up for that with a vest full of calls hoping one works. For myself, a trumpet and scratch box serve me perfectly.

Quality over quantity, and I mean sound. Carry only the calls your confident you can make turkey sounds on. If that's 1 or 3 so be it.

How many can you carry?   :TooFunny: :TooFunny: :TooFunny:
My "friends" laugh at me when I start pulling calls out of my vest.

I cary a ton of calls. Lol

At most, 10 or so diaphram calls, a wingbone or trumpet, 2 pot calls and 3 strikers. That's going in heavy for me.

Quote from: Happy on February 26, 2020, 07:44:27 AM
At most, 10 or so diaphram calls, a wingbone or trumpet, 2 pot calls and 3 strikers. That's going in heavy for me.

Happy how many shell's ?

Quote from: Greg Massey on February 26, 2020, 08:16:50 PM

Quote from: Happy on February 26, 2020, 07:44:27 AM
At most, 10 or so diaphram calls, a wingbone or trumpet, 2 pot calls and 3 strikers. That's going in heavy for me.

Happy how many shell's ?

Since your trying to profile me I will let you have 1 guess first.

Quote from: Happy on February 26, 2020, 09:44:14 PM

Quote from: Greg Massey on February 26, 2020, 08:16:50 PM

Quote from: Happy on February 26, 2020, 07:44:27 AM
At most, 10 or so diaphram calls, a wingbone or trumpet, 2 pot calls and 3 strikers. That's going in heavy for me.

Happy how many shell's ?

Since your trying to profile me I will let you have 1 guess first.

LOL .. but i do carry few extra myself .. they don't do you any good at home or in the truck...

  For me it's 3 pot calls, (slate, glass & aluminum) with 3 strikers. A short box, long box and 8-10 mouth calls.

  Honestly 99% of the time I run a slate and a raspy triple reed mouth call. I use the other calls in more specific situations, like if I'm trying to mimic the pitch a particular hen or I'll often use a glass call on a rainy day.
  The aluminum usually only comes out during late morning prospecting, when nothing else is working or on really windy days. I think that a higher pitch pot or box call will carry better, especially in the wind and will at least get a shock gobble when nothing else will.

i've been turkey hunting for 23 years and this spring will be my first season using anything other than a mouth call

i joined OG this winter. i now own 6 pot calls and a shortbox.

thanks guys  :help:  :z-twocents:

Quote from: spaightlabs on March 17, 2019, 08:22:13 PM
Man, you are asking the wrong crowd.  Most of these guys are gonna tell ya that if you don't have one pot call in every known species of wood along with every surface available ( I think there are just over 2.6 million possible combinations) you are poorly equipped.   :funnyturkey:

i always take 2 pot calls - one slat, one copper, 4 strikers and one box call along with 4 or 5 mouth calls. 

Pretty sure I've killed 90% of my birds with mouth calls the last 15 years...

Take whatever you are confident in.  Get proficient on what you hunt with.

Cannot echo this more. Most of my first successful seasons were completed with one or two calls. It's not until recently I've begun experimenting with several different calls. Not really out of necessity though.

Quote from: Greg Massey on February 26, 2020, 08:16:50 PM
How many shell's ?

Happy probably carries one...

I carry three in the gun, and three more in the vest.  Living in mountain lion country (I have run across two while turkey hunting, and probably been near many more I did not know about), I am loaded and ready on the walk out. I also walk back to the truck loaded, even if I killed a bird...  It ain't for turkeys. 

I have seen guys that carry a 10-box with them...  I figure if I somehow miss a 3-shot volley,  am carrying a spare 3-shot volley...  If I run out of ammunition with 6 shells for a 1-bird limit, shooting a bird on the ground, it is time to go home and practice...  A lot.

I usually carry around 3 mouth calls, one pot call, and box call in my vest.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A GREAT CALLER I KNOW GUYS THAT SOUND LIKE CRAP THAT KILL ...

Quote from: captfire on March 22, 2020, 12:44:48 PM
YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A GREAT CALLER I KNOW GUYS THAT SOUND LIKE CRAP THAT KILL ...

Great calling is in the eyes of the beholder,...and the beholder that matters is the gobbler any of us might be calling to at any given time.  Turkeys don't care if the call they hear sounds like a world-class contest caller or not.  In fact, from what I have seen over the years, sometimes the guy that sounds like he just picked up his first turkey call five minutes ago is just as likely to call in a particular gobbler as is the guy that has been at it for fifty years. 

It is the turkey that makes the decision, not the human being,...which brings us back to the topic at hand.  Carrying a few calls that vary in sound a bit is a good idea.  Turkey voices vary.  So should your ability to vary the turkey voices you are trying to imitate. 

 :smiley-char092:

Quote from: bigriverbum on February 29, 2020, 09:19:35 PM
i've been turkey hunting for 23 years and this spring will be my first season using anything other than a mouth call

i joined OG this winter. i now own 6 pot calls and a shortbox.

thanks guys  :help:  :z-twocents:

Boy is that number going to inflate as long as your on this site!

Quote from: Marc on March 26, 2019, 01:53:43 AM

Quote from: guesswho on March 17, 2019, 09:29:32 PM
Your better off with one that your good on than 10 that you struggle with.  But at the same time if your good on 10, I'd take 6-8.

Well said...  Use the call you can use well.

I have calls I like and am comfortable with...  I carry a box call, a scratch box, and a few mouth calls.  Sometimes the woods are quiet till you pull out "that call," and then the woods light up.  Maybe that call sounds like a slutty hen that was recently tramping the woods.

If I could only take one type of call to kill a bird, it would be mouth calls.  Very versatile, but the most difficult to use well...  Currently I have a lot more fun playing a scratch box, or even a good box call.

i like that Marc, the slutty hens and that would be a great name for a call as well! I like slutty Hens. That being said I carry way too many, 3-4 boxes, 4-6 pots and this year trying my hand in troughs and scratch boxes, and boy is it fun!

  Im one who doesn't own too many calls. 
I have 3 boxes 2 pots  1 pushpin  1 snuff box  1 trough and maybe 10-15 mouth calls.
I always pack light.  ill have maybe one box , 1 pot and a 2 or 3 mouth calls with me.
Today it was a rainy foggy soupy mess and I didnt feel like fighting the box or slate so I took 2 mouth calls.
Used one. Carrying a bird out by 8 am
Was this because I chose the right call? partially. meaning . I knew I could use this one call well or at least decent.
I agree with those guys who already said . One call you can use with confidence will fair you way better than a vest full of maybes. A little luck is better than all thats been said  :funnyturkey:

Thanks guys!


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I wear a vest to carry turkey calls...it has pockets specifically for turkey calls. I practice on "ALL" my turkey calls. Therefore I use a variety of turkey calls.

This is advice from a self taught veteran of 31 turkey seasons that has killed 42 turkeys in two different states, that went his first 5 seasons without killing a bird and the first two without actually seeing one while hunting. I now carry the fallowing seven calls, five mouth and two friction.

I have run the gauntlet of turkey calls using pot calls made from aluminum, natural slate and synthetic, at least 10 different paddle calls, several push-button calls, and a dozen+ mouth calls. Have given away a storage bin full of different types of friction calls and have more mouth calls I've tried and failed with than I will ever consider thinking about.

Now all I carry is a HS Strut synthetic glass slate call I bought on after season close out for $13.99 at Sportmart 26 years ago with a synthetic and hickory striker along with a pad of emery cloth and scotch brite that has helped me kill 70-75% of my turkeys, a HS Strut paddle call that has the ability to lock the paddle in place and five different mouth calls.

I have never called in a turkey with a paddle call but have used it often to locate them.
I have been using Primos True Double and True Tripple aluminum framed stacked mouth calls with great success using both to locate then call in turkeys for about 10 years now and will not consider hunting without them.
My HS Strut synthetic glass slate call is my A#1 go to call to call Toms in off the roost or once I have used my mouth calls to get a distant Tom gobbling and heading my way to come in the final distance to his demise.
Last year tried a new mouth call by Pimos called Hook Hunter calls and they worked when all my other calls failed on public land Toms.

We turkey hunters today especially novice turkey hunters are far more fortunate then I was because of YouTube a beginner and expert alike can now learn for free to become a very good turkey caller.

But after 31 turkey seasons I hate to brake it to a novice turkey hunters the type of call you use isn't anywhere near as important as understanding what type of call to make given the situation. If you call correctly to roosted Tom and get him facing your way so he will fly down in your direction is MUCH more important then who made the call or what type of call you used to do it.

After YEARS of trying I still can not purr or call as softly with a mouth call as well as I can with my slate so my go to call to roosted Toms is my slate and my slate is my go to call to get a Tom who's hung up at 80 yards to my mouth call to get under 50 yards.

Lastly you will be a much more consistently successful turkey hunter if you spend your time learning turkey behavior and what they do depending on the time of day and season as well as how to set up on a Tom you have heading your way. As an example remaining set up on a roost after fly down instead of switching to sneak/peak run and gun is not a productive strategy, setting up for an incoming gobbler highlighted by the sun is a poor choice VS setting up in the shadows.

you don't need a ton of calls but definitely a few.  i can't tell you the number of times i couldn't get a gobble from using a mouth call, then tried a box or pot and stirred up a gobble. i would recommend a couple mouth calls, a box, and a slate that you are all comfortable using

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