Turkey hunting forum for turkey hunting tips

Who is your favorite slate pot maker? What color slate, gray, green, red do you favor? Which color sounds best, any other pro's or con's? What's your favorite striker, for your favorite color slate?

I'm totally a fan of gray slate over glass in a (usually) walnut pot.

The call I carry 95% of the time is one that I made about 20 years ago.

Others that I really like are:

About any flavor of Cody slate
Hally Caller Professional Series

The Hally Caller has been out of production for 15+ years, so eBay would be about one's only chance of finding one.  I've never personally seen one on there, though.

I just picked up a Mad Hatter by Redbeard 4-track player at Unicoi that I'm liking a WHOLE LOT, too.

My "constant companion" striker is a decades-old camo Dymondwood from Chestnut Ridge Calls.  It works on every call I've ever put it to.  Others that have also worked on everything are a Tuscarora Legend purpleheart and a Blodgett flared mesquite (Which I currently can't find.  I know it's here somewhere).

Gray slate over slate is my favorite call (close tie with ceramic over slate).   Those are the 2 calls that are typically in my vest 99% of the time.  I make calls so I'm a little biased, but from the other calls I've ran and heard - Pat Strawser gray slate, and Cody slate.
Favorite strikers - I have a Corder dymondwood that runs everything good, close 2nd is my Lyman Dymondwood and Lyman Snakewood.

Of all the calls I've ever made - if I could only keep one, I'd keep a gray slate over slate in walnut.  I have to throw the ceramic over slate in there though, it's such a close 2nd

Aside from a similar ease of play, I don't really consider the colored slates in the same category as gray slate. Of the colored slates, I prefer green. You get into the reds and purples and I start hearing some glass sound to those calls. For green it's real hard to beat Buster Halford's green slate in a persimmon pot.

I'm a gray slate man through and through, though. If I could only have one turkey call outside a yelper it'd be a gray slate. I've got a lot I like, and I think that's a surface that most really good callmakers can dial in. I don't own one (do own his ceramic) but I'd bet my  Travis Wyatt's gray slate in a walnut pot that he's mentioning in this thread would be a killer, killer call.


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Grey Slate is my favorite. My Paul Platz Maple Slate is one that gets lots of time afield. It has a great sound matched with his striker. But I do have one Slate that really is my go-to when nothing else is working. It's my Cody Spec 1 gray Slate. I got this call from Bill the first year it came out to the public. This call has helped me with numerous stubborn Tom's over the years, nostalgically my favorite call in my earliest years of my Turkey career.

I've got a lot of pots in different combos, but have killed more birds with a grey slate pot than any other. I have some Roberts and Buster pots (some slate over slate and some slate over glass), but not sure if any of them are better than the Lonnie Mabry slate over cherry soundboard pots that he continues to make. I also have a gray slate over glass laminate pot that a friend made me some years back that has been very productive in the woods. And as said above, many of my pots that I hang onto also tend to be walnut pots. Also have one purple slate in a walnut pot which for whatever reason is not as high in sound as many of them are - and it is a good call for me as well.

If a man can come by a really quality copper pot, it is worth having and could become a favorite. There is something about the rasp on a good well-made copper pot. Mike Yingling is a good place to look.

I like a lot of other type surfaces besides gray slate and have most of them in my possession and will kill birds with them at times. But, unless you live in a place where humidity knocks the slate surface out of the lineup, a gray slate pot is just hard to beat for an all around get it done time and time again call if I could only pick one type surface to have to hunt with.

i have several slates, but in all honesty i don't carry them most of the time.. they just don't perform well for me.... The start of our spring season is still wet, cold and weather just affects them too much... So i like ceramic, glass, alum and crystal ... mostly ... But i agree if the weather is right a good slate is just hard to beat in my opinion ... red, purple, green are great ...

A few of my favorites

1. Paul Platz Cherry grey slate

2. Buster Halford persimmon red slate

3. Mabry Cedar grey slate

4. Brad Roberts Cedar green slate

5. Lon Trice bullet tree green or birdseye maple grey

Gray slate will always be a soft spot for me, and even though I too prefer ceramic, I will always have one in my bag. I started a long time ago with a Primos Battey slate. Now I have one of those killer twyatt gray slates in a walnut pot and Chester is right, killer call.

I will add that Brad Robert's green slate in cedar pot is going to find a lot of time in the woods as well. It's just such an awesome sounding call and worth the time to get one.

I like them all but am fond of green slate. I think all slates sound good with black locust, persimmon and hickory strikers. I also like the higher pitch of red slate on days with a slight wind.

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I have one that I go to when I really need to use it is
John Sinclair.  Grey Slate /slate black ebony

Bill Lyman double slate.

Rare I carry a slate pot anymore but when I do its a Tuscarora Mountain Jake Taker.

Gray slate, smaller diameter pot for better control with preferably a JLH heavy cedar or original Tuscarora walnut striker.

Footballer persimmon slate over glass. Traded my Wynne persimmon slate back for it. Hickory, persimmon, frogwood or a black locust striker. More mellow but capable of sharp sounds. Another gray/black slate over glass that is growing on me is a Jason Powell chestnut pot. Fantastic flexibility with the purpleheart striker it came with and the strikers mentioned above. 

Green slate
Paul Durham ziricote pot
Red slate
Buster's in  a Persimmon pot. Yellowheart strikers for both. Almost a sharp glass like sound to them. Ipe sounds good as well. Good 1...2 punch with a gray/ black slate.
Have sold and would like to recover 1 or 2 of these one day:
Gray/ Black slate
Walnut wenge Halloran
Laminate slate Halloran
MAC cherry slate over glass
Cane Creek reaper slate in African mahogany.
Green slate
Brad Roberts cedar
Blackstone cherry pot
Buster's persimmon pot

As for slates, my favorites are:

1. Nathan Taylor red slate in an ambrosia maple pot.

2. Clay Townsend gray slate in walnut pot.

I have tried a few others that I like also, but these two are my favorite. My favorite strikers on these are JLH heavy (TSS) cedar, JLH frog wood, and a Fowelr black locust.

Slates I have killed most birds with

1 Cody wc slate with black striker
2 Roberts cedar green
3 mabry cedar grey


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Buster Halford persimmon red slate

Roger Parks Double Spur call

Steve Morgenstern and Lon Trice green slate

Currently, of the newest calls, Ben Gentry of Seminole Custom Calls is turning out some great stuff.  Red slate, Titanium, anodized aluminum,  ceramic and glass are all turkey!!! And he is in OUR MILITARY!!! SEMPER FI!!!
Guys he makes some good stuff and he is a great feller to boot. I ain't kin to him and I don't work for him and he ain't gave me nothing to say any of this.  LOL

Have a good one and May God bless
Bo

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Bill Lyman(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20230202/21300f7af26943700b41c758595bb07e.jpg)

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Very nice one Jim!!

Quote from: 3bailey3 on February 01, 2023, 10:03:59 PM
Very nice one Jim!!

Thanks buddy

The only answer I'll ever have, My CODY Slate Calls!

I have one that's been retired and my current that was gifted to me.

#1 CODY World Class Slate this has been the demise of more birds than any call I have owned.

#2 CODY SPEC1 Legend Slate Call this is the killer now!


MK M GOBL

I have more grays and greens than anything else.  The red in some pots is good, like Buster's in persimmon.  I have run my purple pots enough to have a decent opinion on them.

Quote from: Bedge7767 on February 01, 2023, 09:46:37 PM
Bill Lyman(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20230202/21300f7af26943700b41c758595bb07e.jpg)

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Real nice..

I'm partial to grey slate also. My favorites would be:

Mark Cornelius cherry slate over glass

Cody Spec 1

Parks Gobbler call and also his 1" wood pot with wood soundboard

I love a grey slate in a cedar pot - it just has an intangible "turkey" sound to it that any other call simply lacks. For a meat call though, I ordered a Nathan Taylor pot with a purple slate surface in a piece of walnut that I sent him, and it's killer. It has all the throaty old hen sound that most slates do with a touch of aggression compared to grey slate. Haven't tried one with a slate soundboard yet, but maybe that will be in the cards this season!

No love for the Lonnie Sneed Hot Hen?

Quote from: donjuan on February 06, 2023, 07:19:55 PM
No love for the Lonnie Sneed Hot Hen?

ALWAYS have that one in my vest!!!

I love my original Doug Camp gray slate.  It has killed it's share of birds.  Ive had it for over 25 years.

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Lon Trice green slate is pure seduction. I nicknamed mine Marvin Gaye.

Quote from: Loyalist84 on February 03, 2023, 06:12:07 PM
I ordered a Nathan Taylor pot with a purple slate surface in a piece of walnut that I sent him, and it's killer. It has all the throaty old hen sound that most slates do with a touch of aggression compared to grey slate.

I think I know exactly what you mean. I recently got him to build me a purple slate over glass in a walnut quarter sawn pot, and it sounds so different from most purple slates - and it is one of my top four pots now. And that purple looks real nice paired with that walnut as well.

It's awesome to all the different likes. For me it's going to be halloran grey slate from early 2000's. Amazing stuff back then. Purple Heart or diamond striker my favorite. Old Steve reeves 101. Another great call. Glenn Marrer grey slate in maple pot if you love yaulk   I'm in south Florida so I like a higher pitched call. But have gotten multiple grand and Royal slams with those calls.  Now I'm into trumpets just to make it harder. Pot a good pot is hard to beat. 

The Steve reeves  was really called wild turkey 101. Grey slate aluminum soundboard which you can make softer sounds flipping it over and running the back side. If you know reeves you know his calls. I will be listing a bunch of his calls in the near future.  But I do love my older halloran calls for sure when he first started. Cacklin Crystal calls are amazing.

Oak Ridge Custom Calls--Jimmy Schaffer--Black Walnut/slate/slate
MAC--Walnut/red slate/glass
Strut Zone Game Calls--Paul Hicks Jr.--Wormy Chestnut Green Slate/Glass
Buster's Persimmon red slate

I have a Wendell Rye chestnut gray slate over glass and a Sinclair Kingwood green slate over glass that I really like

Red slate over glass, but gray, green, purple are all fine too...

Mostly Light's Out, laminated, hard woods, I carry several each hunt...

I like slate Kaiser Kalls too...

One I never hunt without is a Sinclair Ti...

I have a lot of slate calls but the one I reach for and have the most confidence in is John Sinclair red slate over glass in walnut pot just has that pop, especially when cutting and purring wouldn't trade it for anything!

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Ipe striker that came with call

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Honestly, you can't go wrong with any of the current well known pot builders or any color slate, wood or striker combo. They ALL will get the job done.

At the present, the one I keep coming back to is a Buster Halford persimmon/red slate pot with a Jeff Harrison tulipwood striker. Additionally Buster's prices are very good when compared to some of the other big name call makers.Lastly, he's a really nice guy.

Quote from: PalmettoRon on February 10, 2024, 09:05:08 AM
At the present, the one I keep coming back to is a Buster Halford persimmon/red slate pot with a Jeff Harrison tulipwood striker.

Dang Ron, that exact striker/call combo is my favorite also !

I also use Buster's persimmon red slate with canarywood and frogwood strikers.

Quote from: Tom007 on February 01, 2023, 09:34:03 AM
Grey Slate is my favorite. My Paul Platz Maple Slate is one that gets lots of time afield. It has a great sound matched with his striker. But I do have one Slate that really is my go-to when nothing else is working. It's my Cody Spec 1 gray Slate. I got this call from Bill the first year it came out to the public. This call has helped me with numerous stubborn Tom's over the years, nostalgically my favorite call in my earliest years of my Turkey career.

Love mine also.

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Busters Persimmon Red Slate is hard to top

A gray slate is my favorite hands down.  Start with a dense wood pot, a glass sound board and a laminated striker, like JLH Frogwood or a dymondwood, and you'll be on the right track for a killer slate call IMO.  There are many Great callmakers and slates out there, but I'll be the odd man out and say this, the 2 slates that I have that have brought the Most turkeys to the end of my gun barrel are 1. Primos Ol Betsy slate and 2. Primos Jackpot slate-with a good, laminated striker.  Not sure what it is but the turkeys sure do like them. 

Calls:
Sinclair grey slate over copper ziricote pot --OR-- Rye grey slate over glass spalted red oak pot

Buster red slate over glass blackline persimmon pot

Roberts green slate over glass red cedar pot

Sinclair purple slate over copper tulipwood pot a.k.a "The Purple Tulip"

Strikers:
JLH black locust, cedar, tulipwood, pecan, sucupira
Fowler honey locust, dogwood, mystery wood, osage snakewood
Sinclair persimmon, dymondwood, malaysian blackwood, gabon ebony
Fred Cox bamboo corncob (modeled after Neil Cost design)

:turkey2:

I also carry a Buster red slate and persimmon pot. Sounds very nice

I have a Twyatt gray slate/slate and that thing just flat out runs and the birds love it. One  gobbler loved it so much it flew over a lake and strutted 150 yards down the gun barrel before I missed him at 10 yards. All this happened with Twyatt watching too. He laughed....I cursed, cried and wanted to crawl in a hole. I only carry 2 pots with me at a time, the slate/slate is the only call I own that has never sat the bench.

Lots of great options for slate calls out there. My favorite color overall would probably be green slate. Green seems to have the most range and is a little bit easier to play.
Some of my favorites.

Grey slate- Wynne maple , Yingling sycamore, Mabry cedar
Favorite Strikers for grey- Sinclair hickory, Stuckey hickory, Stuckey b&w ebony, JLH frogwood, JLH tulipwood

Green- Lonzo canarywood , Morganstern blue mahoe, Dustin Jones cedar

Purple-Lonzo rosewood

Red- Buster persimmon

Same general favorite strikers for green, purple and red- Holzman dymondwood, Holzman snakewood, Fowler 2 piece snakewood, Fowler dymondwood, Townsend dymondwood, Stuckey bloodwood

David hollaran

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Grey slate my favorite 2
Ted Pete peters
Roger Parks

Tommy Carter purple state over glass is $


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I got a M.A.D Super aluminator and that thing will sing. If you could get a deal on one I would buy it but they go pretty high on eBay. You might would be better off buying a custom aluminum call if you can't find one for less that 50$

Quote from: Joneshunter on March 25, 2024, 07:53:07 PM
I got a M.A.D Super aluminator and that thing will sing. If you could get a deal on one I would buy it but they go pretty high on eBay. You might would be better off buying a custom aluminum call if you can't find one for less that 50$

I have the same call I bought 2 of them when they came out in the mid to late 90's. It stays in my vest, I can't remember going to the woods without it since I got it. Its not the best sounding call to my ears but it's pretty much death to a gobbler. The best sounding call I have it a grey slate over glass in walnut the Jim Pollard made and signed. I called a bird up with it and put it up. Get it out and play all the time, I just don't take it to the woods in fear of something happening to it.

Quote from: Bottomland OG on March 25, 2024, 08:51:54 PM

Quote from: Joneshunter on March 25, 2024, 07:53:07 PM
I got a M.A.D Super aluminator and that thing will sing. If you could get a deal on one I would buy it but they go pretty high on eBay. You might would be better off buying a custom aluminum call if you can't find one for less that 50$

I have the same call I bought 2 of them when they came out in the mid to late 90's. It stays in my vest, I can't remember going to the woods without it since I got it. Its not the best sounding call to my ears but it's pretty much death to a gobbler. The best sounding call I have it a grey slate over glass in walnut the Jim Pollard made and signed. I called a bird up with it and put it up. Get it out and play all the time, I just don't take it to the woods in fear of something happening to it.

what striker do you pair with the aluminator? I use a JLH one piece hickory and I thinks it sounds pretty good. Might have to experiment a little more striker wise though

Quote from: Joneshunter on March 25, 2024, 09:14:15 PM

Quote from: Bottomland OG on March 25, 2024, 08:51:54 PM

Quote from: Joneshunter on March 25, 2024, 07:53:07 PM
I got a M.A.D Super aluminator and that thing will sing. If you could get a deal on one I would buy it but they go pretty high on eBay. You might would be better off buying a custom aluminum call if you can't find one for less that 50$

I have the same call I bought 2 of them when they came out in the mid to late 90's. It stays in my vest, I can't remember going to the woods without it since I got it. Its not the best sounding call to my ears but it's pretty much death to a gobbler. The best sounding call I have it a grey slate over glass in walnut the Jim Pollard made and signed. I called a bird up with it and put it up. Get it out and play all the time, I just don't take it to the woods in fear of something happening to it.

what striker do you pair with the aluminator? I use a JLH one piece hickory and I thinks it sounds pretty good. Might have to experiment a little more striker wise though

I have tried tons but the one that sounds the best is is a green laminated one piece that a older gentleman made me back in 2005. That black 2 piece woodhaven deluxe wooden striker plays good with it also.