I know it varies from day to day and from bird to bird, but for the vast majority of the time, what is the most realistic sounding call in the woods?
Mouth call
Pot call
Box call
Trough call
Tongue teaser
Scratch box
Trumpet
Wingbone
Tube call
My vote would be a mouth call but a pot call would be a very close second.
Hands down Any well made and tuned slate call ya just can not beat a slate for a real turkey sound. Now if you want to hear the fancy not so real sounding turkey call competition sounds you gotta go with a mouth call.
I disagree. Put Walter parrott 30 yards away and I bet you can't tell it's a person. You know when someone is using a friction call and a lot of times you can tell if it's a slate, glass, box, ect. Of course I'm talking at the highest level of calling. Most people sound terrible on mouth calls
#1 SLATE POT CALL.
I really don't think there is a great answer for this one, I know I have and sure y'all have heard plenty of hens and thought, that is a terrible sounding call, just to find out its a real hen, they are like you and me, no two sound alike, and each one is unique in there own way, just my opinion, I think the most realistic call I carry is a glass over slate in a maple pot, 3inch with a one peice red oak striker, or a red over yellow cedar box
As far as a bad sounding turkey I've never heard one....
For realistic sound a pot call rates at the bottom of the list...it's an okay call for amateurs.
Quote from: L.F. Cox on May 05, 2014, 07:06:13 AM
As far as a bad sounding turkey I've never heard one....
For realistic sound a pot call rates at the bottom of the list...it's an okay call for amateurs.
Really??????????? "OK" for amateurs?? I've seen some pics of some pot calls of yours but they must be different because YOU made them ::)
No need to take offense.....
Once I grew up I stopped toting one nor do I make them anymore....but when I did they had good tone.
I think the slate call has the most potential.
For me I can do decent on a slate with clicks and purrs. I like using them because for me I can't get that great "finess" out if a mouth call. If I set up on a roost bird I will go for my slate since I like to give enough to let him know I am here. For running and gunning I like my diaphragms because I can really let them rip.
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Longbeards continuously are being taken accross the country with All kinds of calls. It is the player that makes the difference. 14 states reporting dead Toms' with my boxes this spring, so far. I like the boxes. Hard to beat a good mouth caller as well. Used slates and glass, now copper and like them all fine. Learn to play them and your set.
For me it's my Cox Ironwood and Ivory...seems that air operated sounds the most realistic to my ears...that includes mouth calls from someone who plays them well...just my opinion...
When it comes to what a turkey hears nothing will beat a trumpet its been proven in lab studies on sound.
Quote from: ol bob on May 05, 2014, 10:13:54 AM
When it comes to what a turkey hears nothing will beat a trumpet its been proven in lab studies on sound.
I do not disagree with this. Do you know where a person can find those lab results?
In the hands of an experienced caller a mouth call is probably the most versatile at reproducing a wide range of turkey sounds. Pot calls are good for mistake free soft calling like tree yelps and cluck n purrs, at distance nothing sounds more hen than Quality box call yelping.
If there was a single best call my vest would be a heck of a lot lighter.
Short of a mouth call. I don't know many people who only carry just one call. I like a Trumpet for the limb. If that doesn't work a box and finish with a mouth call. If I have a bunch of locked up birds I may use more than one at a time. Mouth call and box call at the same time can be pure death..
It has been years since I saw the report but they taped a real turkey and made the same sound on box calls,slate,glass,wing bone trumpets,tube.mouth,ect. To me the box and mouth calls sounded as close as you could get. Then they showed the sound on an oscilloscope and the wing bone and trumpet were the only ones that were close to the real turkey sound both were almost perfect matches.
I guess I'm less concerned about how the call sounds in my ear and more concerned on how it performs in the woods. And in that respect my most effective call is a trumpet.
I think just about any quality call can sound really good in the hands of someone who knows how to use it. Say what you want about competition calling and pot calls, but some of the best turkey sounds I've heard have been in the friction division.
Doug Hermann's Nail Call is a great contender for a call that is pure turkey.
Like Tauntohawk said, distance is a factor. I've never heard a box from 5 feet away that I thought sounded great, but step back 50 yards and it sounds great.
To each his own, I guess. I can only run a tube call good enough to be considered somewhere between a yelping puppy and a hen with a major sinus infection. I've had good luck with gobblers with the tube, this season, though.
A good box call has the most realistic yelp in the woods to me.
Quote from: jakesdad on May 05, 2014, 07:35:19 AM
Quote from: L.F. Cox on May 05, 2014, 07:06:13 AM
As far as a bad sounding turkey I've never heard one....
For realistic sound a pot call rates at the bottom of the list...it's an okay call for amateurs.
Really??????????? "OK" for amateurs?? I've seen some pics of some pot calls of yours but they must be different because YOU made them ::)
That's what I was thinking. A good pot in the hands of someone that can run it sounds very good in the woods.
Quote from: goblr77 on May 06, 2014, 12:43:48 PM
Quote from: jakesdad on May 05, 2014, 07:35:19 AM
Quote from: L.F. Cox on May 05, 2014, 07:06:13 AM
As far as a bad sounding turkey I've never heard one....
For realistic sound a pot call rates at the bottom of the list...it's an okay call for amateurs.
Really??????????? "OK" for amateurs?? I've seen some pics of some pot calls of yours but they must be different because YOU made them ::)
That's what I was thinking. A good pot in the hands of someone that can run it sounds very good in the woods.
I am new here and have already learned he is nothing but a pot stirrer/attention wanter. Carry on..
Yep lol
I let the turkeys tell me what they like. I am partial to a tube call but carry a slate,a glass and a box. I have some calls that sound great to me and turkeys plain ignore them! They are in a box and don't make it to the woods anymore. I guess it is like picking out a crankbait for bass. I have some that "look" good but I never catch a bass on them....same with turkey calls.
I think it has more to do with who is running the call than the call itself. The best sounds I have heard came from a scratch box from Magnolia Game calls. Gary was trying to get a store in Jackson, MS to carry them. They didnt buy any but I waited on Gary to come out of the store. I asked him about the call and he sold it to me right there. I have never been able to make the sounds he made with that call! Same call+different hand= different sound
Marble & peg call.
Fact.....
mudhen
The best contest judge , that has no equal sleeps in a pine tree every night and gets to make all the rules , if you get the drift -
A big survey pole would possibly shed some light on what calls are more popular with the " contest judge"
The only judge that really matters ain't the internet hero's who thinks he's the only one that can kill a turkey or the only one who can build a good turkey call nor the guy behind some wall at a contest. It's like Shannon said the judge sleeps in the trees and if I'm good enough to fool him he gets to ride home in the truck. I could care less what one person feels about my calls or my calling abilities. So long as Mr. Tom keeps coming and putting on a show for me. Either I shoot him or someone else shoots him. I'M HAPPY if I can get him within gun range weather he dies or not. Sometimes I wish that there were only 1 magic turkey call. My vest would be a lot lighter but it would sadden me to think how boring it would be. To only be able to carry one call and not be able to learn how to play different style calls.
ANY CALL that makes a Tom sit up and take attention is the best call as far as sound is concerned. What was the first call or method of calling used to hunt turkeys? I would imagine without doing any serious research that it was the mouth of the individual that was hunting, most likely Native American. Then I am cure over a period of time, men found out they could make sounds similar to that of the turkey with other materials. Most likely the bones of the bird were implemented to create sounds, that obviously worked good enough, as some have been found over the years at sites where the Native Americans were.
So I would say that we learn from the best, those earliest hunters who improvised as best as they could because their lives depended upon it. Today, we hunt because we like it, it is a passion, an addiction, so we experiment with different types of calls, and which ever ones we feel most comfortable with, that happens to be the call/s we choose to hunt with.
The most "realistic" sounding call? There is none. Why? simply because we will not all agree on one! LOL
imo a good box call at a distance is hard to beat. I have heard what I thought was some guy running a box call that sounded pretty terrible, only to turn out to be a hen.
Interesting thread... Joining this forum recently, I have really enjoyed learning about some of the different calls out there.
I have shared the company with some good callers, and have heard a number of calls in the field while hunting myself...
Pot calls are certainly a versatile call, but they would not rate highly for realism as compared to other calls in my opinion. In the field to me (even from a bit of a distance) they really do sound like a friction call.
A good diaphragm caller is difficult to tell from a turkey.
A box call has a very realistic sound to me in the field, and I have been surprised a couple of times about birds that turned out to be hunters... I think that sound chamber makes it sound like it is coming from a turkey's throat... Also a great call to get some volume on as a locator call while running and gunning. As opposed to a pot call, box calls sound like a friction call up close, but tend to sound much more realistic a bit further away, at least to me...
Trumpet calls intrigue me, and until recently joining this forum I was relatively unfamiliar with them... Watching some videos, they seem to have a very realistic yelp, an have some potential to get put into my vest.
Trumpet call- ran by someone who has put the time into learning how to run one...
Quote from: strutnrut on May 07, 2014, 09:14:40 AM
The only judge that really matters ain't the internet hero's who thinks he's the only one that can kill a turkey or the only one who can build a good turkey call nor the guy behind some wall at a contest. It's like Shannon said the judge sleeps in the trees and if I'm good enough to fool him he gets to ride home in the truck. I could care less what one person feels about my calls or my calling abilities. So long as Mr. Tom keeps coming and putting on a show for me. Either I shoot him or someone else shoots him. I'M HAPPY if I can get him within gun range weather he dies or not. Sometimes I wish that there were only 1 magic turkey call. My vest would be a lot lighter but it would sadden me to think how boring it would be. To only be able to carry one call and not be able to learn how to play different style calls.
Richard Knowing you I know a lot of this is directed at me....
After teaching you so much I'm surprised at how you've reacted with such animosity towards me.
After all I called in the first turkey you ever saw called with a trumpet call....and also a box call. Practically gave you a turkey dog trumpet that you turned around and sold for $1800.00 bucks...then proceeded to rub it in my face at every turn...Why don't you send back the turkey tote I gave you and I'll move on.
Back to the original thread....
The love lorn spring gobbler or "only judge" you refer to is most time a pretty poor judge of a turkey call.
Quote from: strutnrut on May 07, 2014, 09:14:40 AM
The only judge that really matters ain't the internet hero's who thinks he's the only one that can kill a turkey or the only one who can build a good turkey call nor the guy behind some wall at a contest.
"Internet hero".....
My definition is someone who has to post a picture of the 3 measly turkeys they killed on every message board out there thinking they have some fan club going on...
That's "Internet hero"....know any one like that Elvis Richard ?
I like a good mouth call
Over the years, for me the gobblers reacted most consistently to the long, short box or scratch boxes. I recently added a mini boat and having success with that too.
Recently, last two years, I've had more success striking public land gobblers with a trumpet call than anything else. And when people hear a trumpet call for the first time they always react similarly, saying how the sound has a depth or texture, a sense of realism that's not found in a mouth, pot or box call.
This year I started on wingbones, and to my ear there is a sense of realism with the yelps and clucks that friction calls don't reproduce.
Just my thoughts on topic before this thread continues going off the rails, gets wrecked and locked.
I have called them in with a box, mouth call, pot, leaf scratching, and often a combination of each. Often it is a matter of when and how much than what call I use.
I have had the opportunity to judge the Grand National Turkey calling contest. These are the best callers in the world and are trying to reproduce the most accurate turkeys sounds that can be made by a human. I hear turkeys every day and didn't think I could ever be fooled by a caller. I was wrong. In the last 2 years that I judged I gave out 2 20's. Thats a perfect score and would have fooled me in the woods. Neither were made by a pot call or a box call or any other turkey call. Although I do have a few box calls that can replicate a great yelp in the woods and sounds better when they are further away. The mouth call is the most versatile and closest replicator of the wild turkey in the hands of the right person. The best friction callers out there are honing their tools and skills to get real close but I don't think any of them can perfectly represent the wild turkey, yet. JMO
Quote from: TRKYHTR on May 12, 2014, 10:06:18 AM
I have had the opportunity to judge the Grand National Turkey calling contest. These are the best callers in the world and are trying to reproduce the most accurate turkeys sounds that can be made by a human. I hear turkeys every day and didn't think I could ever be fooled by a caller. I was wrong. In the last 2 years that I judged I gave out 2 20's. Thats a perfect score and would have fooled me in the woods. Neither were made by a pot call or a box call or any other turkey call. Although I do have a few box calls that can replicate a great yelp in the woods and sounds better when they are further away. The mouth call is the most versatile and closest replicator of the wild turkey in the hands of the right person. The best friction callers out there are honing their tools and skills to get real close but I don't think any of them can perfectly represent the wild turkey, yet. JMO
I agree. For all the people that think the contest callers don't sound like real turkeys need to get their ears checked. Maybe you went to the wrong contest but if you go to the grand national I guarantee you'll hear real turkey sounds from most all the callers. Especially the guys that make it to the finals
Guys he didn't say what kills turkeys. He said most realistic. With the right bird I could blow on a piece of grass and kill him. The very best of mouth callers are hard to differentiate from the real thing. You can still tell it's a friction call no matter whose playing it tho some sound very good
Clearly I need to hear some better trumpet players. I know a small number of guys who play them and I can always tell it's a trumpet. Not bad, but certainly not as realistic as a good mouth caller IMHO.
Admittedly, my trumpet listening experience isn't as extensive as some of the folks here. But I will definitely be practicing with mine more this off season. I would love to take a tom with one.
I opt for the mouth call, but there is just something about a good box that calls turkeys when nothing else will... :z-twocents:
The last six gobblers I have bagged all were taken exclusively with mouth calls. IMO they are the most real sounding calls out there.
Quote from: pappy on May 07, 2014, 10:16:34 AM
ANY CALL that makes a Tom sit up and take attention is the best call as far as sound is concerned. What was the first call or method of calling used to hunt turkeys? I would imagine without doing any serious research that it was the mouth of the individual that was hunting, most likely Native American. Then I am cure over a period of time, men found out they could make sounds similar to that of the turkey with other materials. Most likely the bones of the bird were implemented to create sounds, that obviously worked good enough, as some have been found over the years at sites where the Native Americans were.
So I would say that we learn from the best, those earliest hunters who improvised as best as they could because their lives depended upon it. Today, we hunt because we like it, it is a passion, an addiction, so we experiment with different types of calls, and which ever ones we feel most comfortable with, that happens to be the call/s we choose to hunt with.
The most "realistic" sounding call? There is none. Why? simply because we will not all agree on one! LOL
:z-winnersmiley:
Mann Made Paddle and someone that can run it.