Who do you feel makes the best long box currently? Best wood combinations? Let the games begin.
It depends what you mean by best. Best sounding to our ear, best looking or best meat call. One of the longboxes I have from McKamey is cedar/butternut. I bought it secondhand and I have a few others I really like better soundwise. Bloodwood/mineral poplar is my fav there but that cedar box I cared the least about so it came w me relatively often. That thing is deadly on turkeys, great meat call. SS makes some real good ones too. I've got a redheart/poplar that sounds awesome.
I was just starting a conversation.
I have a SS Ipe over black Limba that produces some killer high pitched kee kees. Just wondering what everyone else thinks sounds the best.
Pretty hard to beat Mike Lapp or Ed Terefenko...Ernie Fetters makes a good one for a reasonable price. Couldn't go wrong with a Marlin Watkins either...
I don't have a ton of experience with long boxes but I've cycled through quite a few last two years
It's hard to beat a Steve Mann cedar over anything,,I made sure to get two cedar over butternut s
And Dan Wittenberg is a true instrument builder way,way,way,under used.
I played a pile of bloodwood over mineral poplar and bloodwood over butternut long boxes Jeff McKamey had at turkey trot. The mineral poplar is a great call, but I went home with a butternut.
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I've got a few from Preacherman that are tough to crowd.....but my best one is a snakewood butternut from Marlin Watkins.
Steve Mann makes a good one. I have several of his including Do-dats.
Best is already relative opinion based on the user but once you factor time to aquire and cost it's even more diluted.
For example is a call "better" if it takes 3 yrs and $300 to aquire vs a call that can be had in a few weeks for $125 and calling in birds over those 3 seasons.. again thats going to vary by who's asking, and what you already have.
I usually answer these questions with an option that is reasonable in price and availability without sacrificing any sound qualities. For a long box based on those criteria I'd be hard pressed to recommend anyone over ernie fetter
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Best could get you so many answers but I will tell you my favorite is a bloodwood/butternut from twisting creek!
Anything from Marlin Watkins, Jeff McKamey or Mike Lapp
My top 3 choices ???
1. Steve Mann
2. Steve Mann
3. Steve Mann
I have a bunch of paddle calls and I hunt with a Mannmade.
Dawkins, Harwell, and Lapp make great calls too.. I just prefer Steve's calls and have killed a bunch of Gobblers from Coast to Coast and Mexico with a Mannmade. Go with what you know.
I have a Scott Witter ipe over butternut I got in the fall and haven't had a chance to hunt it yet..it sounds great
I have a Scott Witter Ipe/Butternut, Ernie Fetters Bolivarian Rosewood/Butternut, Snakewood/Wormy chestnut all sound turkey. Great callmakers to deal with, real gentlemen. Each spent time with me (lessons) showing me sounds a long box can produce. Like taking the flock with you into the woods.....
1. Marlin Watkins Hop Horn Bean over cherry from his home place ... 2. Ernie Fetters Bolivian Rosewood over Black Walnut 3. Scott Witter IPE over Butternut ...
There was a youtube video of marlin watkins showing some of his long boxes. I looked for the video recently and was unable to find it. He ran one that I believe was poplar. Can't remember what the paddle was made from. It was of the most realistic hen sounds I'd ever heard from a call. I would love to be able to get that sound.
Quote from: ozarktroutbum on January 17, 2019, 10:15:14 PM
There was a youtube video of marlin watkins showing some of his long boxes. I looked for the video recently and was unable to find it. He ran one that I believe was poplar. Can't remember what the paddle was made from. It was of the most realistic hen sounds I'd ever heard from a call. I would love to be able to get that sound.
I think you will find that on his instructional video's how to run long boxes etc.. i think he has 3 of these video's on youtube ...
I have a Marlin Long Box that is Ipe, Butternut that is an awesome fall call,
I have several of Mike Lapp's that are deadly, I also have and use, Tim Bullock, Ernie Fetters, Frank Kruer all of them have done well in the turkey woods for me one time or another.
Spring Creek calls
Billy Bush Beggin Machine or anything by Albert Paul.
I have a Frank Kruer box that I really like.
I would happily hunt any box mentioned so far. But if I had to pick just one off a table of all possible long boxes, having never before played any of them, it just might be a Billy Bush osage over butternut.
Quote from: greencop01 on January 19, 2019, 08:07:46 AM
Billy Bush Beggin Machine or anything by Albert Paul.
It would take a small suitcase to carry all the longboxes I would hunt with.
Steve Kimble purpleheart over mahogany
Marlin Watkins hop hornbeam over mineral poplar.
Mike Crooks (Spring Creek) Cherry over maple
Primos Battleship (O.K. not currently made, but DANG !!!)
No way to start naming calls and stop without leaving equally hot calls out.............
Fetters Red Heart over Chestnut, & will not break the bank
Ernie Fetters walnut over butternut, Ernie didn't really want to build it he likes other woods better than walnut he said he would try to get a turkey out of it and I think he knocked it out of the park. I also have a rosewood over walnut and snakewood over sycamore all are great
Don't know about currently but I had a Doug Camp "screaming Hen", that I lost a few years ago that I wish I could find a replacement for.
Quote from: Takeaim1st on January 20, 2019, 09:09:46 PM
Don't know about currently but I had a Doug Camp "screaming Hen", that I lost a few years ago that I wish I could find a replacement for.
That hurts, sorry to hear that happened. Great box.
I contacted His late Wife a few years ago and she replaced the original. However as you know , there's something about the first one of most anything you get attached to that is special. The one I have now is great. Kee kees are effortless on it. High pitched cutting or cackles are also. I wore my legs out hunting the one I lost , the ridges I lost it in were as steep as dirt can be stacked. I've always thought that the bears in that area found it and chewed it up. There were several in the area.