I was just wondering. For you guys that live and hunt the midwest , do you ever use mellow surfaces such as gray slate or just stick to higher pitched harder surface. The reason I ask is because while I was in NW Missouri the wind blew pretty strong. I asked the outfitter and he said that was the norm. I just felt like when running slate surfaced calls , that they were not loud enough. I live in the south and normally run calls in a lower volume. I felt like I had to really call loud for the birds to hear me. It seemed as though the calls did not carry as well. Now it may just be in my head so thats why I am asking. To me when I called way louder than I normally do , that it did not sound as good. I killed a bird , but I was using a call that had volume and I was really getting down on it. Im heading back next year and was thinking about leaving the slate and glass surface at home and sticking with aluminum and crystal. For those with more experience with the midwest , please share your thoughts.
What's wrong with a box? No pot I've ever run could match a good box call as far as sheer volume goes and on a windy day (or calm day for that matter), you're just trying to get a gobble or two to locate him, not work him the entire way with the box. But yeah, louder is better when attempting to locate a bird.
On a high wind day if you don't have aluminum or crystal pot call wise, you're pretty much SoL unless they're right on top of you. Ceramic cuts through the wind pretty good too.
Quote from: JMalin on May 04, 2019, 05:30:10 PM
What's wrong with a box? No pot I've ever run could match a good box call as far as sheer volume goes and on a windy day (or calm day for that matter), you're just trying to get a gobble or two to locate him, not work him the entire way with the box. But yeah, louder is better when attempting to locate a bird.
Nothings wrong with a box. I use one quiet often however my question was for guys who use pot calls in windy midwest states , not about what type of calls to use. As far as working one all the way to the gun with a box , i have experience with that also. I have been doing this for a very long time. As stated in my post , I have hunted turkeys 40 years down here and just ventured to the midwest this year. Therefore I want people who have hunted there for several years to give their opinion on pot call surfaces and volume there.
I use a slate surface pot more than any other surface..If its super windy and i wonder if they can hear it or not then I usually just crank it up a notch with one of my favorite glass calls or switch it up with a mini longbox.
Quote from: HookedonHooks on May 04, 2019, 05:37:16 PM
On a high wind day if you don't have aluminum or crystal pot call wise, you're pretty much SoL unless they're right on top of you. Ceramic cuts through the wind pretty good too.
Yeah pretty much my thoughts. We all know how well turkeys hear so I was kind of thinking that maybe being in that condition was a mind thing. We have high wind down here but many calm days also. Was told high wind was normal there. My thoughts also is that its hard for me to believe that truckloads of turkeys are not killed with gray slate in the midwest.
Quote from: 1iagobblergetter on May 04, 2019, 06:00:55 PM
I use a slate surface pot more than any other surface..If its super windy and i wonder if they can hear it or not then I usually just crank it up a notch with one of my favorite glass calls or switch it up with a mini longbox.
Thanks. This is the kind of info I was looking for. So you kill birds consistantly in wind with slate?
Rather Midwest or south windy days are worse than rain imo. I hunted a solid week of windy days so bad on some mornings you'd have to have been in the tree with the Gobbler to hear him. In the rare lulls between gusts I tried box,crystal and aluminum nothing. I have an old K&H yella hammer ceramic and the first time I used it I got an answer from couple hundred yards. Between gusts I'd call they'd answer killed one in 20 min. Anything can happen once. Next day same deal nothing until I got the YH out 30 min later I killed one. This went on until the wind calmed down called up 4 in 3 days buddy shot and missed one I had better luck. I was calling so loud it was hurting my ears and the Gobblers loved it I don't know if it was this particular area or what it sounded like in the wind but it worked. The same call got me out of a jam on my first Texas hunt nothing was working on henned up birds YH and I tagged out. What makes this whole thing odd it's never been a real producer I always have it in my call box in the truck but not usually in the vest. I have a new respect and confidence in the ceramic for windy days.
For the reason you mention that why i run ceramic pot , during our season it's always rainy and wind blowing ...yes i have boxes and run those also , but my go to pot call is ceramic ... on those nice days with very little wind i will run slate or glass call....
Good info here. I have a few stumpy ceramics. They dont seem really loud but may play with some different strikers to see if I can get that piercing high pitch with good turkey sounds. La longbeard what striker you running on it? Greg , what ceramic you have and what are you running on it. Thanks guys.
Quote from: Spitten and drummen on May 04, 2019, 06:31:00 PM
Good info here. I have a few stumpy ceramics. They dont seem really loud but may play with some different strikers to see if I can get that piercing high pitch with good turkey sounds. La longbeard what striker you running on it? Greg , what ceramic you have and what are you running on it. Thanks guys.
Strikers i use is H Fowler snakewood with osage top and Neal Herrman black ebony .... the pot i run was made by Jim Shelly in a cherry pot with glass sound board .... the thing about ceramic is keeping the surface cleaned and your striker tips clean... on those damp cold morning, you can lay a hand warmer on the surface of that ceramic and that pot will sing out loud ....
Quote from: Greg Massey on May 04, 2019, 06:43:27 PM
Quote from: Spitten and drummen on May 04, 2019, 06:31:00 PM
Good info here. I have a few stumpy ceramics. They dont seem really loud but may play with some different strikers to see if I can get that piercing high pitch with good turkey sounds. La longbeard what striker you running on it? Greg , what ceramic you have and what are you running on it. Thanks guys.
Strikers i use is H Fowler snakewood with osage top and Neal Herrman black ebony .... the pot i run was made by Jim Shelly in a cherry pot with glass sound board .... the thing about ceramic is keeping the surface cleaned and your striker tips clean... on those damp cold morning, you can lay a hand warmer on the surface of that ceramic and that pot will sing out loud ....
Appreciate it.
Quote from: Spitten and drummen on May 04, 2019, 06:03:45 PM
Quote from: 1iagobblergetter on May 04, 2019, 06:00:55 PM
I use a slate surface pot more than any other surface..If its super windy and i wonder if they can hear it or not then I usually just crank it up a notch with one of my favorite glass calls or switch it up with a mini longbox.
Thanks. This is the kind of info I was looking for. So you kill birds consistantly in wind with slate?
For potcalls I rarely use any other surface than slate or glass. I do own about every surface known to man,but slate and glass are my favorite.. I'm getting off course with your question I know,but don't want to mislead you. I do use trumpets,tubes,mini paddles,etc,but kill alot of birds strictly with a slate call before I feel a need to break out anything else or mix it up..
Quote from: Spitten and drummen on May 04, 2019, 06:31:00 PM
Good info here. I have a few stumpy ceramics. They dont seem really loud but may play with some different strikers to see if I can get that piercing high pitch with good turkey sounds. La longbeard what striker you running on it? Greg , what ceramic you have and what are you running on it. Thanks guys.
One piece Dymondwood or Snakewood are what I like to bare down on ceramics to get the volume out of. Bloodwood if I'm playing it softer.
Killed two birds on both EXTREMELY high wind days in MO this year, one with Daybreak aluminum and other with Roberts green slate.
Quote from: HookedonHooks on May 04, 2019, 07:29:55 PM
Quote from: Spitten and drummen on May 04, 2019, 06:31:00 PM
Good info here. I have a few stumpy ceramics. They dont seem really loud but may play with some different strikers to see if I can get that piercing high pitch with good turkey sounds. La longbeard what striker you running on it? Greg , what ceramic you have and what are you running on it. Thanks guys.
One piece Dymondwood or Snakewood are what I like to bare down on ceramics to get the volume out of. Bloodwood if I'm playing it softer.
Killed two birds on both EXTREMELY high wind days in MO this year, one with Daybreak aluminum and other with Roberts green slate.
I have a roberts green slate also. It really is high pitch. It can be shrill on the front end. You running dymondwood on it also?
I've felt that way myself. Heck I even feel that way down here in South AL sometimes. I probably run a slate surface call the least of any other. Mainly it's due to moisture issues down here on muggy mornings. Until the sun comes up a slate can sometimes be unusable for me it feels like, but even then I always feel like I'm not loud enough. I know in Washington last year with mountains mixed into high wind, you were up sh%t creek without a paddle if you carried a mellow slate. This year I found myself carrying a Glass or Crystal and a Ceramic or Aluminum and if I was tight on a bird, felt like I needed to soft talk him, and wanted to work him with a pot style call, I used Marlin's little coaxer call. It's strange because I love to play a slate indoors. My favorite surface to sit around and run and I adore the sound, but I rarely find myself with one in hand in the woods.
Quote from: Coop1082 on May 04, 2019, 07:43:35 PM
I've felt that way myself. Heck I even feel that way down here in South AL sometimes. I probably run a slate surface call the least of any other. Mainly it's due to moisture issues down here on muggy mornings until the sun comes up a slate can sometimes be unusable for me it feels like, but even then I always feel like I'm not loud enough. I know in Washington last year with mountains mixed into high wind, you were up sh%t creek without a paddle if you carried a mellow slate. This year I found myself carrying a Glass or Crystal and a Ceramic or Aluminum and if I was tight on a bird, felt like I needed to soft talk him, and wanted to work him with a pot style call, I used Marlin's little coaxer call. It's strange because I love to play a slate indoors. My favorite surface to sit around and run and I adore the sound, but I rarely find myself with one in hand in the woods.
I agree with you a slate in my area is almost useless... but i real like playing one inside... but for the most part it just want play in the conditions i hunt in the spring , you just have to pick your days with slate ... Hand warmers are a mans best friend with pot calls..in my opinion .. don't hunt without them...
Slate is my favorite and even with the humidity as bad as it is down here , I still have killed more birds with gray slate than any other surface. I know that slate in general has been the down fall of many a birds since someone figured out scratching a stick on a rock sounded like a turkey.
Quote from: Spitten and drummen on May 04, 2019, 08:01:53 PM
Slate is my favorite and even with the humidity as bad as it is down here , I still have killed more birds with gray slate than any other surface. I know that slate in general has been the down fall of many a birds since someone figured out scratching a stick on a rock sounded like a turkey.
snuff can with a piece of condom has killed many turkeys also... i know that for a fact it was some of my first turkey calls ...
Quote from: Greg Massey on May 04, 2019, 08:05:06 PM
Quote from: Spitten and drummen on May 04, 2019, 08:01:53 PM
Slate is my favorite and even with the humidity as bad as it is down here , I still have killed more birds with gray slate than any other surface. I know that slate in general has been the down fall of many a birds since someone figured out scratching a stick on a rock sounded like a turkey.
snuff can with a piece of condom has killed many turkeys also... i know that for a fact it was some of my first turkey calls ...
Lol! I made them with a med bottle and condom. Also used a piece of switch cane. No doubt about it.
Purple Heart striker will make a ceramic scream. Mass produced pots are all different I've heard other K&H ceramics that sounded like cardboard, I guess I got a good one. I clean mine with denatured alcohol and the tip of the striker, keeping ceramic clean stops the squeals and keeps the high pitched but still two note Yelp.
Lohman Slate Thunderdome!!! An old original one with the aluminum bottom. For some reason, I can get Turkeys to gobble to that when nothing else works.
Have a good one
Ray
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
Quote from: runngun on May 04, 2019, 08:37:08 PM
Lohman Slate Thunderdome!!! An old original one with the aluminum bottom. For some reason, I can get Turkeys to gobble to that when nothing else works.
Have a good one
Ray
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
I actually have one of them somewhere. It has a dent in the bottom. One of my all time favorite production calls.
Quote from: LaLongbeard on May 04, 2019, 08:32:01 PM
Purple Heart striker will make a ceramic scream. Mass produced pots are all different I've heard other K&H ceramics that sounded like cardboard, I guess I got a good one. I clean mine with denatured alcohol and the tip of the striker, keeping ceramic clean stops the squeals and keeps the high pitched but still two note Yelp.
I have one of those and mines like the one you mentioned sounding like cardboard lol.
I live in central illinois..flatlands and wind..go hand in hand..I am always looking at the weather for the wind especially..it will dictate what calls I may choose for the day...low winds I may use a slate the 1st thing...i love a good glass pot also...now when the wind is blowing and it usually is...aluminum and crystal pots is what i take..along with a good box...and always a longbox..it also depends on how close i may get to some roosted birds and if i am hunting fields or inside the timber
Quote from: jed clampett on May 04, 2019, 10:15:13 PM
I live in central illinois..flatlands and wind..go hand in hand..I am always looking at the weather for the wind especially..it will dictate what calls I may choose for the day...low winds I may use a slate the 1st thing...i love a good glass pot also...now when the wind is blowing and it usually is...aluminum and crystal pots is what i take..along with a good box...and always a longbox..it also depends on how close i may get to some roosted birds and if i am hunting fields or inside the timber
Exactly the info im looking for. Thanks Jed
I have been running a Clay Townsend snakewood striker on a daybreak Gary Anderson Ceramic this spring and the birds really like it. I have also used a Brad Roberts Hackberry Green Slate with the same snakewood striker. In fact I find myself running the snakewood on all of my pots now, works well on red and green slate.
Quote from: Spitten and drummen on May 04, 2019, 05:56:42 PM
Quote from: JMalin on May 04, 2019, 05:30:10 PM
What's wrong with a box? No pot I've ever run could match a good box call as far as sheer volume goes and on a windy day (or calm day for that matter), you're just trying to get a gobble or two to locate him, not work him the entire way with the box. But yeah, louder is better when attempting to locate a bird.
Nothings wrong with a box. I use one quiet often however my question was for guys who use pot calls in windy midwest states , not about what type of calls to use. As far as working one all the way to the gun with a box , i have experience with that also. I have been doing this for a very long time. As stated in my post , I have hunted turkeys 40 years down here and just ventured to the midwest this year. Therefore I want people who have hunted there for several years to give their opinion on pot call surfaces and volume there.
If a turkey can't hear you calling, it's a problem regardless of where you hunt. What good does it do to keep calling to a turkey using one type of call that he won't acknowledge it with a gobble? In your case, you switched surfaces and presumably got better results. A change of conditions requires a change of tactics. I've found that getting a gobble out of a distant bird or getting a bird fired up on a windy day isn't so much trying to sound like a real hen as much as it is getting something to that bird's ear that he can actually hear.
I do not use a pot call, and have not hunted in the mid-west...
But I do hunt in the west, and have hunted under windy conditions (successfully)...
It is my impression that in windy conditions, if you can hear birds gobbling, they are upwind, and likely cannot hear you calling back (unless they are really close). It is also my impression that birds downwind can hear you just fine but you cannot hear them gobble.
I have had multiple experiences of visually watching birds gobble downwind that I could not hear... Or seeing them go into strut when I call. I have been astonished at how close some of the gobbling birds were that I could not hear (although admittedly my hearing is not great).
I try to get upwind of birds and call... As I cannot hear gobbles, I tend to hang out in prime areas for longer periods of time, and remain well hidden. Nice thing about the wind, is that you can get away with a bit of movement (as everything is blowing and moving in the wind).
And, although the wind creates extraneous noise pollution (likely interfering with the ability of your call to be heard) the wind also does carry that sound. Having been able to observe a number of birds in the wind which I could see but not hear gobbling, they responded to quiet and subtle calling if they were close enough...
If I spot a huntable bird, I will attempt to get downwind of him in a favorably location and call... And hope.
I have probably busted more birds in range in the wind than any other condition... Get up to move, and there is a bird in range that I did not see (or hear). I now take a good look around, and actually turn about before getting up to leave. I also do some aggressive calling, hoping to spot the fan of a strutting bird or that bright head.
Admittedly, I do not care for hunting in the wind (as I really enjoy hearing the birds gobble), but if I have a day off, I am hunting.
If I were using a potcall, I would opt for as loud as possible... Probably high-pitch as well. I typically rely more on my favorite loud boxcalls in the wind.