Well my season is over. I filled one of two tags in Kentucky and my only tag in Ohio. Two decent longbeards and a lot of encounters. Been a frustrating season but fun.
I thought I would post an update on the calls I won and experiences hunting the ones I kept. I gave a trumpet to my daughter who played with it in South Dakota, I gave a pot call to one of my two best friends and The Seth Hamon yelper to my other turkey hunting partner. I gave the owl hooter to my wife's cousin. I donated the Mike Lapp push pin call and one of the Scott Bashore scratch boxes to a fund raiser for a wheeling sportsman hunt. Of the calls I kept I tried to hunt them all but I never took the Oldham slate because of so much rain. All the calls sounded great and birds answered them, but I had a hard time getting birds to come no matter what call I used. My two favorite sounding box calls were the Ed Terefenko short box and and the Scott Bashore small scratch box and I carried both several days. The sound out of the Scott Bashore scratch box was amazing for the tone and volume out of such a small call. I carried the Jeff Mckamey long box a few days and it had good sound, but It was very awkward to carry in my minimalist vest, so it got put back on the shelf shortly. The trice glass call I carried every day and used in combo with a mouth call and birds responded to it well. The last call I took hunting was the bent CReek wingbone, because I have never hunted a wingbone, but that will definitely change. I was demonstrating it to my daughter in my front yard (trying to coach her over the phone on her trumpet) when a gobbler answers out of my back woods. I rush to grab my gun and vest and head to the woods. Two more series on the wingbone and the gobbler was flopping in front of me....yup I will definitely hunt this call in the future. They are all great calls and I have enjoyed them all and have communicated with all the call makers. My appreciation for them has only grown. The only call I am a little unsure of is the McKamey long box, and it's not the sound that discourages me. It is just so dang big. That is one I may not keep just because of the difficulty carrying it. I will maybe see about getting a long box holster, but I don't need anymore gear attached to me. It has been a great experience winning these calls....I definitely will be buying some tickets next year. I promised a review, so here it is.
