Most realistic sounding call ???

[strutnrut]

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..

[ol bob]

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.

[merocustomcalls]

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.

[jblackburn]

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.

[goblr77]

A good box call has the most realistic yelp in the woods to me.

[goblr77]

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.

[Tatr]

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..

[BigGobbler]

Yep lol

[Candyman]

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

[mudhen]

Marble & peg call.

Fact.....

mudhen

[Old Gobbler]

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"

[strutnrut]

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.

[pappy]

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

[Spitten and drummen]

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.

[Marc]

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.