Calls for Beginner

[Hubertus]

I'd like to learn to call in birds for next spring...realizing that some people take years to hone their skill.  So, I'd like to get started.  Do you usually utilize mouth, pot, and box calls?  When would you use one over another?  Which ones would be good to learn/start on?  Specifically, which makes/models do you recommend?  Thanks!

[outdoors]

THATS A GOOD QUESTION TO ASK , I STARTED OUT WITH A POT CALL AND THEN DIFFERANT CALLS FROM THERE AND YOU WILL FIND OUT WHAT U LIKE TO USE THE MOST YOUR GO TO CALL
THERE LIKE TOOLS THAT TOU HAVE THE TO USE FOR THE SAME KIND OF WORK  AND THERE A SOME THAT You USE THE MOST
PROBABLY NOT THE BEST OF HELP ,,, GOOD LUCK ON YOUR CHOICES

[Britton40]

If I were starting out, I would buy a Darrin Dawkins Slate and Crystal in a Plastic pot and legacy lone hen mouth calls. Listen to sound files, watch YouTube videos, and practice.

[Onpoint]

I'd like to learn to call in birds for next spring...realizing that some people take years to hone their skill.  So, I'd like to get started.  Do you usually utilize mouth, pot, and box calls?  When would you use one over another?  Which ones would be good to learn/start on?  Specifically, which makes/models do you recommend?  Thanks!

Definitely go ahead and and get some mouth calls. I'd put one in and get used to carrying it and keeping it stored between gum and cheek before I tried to learn to call. You won't be able to call up to your ability if it feels awkward so get comfortable and used to it first.

When you get to where you can go on about your day like it's not even there, then you're ready to start learning to use it. I'm gonna guess that most folks are gonna recommend some sort of combo or split v. They are good sounding calls that can get a raspy back end fairy easy.

get old boss hen style cut and a ghost cut and learn to high front to low back end with them. "They will show you your mistakes more so than a real raspy call". This way you aren't as apt to develop bad habits along the way.

As far as pot calls, for me glass and ceramic are the 2 easiest to run.

Stumpy makes a great ceramic..Gary anderson does too.

Glass, take your pick- Brad Roberts glass calls play easy and sound great, lonzo trice, Dave hallorans crystal calls, woodhaven cherry classic is abiut as easy to play as anything.

Or you could call Lonnie Sneed ans get a good glass ans slate for abiut the same price of what most charge for 1 call

I still believe that a "good" ceramic is easier to play than slate. forgot about Jay Ritchie, his ceramics are very easy to run and sound great. Dave hallorans runs easy too.

As for box calls, al and Josh shoemaker make as good a soundin box as about anybody and they don't cost much neither

Hope this helps

[davisd9]

When I first started turkey hunting I bought a Primos Power Crystal, that thing would sing. No idea if they are still as good as they were then but I would probably recommend a good pot call for a beginner.

Pots are very user friendly and can make most calls of the wild turkey. A good slate or glass is hard to beat with a good striker.

Second call for a beginner would be a good box call. They are pretty simple to use once you understand the rhythm and cadence of the calls you are trying to make. Many of birds have fallen to the box call.

Mouth calls are good to learn but for me was one of the more difficult calls to use, mostly because of confidence. Once you learn them then they can help you stay still as old Tom is moving in.


Sent from the Strut Zone

[BABS9]

I would definitely get all of the calls you mentioned and just start practicing with all.  They all have there uses, advantages and disadvantages.  For me the easiest call to learn on is a box call.  That is the first call I ever learned to use. You can produce most of the sounds of a hen pretty easily and call plenty of birds in. 

Learning to be efficient on a mouth call though will probably give you a bigger advantage in the woods compared to all other calls. Allows you to be hands free and will produce all turkey sounds but it is the hardest to learn and takes ALOT of practice.  To start out stay away from calls with alot of reeds (3 or 4) they are harder to blow and control. Get a nice 2 reed call maybe just straight (no cut in reeds) or a v cut. And make sure the call fits your mouth. Having a call that is to big or small will just frustrate you lol.  Once you can use that efficiently and consistent you can experiment with different reeds and cuts.

For pot calls the easiest to run for me is a good slate or glass/crystal call.

Just my opinion. Hope this helps and good luck!

Billy

[larry9988]

I enjoy teaching beginners to use turkey calls.I have taught many people how to do just basic yelps and clucks on mouth calls, pots, boxes, tube, trumpets and push pins. It has been my experience that most people can make these two turkey sounds that are acceptable for hunting on a pot call the soonest. I would suggest slate or glass call starting out. After you have become proficient with a pot, move on to some of the other types. I feel that  good turkey hunter, caller should be able to use more than one type of caller. Some days one works better than others for a variety of reasons. But i really stress learning one well before moving to another. It can be little overwhelming to learn several different ones at one time. Best thing to do is find someone willing to help, watch youtube and maybe buy a instructional video. It really helped me to listen to live turkey recordings to get down the cadence of turkey sounds also. I have been hunting turkeys for almost thirty years and keep a CD of turkey sounds in my truck to listen to all yearlong, and yes people that get into my truck think I am crazy unless they are obsessed like me.

[larry9988]

I failed to mention that I am a high school agriculture teacher. I have been teaching wildlife management as one of my class offerings for 28 years. I teach a unit on turkey management as part of my curriculum and include a section on turkey vocalizations and how to make the basic sounds on a variety of callers. I have taught this unit to literally hundreds of kids over the years and found the pot easiest for my students to use for basic yelps and clucks. After teaching the unit we would have an in class turkey calling contest to see who the was class champion caller. The students and I loved doing this. The teachers next door didn't always share our feelings though.

[Hubertus]

Thanks for the feedback guys, very helpful information!

[Spitten and drummen]

buy a lynch fool proof 101 box call. practice with it. remember when calling , less is more. get started and kill a bird or two. get hooked and you will be trying to master every type call that you can. that's how I started 35 years ago. the order I went was box , pot , mouth , wingbone , tube and finally trumpet. I still have a little ways to go with the trumpet. haven't called a bird up with one yet but I will. this is a very addictive sport you are about to get into. good luck and stick with it and you will be a turkey killer before you know it.

[Bowguy]

You're getting good advice, mouth calls are great but take time to learn n for some to acclimate to, box calls can be easy to learn basic yelping on, clucks not much harder, purrs that sound correct, harder, fly ups or downs, cutting, etc all need practice, pots in my opinion are the easiest to learn correct sounds on, depending on the surface type you can make every sound but gobble, boxes can actually do that but it takes a good box to sound right, kee kees are easier on some pot calls n very hard unless you have a long box on a wooden call.
My vote would be get em all but expect the pot to be beginner friendliest for most sounds

[Hubertus]

So with a pot call you can utilize different strikers to sound like different birds?  I understand pot calls usually come with a striker but would be beneficial to get additional ones?...I've been reading here that a good number of you seem to like Black Locust or Diamondwood. 

[BABS9]

So with a pot call you can utilize different strikers to sound like different birds?  I understand pot calls usually come with a striker but would be beneficial to get additional ones?...I've been reading here that a good number of you seem to like Black Locust or Diamondwood.

You are correct. You could sound like a ton of different hens with different strikers. Black Locust and diamondwood are both great. Purpleheart as well. Try all different types and see what you like.