OldGobbler

OG Gear Store
Sum Toy
Dave Smith
Wood Haven
North Mountain Gear
North Mountain Gear
turkeys for tomorrow

News:

registration is free , easy and welcomed !!!

Main Menu

Slate used for calls ??? Gray/Green/Red...etc...

Started by 1iagobblergetter, July 30, 2018, 09:57:32 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

1iagobblergetter

Just curious..Maybe somewhat dumb questions. Lol..Is it possible to mine different colors out of the same mine? Sound better for turkey calls dug further down or closer up? I guess what I'm asking does the color really mean anything if you can dig different hardness of slate from the same mine(same color)? Isn't it more important to know what mine it came from (hardness)etc.than worrying about color?
I'm sure some mines produce better slate for calls than others even if the slate is the same color..

vt35mag

#1
The green and purple slates can run together.  The red slate (rarest of all domestic slate) is typically quarried seperate from the green and purple slates.  Usually if the quarry wants to quarry predominantly purple slate they will be in a certain part of their quarry, and if they want predominantly green slate they will be in another.  When they get into a section where there is a lot of green and a lot of purple running together, that is called mottled green and purple slate.  These colors are only quarried/found in a short stretch along the VT/NY border.  The traditional grey/black slate used for turkey calls is quarried in PA.  I am sure all the slates being used in turkey calls coming from VT/NY, are coming from the same few quarries.  When I was in the business right out of college, we would never make call blanks because it just wasn't worth it.  You get a ton of breakage Gauging (grinds the slate to a uniform thickness) two faces of a slate down to 1/4in or less. My guess is there is only one, maybe two places making all the red/green/purple slate call blanks available.

outdoors

Is it possible to purchase direct from the mines
Sun Shine State { Osceola }
http://m.myfwc.com/media/4132227/turkeyhuntnoquota.jpg

noisy box call that seems to sound like a flock of juvenile hens pecking their way through a wheat field

vt35mag

Quote from: outdoors on July 31, 2018, 09:12:18 AM
Is it possible to purchase direct from the mines

Yes and no.  Some quarry and manufacturer their own products.  Others companies will buy from mom and pop operations, then sell it retail or to contractors.

Sir-diealot

Good questions, very educational. Thanks vt35mag for the informative replies.
Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength. Arnold Schwarzenegger

John Koenig:
"It's better to live as your own man, than as a fool in someone else's dream."

vt35mag

Here's a mottled green and purple slate tree talker I cut and sanded by hand out of a 1/4in flooring tile 10-12yrs ago. I don't know if you could hear it 50-75yds away, but I know the turkeys can.



Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

outdoors

Sun Shine State { Osceola }
http://m.myfwc.com/media/4132227/turkeyhuntnoquota.jpg

noisy box call that seems to sound like a flock of juvenile hens pecking their way through a wheat field

1iagobblergetter