There is not a more task specific turkey call than the long box. Also known as the paddle box, this type of box call was designed to locate turkeys, pure and simple. It is true, you can soft yelp and cluck on some paddle boxes but they will shine the most when making the music they were designed for - loud, high pitch yelps and aggressive (often offensive) cutts and cackles.
Just last week I called in an old gobbler with one of my long boxes that I made for a friend in Ohio, he came accross two valleys and over two ridges to within 35 yards of me, but all I could see was black and brown feathers as he was in some heaping bad brush, but the point here is it called him right to my backdoor. I used some soft yelps starting out high ending with a great rasp.
Calls from the paddle box ride the border between shock locator and sweet hen sounds. But they do their job well by making turkeys gobble when other calls fail. On windy days, across expansive prairies or humid swamps, through wooded hollows and over high hills, when you want to reach out a little farther, try the long box.
