Homemade Turkey Call

[tbuford]

Anyone ever made their own turkey call? Found some info on the web but some of the links on NWTF were disabled....any info and/ or pics are much appreciated...thanks

[ShaunM]

A buddy of mine made one from a box turtle shell and a piece of slate. It worked great. I will try and ask him how he made it. I have seen the wing bone call.

[ShaunM]

A novel, yet effective, friction-type caller you can build is the box turtle or terrapin shell call. The sounding chamber is an empty, dry terrapin shell topped with a sheet of slate or red cedar. The striker is a red cedar or hardwood peg topped with a corncob.

Materials:

One empty and dried box turtle shell.

One piece of 1/8-inch red cedar or slate for the sounding board (approximately 3" x 6", depending on length and width of shell).

One five-inch long piece of 3/8-inch hardwood or red cedar dowel rod for a striker.

One dried corn cob.

Procedure:

Cut and sand the sounding board into a shape that fits the length and width of the shell. Round or oval shapes work well and look good.

Lay the sounding board across the open underside of the shell and mark the points where the sounding board rests against the shell - the contact points.

Dab epoxy at three of these contact points and press the sounding board to the shell long enough for the epoxy to set.

Taper the corn cob with sander or sharp knife.

Trim the cob length to about 4 1/2 inches.

Drill the center of the cob and drive the dowel rod peg into length of the cob, leaving about 2 1/2 inches of peg exposed. The fit must be snug.

Note: Length and weight of peg and cob can be altered, resulting in tone variation. Try several lengths and weights.

[tbuford]

Thanks for the info! I have never Turkey Hunted but will this Spring. The land I deer hunt on is covered with them...I know....they will dissapear when the season starts and the deer will be plentiful...exact opposite of the last 7 wks! But, I am looking forward to it. Any tactical advice or methods or other types of calls anyone is familiar with, just jump in.....any and all input is appreciated!

[DaveS]

I've been wanting to make me one with a turtle shell to go with my "Eastern Longhunter" gear! I'm gonna give it a shot!

Dave (WD)

[ShaunM]

Thanks for the info! I have never Turkey Hunted but will this Spring. The land I deer hunt on is covered with them...I know....they will dissapear when the season starts and the deer will be plentiful...exact opposite of the last 7 wks! But, I am looking forward to it. Any tactical advice or methods or other types of calls anyone is familiar with, just jump in.....any and all input is appreciated!

The most important thing is to practice, practice, practice on all of your calls. Make sure you have good camo with a face net, turkey's have extremely good eye sight. Also pattern your shotgun with different manufactures and shot loads, you would be surprised how different your shotgun will shoot different shells.....example I had a mossy 500 that patterned better with a 3 inch instead of a 3 1/2 inch #5 shot.

[tbuford]

Gotcha....any thoughts as to where this slate can be picked up? I appreciate the input...this should be a pretty cool little project.....now, where did I put that turtle shell ????????????????

[ShaunM]

Try asking around and see if anyone has any slate rock on their property. Next time I visit my mom I will try and get a few pieces (if I can remember) and I will send you some.

[Guest jackdog]

you can purchase slate floor tiles at any good tile supplier. they are available in random sizes and are usually about 1/4" in thickness.

[ShaunM]

you can purchase slate floor tiles at any good tile supplier. they are available in random sizes and are usually about 1/4" in thickness.

Never thought of that.

[tbuford]

Try asking around and see if anyone has any slate rock on their property. Next time I visit my mom I will try and get a few pieces (if I can remember) and I will send you some.

I appreciate that....I will try the tile co first (in the Real Estate business) and see what I can find there...will get back to you or...if you find some first, let me know...

[Guest jackdog]

Happened to be at a lowes on Saturday. and yes they had slate floor tiles that you could but individually.

[tbuford]

Thanks for the info...I'm going there tomorrow to pick up some paint....I'll see what they have!

[Guest .308]

I have been tinkering with the idea of making a call or two as well. Here are some links that a buddy sent me.

http://www.grassycreekcalls.com/callmake.htm

http://www.customsawing.com/

http://www.brooksidegamecalls.com/

http://www.customcalls.com/makeaslatecall.htm

Hope they help. Good Luck.

Chris

[tbuford]

Thanks a bunch....good info there..good luck with yours!

[Rightwinger]

Tbuford,

You can use that blind you got from me or just go total camo and learn to be very very still. If you have seen the birds, you know where they travel, hunt them like deer. There are two ways. The one you have seen the pro's do is to get in a possible area, make some test calls and get the bird to react then move a little close and sit down and call him on in. The properties I hunt in Sumner Co did not allow for that, they are very small but the birds travel across them and as of last fall were roosting on one hill. For those, I get in early, approx 100 yards away from the trees they are in and set up and let them fly down to me. I also get right under their trees almost for evening hunts where i know they will be setting up to fly up to roost. If the gobbler is going to come off his harem or doesn't have one (Jake), they will come to you, don't do the work for them. You can walk 50 yards from your vehicle and hit the lonesome hen call and if they are within hearing range, they will answer. Sometimes closer than you think! Find a comfortable spot and keep on calling. They will come. If you don't hear one, move on into the woods and go 100 yards or so at a time and hit the call a few times. Once your in his hearing range, if he is going to come at all, he will let you know. You will not sneak up on them! I had one answer me and my boy for 3 hours one morning but he would not come off the hens he was with. We tried the slowest stalk I have ever done but before we ever got within 100 yards, one of the hens spotted us and off they went.

Its actually easy hunting as they are either there or not.

[tbuford]

Tbuford,

You can use that blind you got from me or just go total camo and learn to be very very still. If you have seen the birds, you know where they travel, hunt them like deer. There are two ways. The one you have seen the pro's do is to get in a possible area, make some test calls and get the bird to react then move a little close and sit down and call him on in. The properties I hunt in Sumner Co did not allow for that, they are very small but the birds travel across them and as of last fall were roosting on one hill. For those, I get in early, approx 100 yards away from the trees they are in and set up and let them fly down to me. I also get right under their trees almost for evening hunts where i know they will be setting up to fly up to roost. If the gobbler is going to come off his harem or doesn't have one (Jake), they will come to you, don't do the work for them. You can walk 50 yards from your vehicle and hit the lonesome hen call and if they are within hearing range, they will answer. Sometimes closer than you think! Find a comfortable spot and keep on calling. They will come. If you don't hear one, move on into the woods and go 100 yards or so at a time and hit the call a few times. Once your in his hearing range, if he is going to come at all, he will let you know. You will not sneak up on them! I had one answer me and my boy for 3 hours one morning but he would not come off the hens he was with. We tried the slowest stalk I have ever done but before we ever got within 100 yards, one of the hens spotted us and off they went.

Its actually easy hunting as they are either there or not.

Whats goin on! Took two deer this year from that blind! Best investment I ever made! Already got the spots ready to go for this spring turkey season and you can bet that I will either be tucked in the blind (great for the kids by the way) or full camo...saw tons of activity this year so hopefully they will still be around.....going to take the boys to do a little rabbit hunting and some quail nxt wknd....I'm starting to get stir crazy with deer season gone! Hope all is well with you!

[ShaunM]

Whats goin on! Took two deer this year from that blind! Best investment I ever made! Already got the spots ready to go for this spring turkey season and you can bet that I will either be tucked in the blind (great for the kids by the way) or full camo...saw tons of activity this year so hopefully they will still be around.....going to take the boys to do a little rabbit hunting and some quail nxt wknd....I'm starting to get stir crazy with deer season gone! Hope all is well with you!

Is there room enough for 2 during turkey season

[tbuford]

Is there room enough for 2 during turkey season

Trust me, if there was my brother-in-law would have pulled up next to me this past deer season...kinda felt bad about sitting there all warm and toasty while he was "still" hunting in the 20* weather with the wind beating on him!