Posted with permission form deadlyimpostergamecalls.com and Stu Bristol.
Hunters new to the sport of wild turkey hunting contact me dozens of times each year asking which the best calls are to use as a beginner. For the past fifty years my answer has never changed. If you are just taking up the sport of wild turkey hunting the two most important calling devices are the box call and the pot call.
The box call is by far the shortest learning curve. The call consists of a rectangular box to which a hinged lid is attached. By drawing the lid across the open box, a variety of turkey vocalizations can be produced. There will be more intricate maneuvers than that, which I will discus in an article focusing on box calls but today I want to stick to pot calls; how to select one that is right for you.
The pot call comes in a variety of shapes and descriptions but the most common is a circular, bowl-like “pot” covered with any number of materials; slate, glass, ceramic, copper and aluminum. Each call structure serves the hunter is different ways.
The first step in selecting a pot call is to go online and listen to recordings of live wild turkeys. Your primary function as a hunter will be to become a play actor, imitating the various wild turkey vocalizations.
Research the basic daily activity vocalizations then search out the sounds of mating male turkeys (gobblers) and hens. For generations here in the Northeast hunters grew up as whitetail deer hunters, primarily in the months of October (bow hunting) and rifle season in November. Wild turkey mating season is a springtime activity but some of the mating principles are the same. Males service a harem of females and then for hunting purposes become expendable. Glad we are not deer or turkeys, huh?
The new turkey hunter needs his or her box call and pot call to be capable of accurately depicting the daily vocalizations plus the short time mating calls.
CONSTRUCTION OF POT CALLS
The most common size for pot calls is 3 – ½ inches in diameter and slightly under ¾-inch thick. A select block of wood is cut roughly rounded then mounted in the chuck of a woodworking lathe and cut down to the desired diameter.
Using the specialized woodworking tools the inside of the call (bowl) is formed, leaving a ¼ to 1/8-inch recessed lip to which the coving will be glued. It is common to leave a circle of wood in the center, raised about 1/8-inch to which a sound board can be attached.
Next a 10-12-inch dowel is inserted into the lath and a tapered striker will be created. This striker will be drawn across the surface of the finished call in different manners to create a variety of vocalizations.
That’s the basics in a nutshell; now comes the difficult part and what will determine the pitch sounds and other properties of the call. From this point forward the hunter must consider this creation a “musical instrument.”
FRICTION
Back in grade school you must have learned the cause and effect of friction. Remember when you drove the teacher nuts by running your fingernails across the blackboard? This same principle applies to all friction operated turkey calls; box, pot and others, and yes, there are many other types of friction callers.
Sound waves travel through materials such as wood, slate, glass and others differently. If your hunting buddies or the literature you read or video you just watched points your interest in slate covered pot calls, understand that some woods and some pieces of slate allow sound to travel at different speeds.
Here at Deadly Imposter Game Calls we offer custom calls, of course but also create inventory of the most popular woods and surface materials. Those being, walnut, purpleheart and African zebrawood. The size are each 3 ½-inch diameter and the sound board glued to the center pedestal is 3-inch diameter double thickness glass and the cover surface is 1/16-inch gray Pennsylvania soft slate.
Before any sound boards or surface slate is attached we coat the inside of each all with four coats of polyurethane, allowing each coat to dry for 6-8 hours. This prevents the call from warping. Remember this when you look at store-bought mass produced calls.
How the glass and slate are affixed to the wood will affect the speed and direction of sound waves. Rather than using a hard-clamped wood or all-purpose glue we use a product sold as E-6000. Instead of clamping the sound glass or surface slate we run a bead of glue on the shelf created near the top of the pot firmly place the slate calling surface in the glue and turns back and forth to seat firmly then we place a small weight on the call and let dry overnight. Too much weight and the glue could release after heavy use in the field. Read the glueing instructions.
Now for the striker or peg which you will draw across the playing surface. The angle make a huge difference as does the shape of the tip of the striker. Striker selection can be frustrating. We pack each pot call with two different striker combinations. One for soft calling in dry conditions and one for raspier tones and easy of operation in damp conditions, sometimes even in the rain.
In 2019, Stu was inducted into the New England Turkey Hunting Hall of Fame.
Stu learned his callmaking craft while hunting with some of the best-known turkey hunters and callmakers including Ben Rogers Lee, Dick Kirby, Niles Oesterle, Neil Cost and Bart Jacob. His “new England” model slate over glass turkey call has been a favorite since 1983 and is currently selling well on deadlyimpostergamecalls.com
