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Blackberry leaves were used as mouth calls by old-time Arkansas turkey hunters. (Joe Mosby Photo) Veteran hunter relies on various types of turkey calls Saturday, Jun 14, 2008 By Joe Mosby Turkey hunters know one basic element of their game. They have to call in a gobbler to get a shot - nearly always. Seldom does silent hunting pay off. There are several different types of turkey calls in addition to the rare hunter who does it with voice alone. Veteran hunter Gene Denton of Clarksville has tried all the types and still uses more than one, depending on the situation. "I started off when I was young just using a piece of slate and a wood peg," Denton said. The method is simple, but like the other types it takes practice and close attention to produce a noise closely resembling a hen turkey in the woods, he said. Slate calls are still used by quite a few hunters, and today's store-bought slate items are usually a piece of slate cased in wood or plastic. Old-timers often chose cedar for the "peg" that was scratched across the surface of the slate. It resembles a stubby pencil. Glass or ceramic pieces are also used instead of slate by a few hunters. Box calls have long been popular among turkey hunters, although self-proclaimed experts sometimes look down on them. A box call is an oblong wooden item with a movable top, a piece held in place by a screw or an elastic band. The top is rubbed across the tops of the side pieces to produce a sound imitating a turkey hen. The box call can also be shaken to send forth a gobbling-type sound. "I got away from box calls for a long time. Didn't use them at all. But I've gone back and used them sometimes in later years," said Denton, a member of the board of directors of the national Wild Turkey Federation. Makers of box calls range from individuals with wood shops at home to manufacturing plants. Many put special touches on the calls. An example is grooves in the side pieces with the idea that this changes the pitch of the sound slightly. The top piece sometimes has a shape of a handle or a paddle, making it easier to use in the field. Some individual box calls are painted or decorated, too. A few box calls are now made from aluminum, with the advantage that they may be better in rainy weather when wet wood doesn't make the desired sounds. Calls made from the wing bones of turkeys have an ancient history and are still popular. The hollow bones make it something along the lines of a musical instrument. Many hunters find wing bone calls difficult to use, but Denton isn't one of them. He produces an effective turkey hen sound readily with one of this type. He's also got a collection of wing bone calls, some with interesting stories behind them. The diaphragm call is the most modern of turkey calls and is highly popular among contest participants, Denton said. "Most of the contest people use diaphragm calls," though out in the field it may be different, he said. And Denton points out that contest winners in turkey calling may not always be the best hunters. "Calling comes second," he said. "Knowing turkeys is more important. You have to know what a turkey is likely to do in different situations to be a good hunter." A diaphragm turkey call is a small, flat metal or plastic frame with a thin bit of rubber or plastic in the middle. It is inserted fully in the mouth, and one advantage is that this leaves both hands free. The use of leaves for calling turkeys is virtually a lost art, Denton said. This was what many hunters of bygone times, including Indians, worked with. A hunter carefully selected leaves based on their flexibility and other factors. Various leaves were used, but in Arkansas the most popular kinds were blackberry, cherry and greenbrier or smilax, Denton said. "Hunters would carry along a supply of leaves in something like a snuff can that had been rinsed out," he said. Also on the market is a gobble call resembling a short piece of rubber hose. It doesn't make a hen sound, but by shaking it, a hunter can produce a gobble noise that may attract other turkey gobblers. -------- Joe Mosby is the retired news editor of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and Arkansas' best known outdoor writer. His work is distributed by the Arkansas News Bureau in Little Rock. He can be reached by e-mail at jhmosby@cyberback.com. |
