Turkey call

[Osprey]

Had a chunk of maple left from a gun plank and got to thinking that if I can make a gun, why couldn't I make something to call the birds in.  Took a bit of tinkering and tuning to get it sounding right, but by the last shop session the sounds coming out of the window had called a big gobbler all the way across my back field up by the houses.  Maple body and a walnut lid.  Can't wait to try it on opening day.   

[FDR]

Beautiful classic box call! Great story.


Fred

[Tim Crosby]

 Nice job. I take it that is hollowed out, I would like to see a pic of the inside if you can.

   Thanks, Tim C. 

[Osprey]

Tim, don't have any inside pics loaded at the moment and can't upload to Pbucket unless I go to town and wifi connection.  It is hollowed, drilled with forstner bit first, then chiseled, rasped, filed and scraped the inside of the sides down to 1/8" or less, sides have a 5-7% angle on them.

[lonehunter]

Nice call.

[Hungry Horse]

My old huntin' buddy bought a hand made turkey call from an old guy named Turkey George. Turkey George always maintained that the higher pitched the call, the better it worked on those big old toms. His box call is two piece, with the lid separate from the box, and small, like maybe four or five inches long. The box was hard maple, and the lid was of a softer wood. Every time my hunting' pal, and I, went out huntin,' the birds alway went to his call. I tried tuning mine a little, to get a high pitch, but never gained enough to outdo old Turkey George's home made call.
 That is a beautiful call by the way.

                 Hungry Horse

[FDR]

For you guys that want to know more on how to make these things here is a link to "how to" tutorials from the pro's.  There are some world class call makers on that site.

http://thogamecallsforums.com/index.php/board,110.0.html

Fred

[Steve-In]

Nice looking box and it must sound good too.  It amazes me that in the call making world they seldom stain curly maple.

[Tim Crosby]

Tim, don't have any inside pics loaded at the moment and can't upload to Pbucket unless I go to town and wifi connection.  It is hollowed, drilled with forstner bit first, then chiseled, rasped, filed and scraped the inside of the sides down to 1/8" or less, sides have a 5-7% angle on them.

 That's good, Thanks, I don't need pix now. I'm gonna try one. I have made them before but with the body made up of different pieces.

 Tim C.

[Elnathan]

Nice call. Interesting that hard maple works well - all the recommendations I have seen call for tulip poplar or cedar for the body, with maybe a hickory lid. You seem to have a softer lid than body, which is the reverse of the usual procedure, if I recall correctly.

[trentOH]

The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Please let us know if it works on a bird, and if the bird was good eating!

[FDR]

Nice looking box and it must sound good too.  It amazes me that in the call making world they seldom stain curly maple.

This is not a Turkey call but I almost always stain my maple. I learned the process I now us here on the forum.  You guy are great teachers!


Fred

[PPatch]

A couple of days ago I called three gobblers off their roost at daylight. I was sitting on the front porch using my grandfathers hand-made box call. It makes a nice gobble but the yeps and putts are pure music to a bird. I knew where they roosted and have been treated to their mating rituals wholesale lately, quite interesting. I would not shoot any of them because they are practically pets being as they have been around several years. There are six gobblers and six hens I see regularly during the year. Come mating season they seemed to split evenly, 3x3 gobblers and hens. One bunch stayed around the house the other group down by a stream about 900 yards distant.

The yard bunch put on quite the show this year, the gobblers crowding the hens who pretty much ignored them while feeding in the field out front. The gobblers would puff up and strut around, beautiful displays. The hens finally came around in the last couple of days when actual matting happened but they do play hard to get. This morning there were the three hens out by the corn tree eating casually, no Toms. Later, around 1:00 I see the three gobblers skirting the edge of the woods, out about a 100 yards. They are going slow, no displaying, no hens in sight. They ambled up toward their usual roost area occasionally scratching at the pine straw. I believe mating is done for the year around here. I expect to see some poults in about a month and a half. The cycle continues.

dp

[Osprey]

Awww, I'm not even going to get take this call's virginity.     One of the guys in my gun building group liked it so much he begged and begged to take it hunting this weekend in Delaware, the season there opens a week before we do in Maryland.  But at least I'll have a field report by next week when our season opens!    

[hanshi]

You both are artists; know that?

[TradT]

Good looking turkey calls! Hope they serve you well on opening day.

[Osprey]

You both are artists; know that?

I don't know about that, but thanks!  If you want to see art in callmaking, hit the www.nwtf.org site and find the call making competition winners from the annual convention.  Or look at Dave Constantine's site, oh my (www.dconstantine.com).