What’s Ur Goto Call, Y’all

From KentuckyHunting.net

KYBirdman said:

As some of us feel the Ky. turkey population may be declining. I feel if I release my go to call the population may be in grave danger.

I hear you Birdman. It’s a dark and somber time for sure. However, think of it as a historical thing. Someday someone may want to know what a real KY turkey hunter used. We owe it to posterity

Me? If you’d asked in my first 15 years of turkey hunting, it would have been my Quaker Boy Grand Old Master that Dick Kirby put in my hand. At the time, I had no idea who he was. I wandered in as he was packing up from one of his appearances back in the early 80s. He was out of his own tapes so he had me buy a couple of Ben Lee cassettes to go with it.

However, times change. Eventually the ultra-raspy sound of a barnwood box call from Mountain Side impressed me so much at a Cincinnati Outdoors Show that I started using it. That stayed my favorite until I made the Shamanic MK I a couple of winters ago and gave it a try. Two seasons, two birds later, this is my GOTO Box.

L to R Barnwood by Morning Side, Shamanic MK I, Quaker Boy Grand Old Master

For a pot call, there are two that I keep coming back to. The first is a Heirloom Double Barrel slate and crystal that Brian Warner gave me as a sample when I started to pro-staff for his company. The other is a Shamanic slate over glass I made back in 2007. One or the other of these is always with me.

The Double Barrel:

The Shamanic Scratchbox

Shamanic pot calls

While not my GOTO call exactly. I have to mention my Quaker Boy Easy Yelper. Call it my last resort. I can’t purr with a mouth call. I can with that little pushpin call. I position it on my right side so that my right hand can drop down and find it. There have been many times where it has saved the day. I can add a second cluck in conjunction with my mouth call. I can also let out an aggressive purr to a hen that is coming too close.