Making Your Own Turkey Calls
by Tony Kuehn

Hunting for turkeys can be called an art but it shouldn’t be expensive. Especially if you design and build your own calls. Making your own calls isn’t that difficult (see below). All you need are some basic materials.

Slate and Striker/Slide Call-Made with western red cedar strips. About 1 inch by 1 inch square by 4 inch long chamber with three openings. One protruding side to act as the call ridge. The ridge is slightly U shaped. Striker/slide is a solid piece about the diameter of a finger and twice as long. Also slightly U shaped and rounded on the edges of the curve.

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The slate call is a two handed call. The hunter can make various yelps, clucks, and puts with this call. You can make these sounds by rubbing and drawing the striker/slide across and up and down the call ridge. Be sure to keep it chalked for that raspy sound. Hold the striker slide between your thumb and second finger. The box is held firmly in the other hand with the ridge-line facing 45 degrees to your chest. The call must be kept dry in order to work.

 

Wingbone Call-Made from the upper and lower wing bones of a turkey
(domestic or wild). Must be air-tight in the joints.

The wingbone call is usedwith your mouth and a sucking or slurping action. Consistent yelps and clucks can be made rather easily with this call. Make sure you clean it out in-between use otherwise it tastes rather nasty.

Fly-down Call-Pretty simple construction. Just glue a series of feathers into a piece of curved hardwood with some holes drilled 3/4-1 inch into the wood.

The fly-down call is used to simulate birds flying down from their roost. It can be used with one hand and a lead finger on the top (rolling or twisting of the wrist) or with the whole hand gripping the call and moving the feather up and down rapidly. Can also use the butt end for scraping trees and the leaves and other ground debris to simulate feeding or preening.