Favorite turkey slate call?

[David Petersen]

#6908

While turkey season is over for many, it’s still running here in CO, through May 22. The other day I lost my old favorite slate call — a Lohman I paid $7 for some 25 years ago. It had two dime-sized holes in the slate surface to provide for more resonance. It provided great volume and a variety of tones from high to gravelly. I need to replace it asap, as I’ve always felt that slates give the more realistic turkey sounds, proven out by the fact that most of the birds I’ve killed, or called in for others, were with this call. But I’ve been out of the slate-shopping game so long I don’t know what’s what. I don’t care for glass calls as the ones I’ve tried are finnicky and don’t provide sufficient volume. What are your recommendations for good, versatile slate calls with volume potential? Thanks, dave

[Bruce Smithhammer]

#56232

I’ve been really happy with The Freak by Primos. It’s capable of getting really loud, but with a little practice I can get quiet, subtle purrs out of it as well, and just about everything in between. The striker it comes with works well, and I’ve got a more slender “Kee Kee” striker for variety.

I also really like that I can strap it to my leg, and be calling with one hand, and holding my bow with the other. I can put the cap on it and move around with it still attached to my leg and not have to fiddle with packing it away and digging it out again – it’s always right where I need it (though I improved the strap system a little). A one-handed slate call, combined with a diaphragm call, gives a lot of calling options simultaneously, while still being ready for a shot, imo

[David Petersen]

#57056

Thanks, Bruce. The leg strap definitely sounds like a bonus. I’ll check it out. Alas, 2″ of snow this morning and falling fast, so I won’t be chasing turkeys today. It’s supposed to be an Easter egg hunt, after all, not a winter survival ordeal. 😀 dp

[Bruce Smithhammer]

#57100

David Petersen wrote:
It’s supposed to be an Easter egg hunt, after all, not a winter survival ordeal. 😀 dp

No kidding. Sounds like my last couple weeks here. Alas, my two week tag came and went with a lot of freezing mornings in the blind and never hearing a single gobble.

[Raymond Coffman]

#57208

Mr Petersen –
I have one of those old Lohman [ Turkey – Tracer ]calls that I don’t use anymore. You are welcome to it [ on the prairie ]Just need an address to mail it to. I believe I have every call I ever owned [ 30 + ]including my first, a Quaker Boy box call I started with in Penns woods in 71. I agree with Smithhammer – “the Freak” is excellent especially here in NM, as it carries well in the Mtn winds. I use a carbon striker for range and then a wood one in close. The wood striker on the freak makes a sound very much like a true slate.

[FUBAR]

#57291

My fav slate call is made by a friend. They not only sound good, but she makes them down right purdy too:wink:

[capncook]

#59797

Come on, Dave! You know you want to make your own call to enhance the rush of taking that ole’ Tom! Not only do you have a good indoor project while the snow flies, you can search for materials that are unique/cool, to ice the cake.

My slate call is made from a roof tile off the Officer’s Housing on the US Naval Academy in (relatively near-by) Annapolis (installed in 1879). Got it fair and square, when they remodeled the houses in the 1990s. THAT’s unique!

I just used a peanut butter jar lid for the base. OK, its not hand-turned coco-bolo, but the sound is clear and soft, just the thing for those close birds. You want louder, mount your drill to make a mini-lathe and turn a base, or look for a little wooden bowl in the thrift shop to modify, or even ask a call-maker to sell you a base they make from that old broken gunstock of your Grandpa’s.

You’re a creative guy, go for it.

[Homer]

#59909

Capncookie — that’s an idea I’ll bet a lot among us, myself included, would be game for. Question is, for those of us who don’t live near a demolished military academy building (or re-roofed or whatever), where do we get the slate? And how do you cut it into a circle without chipping or splitting? Will a fine-toothed bandsaw do it? Thanks, dp

[capncook]

#62832

East of the Rockies, and particularly from the Mid-Atlantic north, roof slate is fairly common; our western and deep south friends may have a harder time finding material, but its around. Old individual tiles need to be replaced from breakage etc. and new homes are built with slate roofs (OK, not in my price range…). Call roofing suppliers, but also architectural recycling places (ReStore, etc.), demolition companies. Try your local landscaping suppliers that carry slate stepping stones; you’re looking for broken pieces, especially thin chunks, where you can see the natural horizontal split lines. You just need some thin pieces about the size of your hand with the fingers spread out; they should be free!
Get/split out a thin piece of slate, about 1/4″ to 3/8″ thick. Split along a “fault line” if you must reduce the thickness, using a putty knife. (If really thick and no fault lines you can even use a fine-tooth saw and careful, slow strokes. A trim saw works well, as it has a stiff straight blade…just remember, you’re cutting rock, so that blade is gonna suffer!
Slate works kinda like brittle hard maple or old dense oak. You can use a coping saw with a fine blade or even a jigsaw with a metal blade (slow speed!), and a rough file to get the circle shape. [DP – I guess a bandsaw would work if you can slow it down enough to avoid chipping. See note regarding blade damage.] Finish with sandpaper in various grits, like wood; pay attention to getting a nice flat, fine top for your striker surface. Belt sander, anyone?Epoxy the slate into your base. Replicate your favorite base or play with variations to see what sound you like the best (# holes, thickness, materials, etc.).
Top it off with a homemade striker made from wood that has some “connection” to you: a dogwood branch from a tree next to your favorite stand, a spindle from Grandma’s old broken rocking chair, the tree your kids have their tire swing on.
If your first try sucks, so what? Keeping playing with it and you’ll eventually get one that will pull in that bird that has his tail on your den wall…and you made it all yourself! (…insert beaming craftsman/hunter’s picture here…)
SORRY about the long post!javascript:addSmiley(‘:roll:’);

[Robin Conrads]

#63791

Aeronut did a great (as usual) build-along earlier this year on making a turkey call. Check it out.

I think it’s interesting that Capncook used a ready-made pot and made the slate the hard way. Aeronut made the pot the hard way and used a ready-made slate. Combine the two for the ultimate DIY turkey call. 😉

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