Jack O'Malley Interview w/ Dave Richey
Which call when the gobblers roar?
Tough questions. I've used a diaphragm call to lure many gobblers to their doom, and the major selling feature for me is that no hands are needed to make it work. I've never been good with a diaphragm, and a new set of dentures has made using my old diaphragm calls useless.
All must be trimmed a bit, and take it from one who knows, when trimming these calls, err on the side of making many small trim jobs rather than one big one tat cannot be repaired. I tried this the other day, and trimmed just a bit too much off, and wound up throwing one of my favorites in the waste basket under my desk. My personal choice of all calls is evenly divided between a box call and a good slate call with the proper peg or striker. Neither one are worth a hoot in wet weather although some on the newer slate calls can be used when wet although I've never tried one. If it's raining or snowing hard enough to get them wet, I resort to a diaphragm. I just bought a Dean Stratton slate call a few weeks ago, and have fallen in love with it even though I haven't tried it on a bird. My belief is that too many aluminum, glass or slate calls are too loud. I like a soft but raspy call, one that sounds like a cranky old hen. If you ever come across a hunter who can run a yelper like the long call on the right in the above photo, watch, look, listen and learn from an expert. This one is soft and quiet, raspy like an old hen, and has a wood sound chamber that muffles the sound. The end of the sound chamber can be pointed toward the bird or away from it, giving the caller options on how that want to play the bird. A soft inverted J-stroke sends forth a soft whining purr. Do the inverted J-stroke with a little more pressure, and you can knock out a perfect soft yelp. Even if you lean on this call, it still doesn't make a loud call.Are aluminum, crystal, glass or slate calls too loud?
I'm convinced that many slate calls are too loud. Any call that sounds loud to a human's ears is too loud for turkey hunting. I've found a soft call works much better than a loud one, and I'm convinced the seductive notes of a softly made slate call attract hens. Bring in a hen and it's possible a longbeard will be dragged along to his death.
My next favorite call is is a box call. Years ago, the legendary Ben Rogers Lee of Coffeeville, Alabama, gave me a Twin Hen box call. It has produced more gobblers for me than anything else, and it's my call of choice when I call for another hunter. My preferred method of using it is to hold the box call horizontally. Scrape the lid across the box on one side, and it gives a wonderful hen call. Apply the lid to the opposite side, and you get an entirely different hen tone. One call, two hens, and both work. I've used this call to sound like two hens back in the woods, and more than one gobbler has come a'running, thinking that today may be his lucky day. Both box and slate calls can be used in many different ways, and their versatility enables me to try different routines. One thing I've learned over the years is that a gobbler often prefers one type of call. I've had some respond only to a diaphragm, others to a box, and many to a slate call.A good call to use to seal the deal is the push-button.
This brings us to the other call that I use. The push-button call can be operated with one finger. It isn't loud, and I find it particularly useful when birds are close. Many mount one on the fore-end of their shotgun, and use it while the shotgun is shouldered and cheek resting against the stock.
Sometimes, when birds are fairly close and there is more than one out in front, even using one finger can be spotted by a sharp-eyed gobbler or hen. That is when the diaphragm call works the best with sweet, low and soft whines and purrs. Turkey calls of all types have their admirers. For me, a good slate or box call is my favorite. I like the tones, and the ability to control the sound level is what makes them my turkey calls of choice when the spring gobblers roar.
