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Hello, I'm Brian Posthumus with Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
I'm the Northeast region hunting and angling outreach coordinator.
Today we're talking about the basics of turkey hunting.
We're going to talk now about some of the types of calls you might want to look into investing in.
I recommend if you're just starting hunting, you don't have to spend a ton of money.
The first call I want to talk about, this is one of the two types of friction calls we're going to talk about.
This is called a "Box Call".
It's probably one of the easiest calls to get started in.
I like to hold it in one hand this way, then I grab striker lid.
[turkey hen yelp]
It's just a basic hen yelp out there.
This is a great call you can use it to yelp, you can use it to purr, you can cut, you can cluck with it.
those are all different types of calls.
Box Call, really easy to get started with.
I've got a couple other calls.
I call these "Pot Calls".
It's a Pot Call of either a glass surface, a slate surface, there's other other surfaces out there as well.
This call does require some type of a striker as well.
So, when you hold this call, don't cover up the sound holes in this.
You can aim this a little bit through the woods.
Simply hold your striker with one hand, at a little bit of an angle and just to do a hand call.
I just like to do little ovals.
[Turkey yelp]
I can do little clucks
[Turkey cluck]
Or I can do a purr, and I just pull back across
[Turkey purr with clucks]
I like to have a few different types of strikers, when I go out there.
They have just slightly different sounds.
[Turkey yelp]
A couple of basic tools you want to use with these as well.
I like to carry either a scotch-brite pad or I've actually glued a little piece of
sandpaper to the top of one of my strikers and when I need to get these
conditioned out in the field I can just... scratch them up a little bit.
I like to go across and when I...
[turkey yelp]
break that across sometimes that helps with the sounds.
This is the slate
[turkey yelp]
You can tell it's slightly different call,
So, a scotch-brite pad in your vest,
or I don't use a turkey vest
I use just this little pack and I carry all my calls in here that I need.
Just the way I like to go out.
A lot of turkey hunters buy a turkey hunting vest and they've got all the pockets for
all their calls so that are ready to go.
If you're gonna be getting a box call, make sure you take some chalk with you, out there in the field.
The chalk goes on the paddle and you just rub the chalk right here.
It helps create the friction as you come across...
[Turkey yelp]
...that calling surface.
So, these are our two basic friction calls.
They're the easiest to get started with.
A lot of people really like the Box Call.
I really got started using the Pot Call.
I like using the Pot Calls with the strikers.
Another type of call, it's probably the least expensive, but it's the hardest to get used to.
I recommend, don't just buy one of these and go out in the field and think you're going to be able to do this.
This is something that you're going to want to practice hours and hours and hours and my family has told me,
"Dad, don't do this in the house! That's annoying!"
Do this in your vehicle as you're driving back and forth to work and on long drives.
The way this call works, is you have the little latex across here,
This goes out the front of your mouth and it goes up onto the top of your mouth and then
your tongue just sits down on the bottom. You put that in.
[turkey yelp]
It takes a lot of time to master one of these.
Some people just never get it, they don't like them.
They might start to choke.
For youth or anyone that might have a smaller palate,
they do have brands that are much smaller size as well so if the normal
size doesn't fit real well you feel like you're choking on it, try investing in
one that's that's made for a smaller palate as well.
The benefit of using these diaphragm calls is if I have a turkey coming in.
I don't have to move my hands to make the calls I can get up on my shotgun.
You know, mount it up and get ready and be ready to take that shot and still call.
[Turkey yelp]
Or if I'm bow hunting, I can also draw my bow back and be ready to shoot
and I can still call with that diaphragm call.
If you're hunting with two people, a lot of times one person might be using the...
[Turkey yelp]
using that friction call.
While you have a hunter next to you ready to call.
Or maybe you have someone calling a little ways back and the hunter is closer to the decoys.
There's some basic turkey calls that you want to get started learning.
The very easiest and the basic call that you're going to use out in the woods most of the time is
gonna be simply the hen yelp.
And all you're doing is you're just kind of drawing this across to make a "yelp yelp-yelp."
[hen yelp]
Maybe five, six, seven times
[hen yelp]
As you get out in the woods and you hear turkeys
you'll kind of understand the cadence that they have.
I like to mimic the number of times that I yelp, to what I'm hearing out in the woods and so I'll
just mimic what's out there.
I'm gonna move on here to this Pot Call with a striker.
We're gonna start out with the hen yelp.
Very simple you just put the striker on, angle it just a little bit
about a thirty degree angle and just draw slight little ovals on that.
Be sure not to take the striker off of the surface.
[turkey yelp]
Work on the cadence out there in the field.
If you hear a turkey hen yelping out there I like to mimic exactly the the number of yelps
and the cadence that I'm hearing out there in the field.
[turkey hen yelp]
You can do all sorts of calls with this call as well.
So that was the hen yelp, you can also do a cluck and just simply put the surface on here and just...
[Hen cluck]
come back a little bit.
Another call that is sort of a contented call a contented turkey call it's called a purr
and all it is just slightly draw it back.
[Hen purr]
And you can mix that in with a couple other things as well so kind of string it together.
You got a little bit of a purr and you can end it with a cluck.
[Hen yelp]
So, all sorts of calls that you can make with this.
You can make the cutting sound as well with this.
You can do the same calls with this with a purr you just...
[Hen purr with cluck]
[Hen yelp]
All sorts of calls that you can make with this this Box Call or the Pot Call.
Those are the basic calls when you get out turkey hunting.
I encourage you, as you learn how to turkey hunt and get out
listen to the turkeys try and mimic their calls.
You can listen to all sorts of callers, professional callers,
turkey hunters that are on podcasts, on videos.
You can you can go to the National Wild Turkey Federation website NWTF.org
and they've got lots of great calls as well.
So, practice before you go out into the field, don't overdo it.
I don't want to scare the turkey off by being too aggressive in my calling.
I'm not a professional caller, I'm still novice at turkey hunting.
Every time I go out, I get better, I learn more.
So, when you go out don't be afraid to try.
It is okay if you don't harvest a turkey the first time.
N worries, just go out again and learn each time you go out.
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