I Feel Turkey Fever Coming On

Turkey Season is about 45 days away. Any of you guys out there want to reveal your secret methods, what type of calls you use or make, past success stories etc.

Personally, I've made 3 or 4 box calls in the past and even killed my first bird with a box call that I made. I use walnut for the box and mahogany or cedar for the lid. It seems like the softer woods get a little more "bite" when used for the lid. I've also tinkered with homemade wingbone calls and some diapragm calls made with a plastic film canister and rubber glove pieces but haven't tried them in the woods. My favorite mouth calls are Quaker Boy. They seem to blow easier than Primos. I did use the Primos "Hook" mouth calls at first because I didn't gag on those like I did the others. I usually start practicing about now while driving down the road. There have been years that I've worn out calls practicing and had to get a second set to hunt with. Last year it paid off as I was walking along a logging road Trolling for birds by pausing every couple of hundred yards and calling. When I got an answer the bird was right on top of me. I barely had time to get seated before he was within range. However he was just over a knoll and I couldn't get him over the top. All I could see was the top of his fan as he strutted for about 20 minutes. I reached up to brush a deer fly off my nose that was fixin to do a vampire number on me and the Gobbler busted me. He was puttin' like crazy and walking off and I just hammered him with cutts on the mouth call. He started running right at me. I yelped once and he stopped to Gobble. Turkey Dinner! RD 

I often use just my mouth without a call.  I started doing this when seeing turkeys in deer season when I did not have my calls.  to my great surprise it worked very well; especially when the birds were close (within 100 yards.)

So I continued to use my mouth mimic calling in spring turkey season.  Still works and I've called/killed 5 birds with mouth only.  Best part is my lips and tongue isn't always vibrating with the diaphragm calls anymore.  I still use a large box call for long distances,

BEAR 

 You Know your shotguns! But I never stopped using it it's my only 12 gage. I shoot steel mags all the time and it works great. I can't run low brass through the clip, they won't feed. I also use it for 1 1/4 oz slugs for deer and bear.

d4570, Has yours got that rear notch almost like a rifle sight on it? My buddy's got one in 10 guage. He was tryin to cut off a big gobbler crossin a ridge but the old boy was a little too fast for him and caught him dead to rights in an open hay field. He could just see the fan coming over the ridge and he just laid down prone on the ground, acted like a log and waited for the old boy to walk by at about 5 feet. After he walked by my buddy raised up on his elbows and blasted him from prone. I think I remember a few choice words about recoil from the prone position. RD

Beware the man who only hunts with one gun! RD