WOODS WISE TURKEY

Gary Sefton's 10 Secrets For Using A Box Call

EDITOR'S NOTE: I joined Gary Sefton, promotions manager at Woods Wise Products, in Franklin, Tennessee, on a turkey hunt at White Oak Plantation in Tuskegee, Alabama, recently. While there, Sefton shared with me his secrets for using a Woods Wise box call. Sefton took his first turkey in 1961. For years he refused to carry a box call with him hunting because he thought they were awkward. He also hated chalking them and trying to work with them wet. But 10 years ago, while hunting with one of the Woods Wise pro staffers on a dirt road in Connecticut, he learned the value of a box call.

"I yelped on my diaphragm call and nothing answered," Sefton said. "Then I yelped on my slate call and other calls, and I still received no answer. The woods Wise pro staffer I hunted with took out a box call and yelped on it. Four different turkeys gobbled. From that day on, I've never been without a box call in the woods. I like a box call because it gives off harmonic notes, and a turkey will gobble at a box call more than at any other call. A box call has a lot of range, and you can get a turkey to answer you from even a quarter mile away when using one."

Sefton says to consider the following tips when using a box call:

• Don't pick the lid off the box. Remember that a box call, like any other friction call, only makes a sound in one direction. When you slide the paddle striker (lid) away from the box, it makes no sound. When you slide the paddle toward the box, it makes a sound. You want to maintain the proper angle with the striker by keeping it in contact with the call. If you pick the lid up, you'll change the angles and get unwanted squeaks and squawks from your box call.
• Use a very light grip, and keep a minimum amount of pressure on the lid. Use your fingers to guide the lid. How tight you grip the lid will affect the sound of the call. Just barely move it.
• Hold the call by its bottom. I always hold a box call by its bottom. When you touch it on the sides, you alter the sound of the call. You can get into a situation where you want to dampen the call by touching it on the side. But usually, you want to hold a call by its bottom so you can get the full effect of the call.
• Change the pitch of the call. Sometimes you can press your fingers on the side to dampen or change the pitch.
• Use cuts and cackles. These sounds are the best ones you can make on a box call. They're more realistic. If you're in the woods 100-yards away, and someone cuts and cackles on a box call, you'll swear it's a hen. And if there is a hen around when you cut on a box call, she'll answer you. It's astounding how many times you'll get a hen to yelp at you after using the call.

TOMORROW: MORE TIPS FOR USING A BOX CALL

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