WOODS WISE TURKEY

More Tips 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. Here's some more tips from Sefton on using a box call.

* Hold the call low to produce cuts and cackles. Hold your thumb on one side of the lid or on the back of the call, and use your thumb as a blocker so the lid only can go a certain distance. Then tap the lid or the striker on the other side, and tilt the call down, perpendicular to the ground, so that gravity will give you a series of clucks.

* Use no-chalk calls in the rain. The no-chalk coating on the call is impervious to moisture but is not waterproof. Although the call will be waterlogged and feel like it weighs 2 pounds, it'll still play because the gritty surface of the coating will allow it to maintain friction even when it's totally soaked.

* Don't warm your call in the oven. The heat will warp the box. Regardless of what box call you have, don't sand it. Box calls are built so that the curves and contours meet and match. These characteristics must remain the same so they get a consistent sound. Anytime you remove material from the wood on the box call, you change the concave and convex surfaces of the call, and it won't sound the same. I remember the old-timers who would sand their box calls before a turkey hunt. Don't sand your modern box calls. If a call needs sanding, then you probably need another box call. Calls today are tuned and set, so you don't want to change anything about them.

* Go with your individual tastes when buying a call. All box calls play the same. You have to determine what qualities you want in a call. You're the one who's going to have to play it. You have to have confidence in that box call when you set up to call a turkey. Before you buy any box call, you need to play the call and be satisfied that it sounds good to you.

* Use the best wood and avoid the bad wood when selecting calls. Everyone has different tastes. I want my box call to sound like a turkey. Walnut and poplar are two of my favorite woods to use in a call. Cedar sounds great, and any of the hard woods are wonderful. Woods Wise has made good box calls out of sassafrass wood. I've also seen them made out of white oak, pecan and cherry. Any softwood or pine that isn't rigid makes a bad box call. You want a vibration in your call. You want that dense wood so the sound carries. Soft wood dampens the sound. If somebody makes a box call out of an orange box crate or pine, then it's not going to have the sound you need.

Tips For Caring For a Box Call:

* Secure the box call. Get some sort of elastic device to secure that box call while you walk. You don't want it yelping when you're walking down the road. You don't want to call anything you're not ready for, and you don't want to irritate your buddy. Any good, strong rubber band will work well. Get three different colors because you'll drop one and never find it again.

* Clean the box call. Box calls require very little maintenance. If your box call quits playing, you've gotten some oil or mayonnaise or something on it. If that happens to it, just take some dishwashing liquid or detergent and wash it, but don't dry it. It plays well while it's wet and will dry out on its own.

* Store your box calls. I always leave my box call in my hunting vest. If you have an antique or a special box call, don't take it hunting with you. You want to keep the box call you hunt with inside at room temperature and not in the barn where bugs may eat it. Box calls are low maintenance.

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