The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles
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.Osceola Image Credit: CL Evans
Quaker Boy Typhoon Turkey Call
Turkey calls are probably the reason most people take up turkey hunting. Holding a well crafted piece of wood or slate and making credible turkey sounds is so satisfying, that it just follows that you must hunt. Probably the same reason folks take up flyfishing: because of the handcrafted flies.I've been wanting to pursue turkey for quite a while, and this year I'm going to practice and perfect my technique.
I have an appropriate 12 gauge, a single shot H&R that is more than adequate. All I need to do with it is pattern it a different ranges with different loads. I have an accurate Ruger 22 Hornet which is capable of taking a turkey at extended ranges. The plan will be to take one at long range, say 50 to 75 yards with the Hornet, and one at shotgun range with the H&R. By the way, Florida allows the use of any legal method for the taking of turkey including handgun, bow, crossbow, and muzzleloader. A generous limit of two per season is also allowed, so you could conceivably take an Oseola turkey in the south and an Eastern up north.
I have plenty of cammo, including a gillie suit made from a burlap bag with more burlap to make it full and gilliesque. I look like a lump of leaf litter or a palmetto stand when a wear it.
Lastly I have a very nice box call from Quaker Boy Game Calls, the Typhoon. Made to withstand the elements, the Typhoon works equally well wet or dry, a very important consideration in Florida. The Typhoon never needs to be sanded or chalked because of the proprietary coating used on the body and paddle. The proprietary coating is what gives the call its weather resistance, or better said, the coating allows it to make its music! An occasion scuffing of the surfaces with a Maroon Scotch-Brite Pad is all you need to do for maintenance.
The body has a concave curve, while the cover has a slight convex curve. This increases the "sweet spot" by 100%, in effect doubling the area where all the yelping and cutting comes from. The friction of the wood top against the wood body creates the sound and through proper design the Typhoon vibrates at the right tonal range to duplicate the sounds you need to score that turkey.
The box is well crafted. The angles are sharp, and the sanding was pretty good too. The print on the paddle, though inconsequential to the calls sounds, is well done. That tells me that their quality control is on the ball.
Using it is simple, mastering it is where the fun is.
When yelping, if you are right handed, you hold the call in the palm of your left hand. Grasp the paddle with the right and slide the paddle across the edge of the box call with from the outside in.
Clucking is similar to yelping. The motion is the same but quicker and shorter.
If you need to whine, drag the paddle across the top of the box call in a steady, slow motion.
The cutting sounds are made by holding the box vertically, and using a sharp rapid motion of the wrist, strike the edge of the box call with the paddle several times in quick succession.
Well, that's the theory. I don't know if turkeys screech, but I know I can do that really well. I've picked up the clucking and yelping; at least I can make credible sounds. I can't seem to get the gobbling though. I really need to do that since I live in a subdivision and the sound of Tom turkey gobbling will cause more than one person to scratch their head in wonder!
Quaker Boy Game Calls
5455 Webster Road
Orchard Park, NY 14127
1-800-544-1600
orders@quakerboy.com
Curved Lid Typhoon
MSRP: $28.99
Street: $19.99
Best Regards,
Albert A Rasch™
Member: Shindand Tent Club
Member: Hunting Sportsmen of the United States HSUS (Let 'em sue me.)
The Hunt Continues...
Though he spends most of his time writing and keeping the world safe for democracy, Albert was actually a student of biology. Really. But after a stint as a lab tech performing repetitious and mind-numbing processes that a trained capuchin monkey could do better, he never returned to the field. Rather he became a bartender. As he once said, "Hell, I was feeding mice all sorts of concoctions. At the club I did the same thing; except I got paid a lot better, and the rats where bigger." He has followed the science of QDM for many years, and fancies himself an aficionado. If you have any questions, or just want to get more information, reach him via TheRaschOutdoorChronicles(at)MSN(dot)com.
Good luck pursuing the turkeys. I must warn you, it is very addicting. I haven't used a Quaker Boy waterproof, but I had an HS Strut one and it worked pretty well in the elements.
ReplyDeleteI bought a quaker boy push pin call last year to strat out with and like it very much.
ReplyDeleteThis year I bought a box call that was hand made for me by "Gobbler's AEnd Turkey Calls" and I love that one as well.
you guys make turkey hunting sound such fun.
ReplyDeleteSBW
Albert,
ReplyDeleteWe don't have a turkey season in Michigan's EUP but we do have turkeys. Michigan's DNR contends our turkeys are "domestic" birds that have escaped their owners. Funny, they look exactly like the wild ones. We amuse ourselves at camp using a call like the one in your photo to try and call lovesick turkeys in the spring.
All the best,
Cathy
Camp Chicken Chronicles
and Whitetails For Women