Box Call Help

[gooseberry]

I'd like to buy a box call and don't know where to start. I've been reading old links about the merits of store bought calls and custom calls. It seems the store calls run around $20 and I have no idea how much custom calls cost. Anyway, I'd like to have a functional call to practice with for spring and use during the hunt. Any help is appreciated as I am learning.
Bruce

[rsmithpa]

If you never used a box call before and don't own one then a store bought call is the best to get started.  Now, I amsure plenty of people of there favorites and will give you plenty of suggestions as to what they feel is the best.  However, You can't go wrong with a good ole Lynch Box call to get started. They have been around for years and have taken plenty of gobblers over the years.  Custom calls are more expensive since they are made each by hand and not by a computer operated machine.  A custom box call is hard to beat. You can expect to pay anywhere from 75.00 and up for one depending who makes them.  The internet is a great resource to check out custom made turkey calls when you are ready to go that route.  I hope this gives some starting point and good luck with what ever call you purchase. 

[gooseberry]

I read some about Lynch Box calls.
Thanks

[rbewilson]

Hey gooseberry,gave willowrigdecall a call he can help you out,he makes great call.

[misfire]

Hard to wrong with a Lynch Foolproof, called in many a bird with the one I USED to have. I say "USED" to have, because I ran over mine with my truck one day. I was sick. That is when I got into making my own

[grizzly]

bruce i have some qestions . in one of your other posts you state that you have yet to engage a turkey so my first is what types of calls have you used . to be honest with you i find that box calls are the easyest to mess up on and can be a little to loud . i'm no expert[8|] but i think that the pot and peg is the best call with practice you can make just about any turkey sound . a mouth call is even better cause there would be no movement but due to a birth defect i can't use one . i have just added a box call to my set up for those toms who hang up and need a little more kick to keep coming. if you decide you want a box call the lynch is a good call but if you want to go custom talk to scott about what you're looking for . he can make a great sounding call . i know that's where i got mine. what kind of call you use is your choice but i will say that the most important thing is to practice all the time [:)] i guess my point here is that i have known some hunters who haven't gotten a bird right away and thought it was their calls and not their calling so they were always buying new calls and not practiceing until the week before . so decide on a call and practice and keep the qestions coming we are here to help i have a feeling this will be the year you connect [:D] wayne

[gooseberry]

ORIGINAL: grizzly

bruce i have some qestions . in one of your other posts you state that you have yet to engage a turkey so my first is what types of calls have you used . to be honest with you i find that box calls are the easyest to mess up on and can be a little to loud . i'm no expert[8|] but i think that the pot and peg is the best call with practice you can make just about any turkey sound . a mouth call is even better cause there would be no movement but due to a birth defect i can't use one . i have just added a box call to my set up for those toms who hang up and need a little more kick to keep coming. if you decide you want a box call the lynch is a good call but if you want to go custom talk to scott about what you're looking for . he can make a great sounding call . i know that's where i got mine. what kind of call you use is your choice but i will say that the most important thing is to practice all the time [:)] i guess my point here is that i have known some hunters who haven't gotten a bird right away and thought it was their calls and not their calling so they were always buying new calls and not practiceing until the week before . so decide on a call and practice and keep the qestions coming we are here to help i have a feeling this will be the year you connect [:D] wayne

Hi Wayne. You make a lot of sense. I have a pot and peg glass call and I guess I should get good enough with it until I buy another call. In a video I watched the box played so simple. I guess one of my biggest problems is I'm not sure what calls to make and at what time. We are imitating the hens to attract the gobbler correct? Two years ago my buddy called one in for me and I was so excited I didn't pay attention to what he was doing. It hung up and turned in another direction. That's a lie. Ha Ha. He called a huge gobbler within 20 yards. It was coming from my right to left, but I didn't wait for it. I tried to turn my gun about an inch toward the turkey, he took off and that's the last I saw of him. Gees, you can't even blink.
Bruce

[rsmithpa]

Patience is the key.  Knowing when to move and not to move.  Set up.  Calling plays a part in the game but movement will bust if your not ready when he shows up.  Some of the worst calling I ever heard in the woods came from hens and not people.  Rythem is key and if you make a mistake don't stop, play through the mistake.  Chances are the turkey will not know the difference.  Read all you can.  Get Denny Gulvas video's.  They are great and he is from PA.  Practice your calling and feel confident with it.  Its all about paying your dues and gaining experience...besides, they call it hunting for a reason. 

[WillowRidgeCalls]

The advice you've been giving is right on. It makes no difference what kind of call your running, you have to practice enough with it to learn how to run it the correct way. Rythem, Volume, Timing, has alot more to do with it as to why your not getting birds to answer you, or they're hanging up, or coming in silent. It's a matter of learning how control your calls and calling. Let take Purring for instance, there are different types of purrs, the fighting purr, the feeding purr, the welcoming purr, and ok baby the kids are asleep purr. Even though you know how to run a purr, and can do it very well, if your not using the right one at the right time it may cause that bird to hang up or drift off in a different direction. It's the same with all the other calls, yelps, clucks, cutts, they all have a meaning, a time , and a place. I had stopped at the sport shop one afternoon and there was a young man in there talking to the owner about he had a bird answer his calls and was coming in, then just shut down and he never seen or heard it again, this was the third that did that to him. Tom says what calls were you doing and he said I was running some yelps clucks a cutts just like you told me to do. Tom handed him a call and said here play it, well he started running the call and was good on it, I grabbed a box off the shelf and snuck up behind him and as he was tell Tom what the bird did. As he was running his yelps, I cut loose with a gobble, and that young man almost went over the counter, but he kept on playing. He ran some of the best alarm putts I've heard from a call. That is one thing we don't pay much attention to, our excitment. As that bird is coming in on a string, we get even more excited and our hearts pounding and your going to get your first longbeard. You give his a couple last clucks to seal the deal, and dang he hung up. [:D]

[shad309]

All great advice! Scott brings up a good point about the type (sound/turkey talk) of call you may or may not be using. While videos are good to watch it's also a good idea to just listen to birds. You can buy a cd of turkeys to listen too and that will help also. Something that I've had the pleasure of doing is finding people that have turkeys in pens and just going and listening to them and some people will let you bring calls so that you can practice and visually see the way they respond. If you can do that it really helps!
 
Good source for turkey cd's is from Dr Lovett Williams http://www.lovettwilliams.com/ click on products then recordings
 
As far as box calls go, I love the sound of a good box call. As with any call practice makes perfect but there is just something about the sound from a box that to me is some sweet turkey music! There are several very good box call makers here on this site. If you would like, I can recommend a couple to you as I have box calls from a few different makers. Each have their own style and each box has a different sound.