Cleaning my turkey calls

The vest hangs where I can't see it from my desk, but I had to go over that way today, and I was a goner. It may as well have had a Pick Me Up sign hanging off it.

Oh well, the turkey bug bit me bad this morning. Each one of my calls came out, and each one was carefully inspected and cleaned. My favorite diaphragms were washed in warm water and allowed to air dry.

All mouth calls work best when kept cool, and there's nothing wrong with keeping your clean diaphragm calls in the refrigerator. Cool temps keep the latex reeds in better condition.

It's time to work on your turkey calls before hunting season begins.

My vest is cool, and when I'm not hunting, I wash the latex reeds and insert a flat (not round) toothpick between the reeds to clean and separate the latex. A few callers I know store their diaphragm calls in the cool and dry basement when not in use, but I don't go that far. Mine never hit the fridge but I keep them away from heat in my vest.

I don't do too much to my box calls. I dust them off, including the paddle and lips of the sound chamber, and make certain there are no twigs or anything else inside them from last season.

A light sanding of the paddle and the edges of the sound chamber will remove chalk residue. It may need a bit of tuning after a light sanding. Just don't use any force when sanding. Keep it light and gentle.

Keep all-wood calls dry and remove excess chalk and any dirt.

Many of my calls require the use of chalk although I also use chalk-free calls ,and I try to lightly remove as much old chalk as possible. Once they are cleaned and dusted off, I allow them to sit on a shelf near my desk. They are thoroughly dry when the time comes to use them, and I try not to let them get damp or wet. Too many wood box or push-pull calls have been ruined by using them in rain or snowy conditions.

My aluminum, crystal, glass or slate calls require little care. I clean the surface with a soft, slightly dampened cloth, and then they are wiped completely dry moments later. The peg or striker is another story.

It took me some time to learn, because I like to experiment with pegs, but gradually it dawned on me that certain pegs perform best with certain calls. I've used wood, plastic, glass and graphite pegs or strikers, and they all work ... on certain calls.

I've yet to find that one peg works on all calls. Use the wrong striker, and you'll sound more like a ruptured duck than an amorous hen.

Clean calls work better, produce truer sounds, and can make gobbler go nuts.

A major problem for some people is they keep all the strikers together, and invariably try to use the wrong peg on the wrong call. The sounds that come forth are not those of any turkey any of us has ever seen.

My trick, if that's what it is, is to keep the peg with the proper call. I try to wrap each call (including my box calls) in an old soft dark colored washcloth. A thick rubber-band is used to keep everything tight so it doesn't rattle or make an odd sound while walking to a spring hunting location in the darkness.

Many hunters have learned to put a layer of dry washcloth across the top of a box call, and then wrap the paddle in another layer of cloth. Rubber-band it tight, and you won't have those telltale squeaks or raspy noises coming out of your vest if your arm bumps the call.

One tip on using a wash cloth. Use an old one that has been washed many times, and choose a dark color. Do not use a blue, red or white wash cloth for obvious safety reasons. A dark brown cloth works well for me. and dark green is my second choice for cloth colors.

A cagey old gobbler, who has made it to three or four years of age, may not hear human footsteps in soft soil or pine needles, but they will hear an untimely squawk if the box call or push-pull call makes a noise at the wrong time. Sometimes the sound may not spook the bird, but why take any chances?

Now is the time to sew up holes in your vest after all of your calls have been made ready for the hunt. Barbed wire or sharp tree stubs have a habit of ripping holes in a hunting vest. If a favorite call falls out, and is lost, you'll never forgive yourself for not doing it when time permitted.

All of this can be done at home in an hour or two. Use that time wisely, make certain all decoys and stakes are ready to go, and when the season opens, grab a bag of decoys, the hunting vest and shotgun (don't forget the shotgun shells and license) and it's off to the woods you go. Double-check that the shotgun shells are No. 4, 5 or 6 and nothing larger or smaller in shot size.

And best of all, your equipment will be in perfect working order when you need it to be that way.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors