Custom Slate

W

WPH

New member
Looking for recommendations on a custom slate call and strikers. I have a Woodhaven Cherry Classic. Also, I hunt Easterns in PA. Also, surface recommendations: aluminum, glass, another slate, etc. and striker material recommendations.
 
I will PM you some names and numbers. I have alot of pot calls, but only a couple who, in my opinion make top of the line calls, and are hard core turkey hunters
 
Supreme Calls and Dad's Call's are two of the best. I like glass tops. Strikers are all over the map, there are tons of good ones. I usually ask the maker what they like with their calls. Do you visit the NWTF website and the calls section much? If not, there is a lot of info there. Also a good source to buy from (if you don't use them already) is Midwest Turkey Call Supply and Wing's.
 
Wendell Rye of Lights Out calls out of Barling AR. makes a great glass/glass "honey pot." Slate/slate Ron Clough of Close Calls out of Maryland makes a top notch slate/slate. Glen Marrer out of Rochester NY also top notch. Dynamic calls makes the best crystal top, slate bottom call I've used. Tried hundreds of strikers. Have to go back to Wendell Rye on them. Just the right size, shape and balance. The only ones I now use. Mid West Turkey is a good supply house for turkey calls etc. But if you go to the call makers websites or call them you can usually get a better price and a better selection of woods.
 
Remington870:
He also has a website. Or you can call him. He will make any combo in a call you want. I've dealt with him for some years now. His calls are top notch and his service is excellent.
 
That he is /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif He made me a set of teak woods, a beautiful spalded maple, and a top notch laminate. And as I said, as for me, his strikers are superb. I call a lot of turkey at my place. Mark.
 
My ears were burning... did someone mention my name? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I have been busy making turkey calls and dealing with my chemo and radiation treatments and just haven't taken the time to get on the forum in the past few months. I won't tell you that my calls sound better than the rest of the calls on the market, but I can tell you they have been the demise of many a turkey in numerous states in the past 3 years that I have been making calls. I have found from experience that different people (callmakers and call users) want to hear different sounds from their calls. Different individuals play their calls with different techniques that can produce very different sounds from the same call. With that said, I love the sound that I get from my calls. I had a chance to meet Mike Pentecost, the founder of Woodhaven at the NWTF convention in Nashville last February. I asked him to run one of my aluminum calls. With his technique, my call sounded like crap. He asked if that was the technique I used to run my call. I demonstrated how I run my calls for him. When he used the technique that I use, he got the same sound that I get from the call. He commented that it was a great sounding call afterwards. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif

If you are looking for a particular sound from a call, I will do my best to build you a call that creates that sound. Customer satisfaction is top priority for me. I have found that a happy customer often means additional orders in the future. I have sold calls to folks in most of the states (including Hawaii and Alaska) and several to a guy in Canada. Pictures sent from hunts in 2005 and 2006 are proof positive that my calls will get the job done. Feel free to check out my site at www.lightsoutcalls.com I am an HOB seller on this site, so I hope it is o.k. to post the web address.
 
I like your calls, at least look wise. I think I use my calls differently also but I have success and I have not hunted turkeys long. I have mainly used mouth calls but I am diversifying this year. I got a Woodhaven Cherry Classic slate for Christmas but I want 1 or two more pots and 3 or 4 more strikers. I like high to low yelps (rollover I think), and a call with rasp. I want the wood with the best sound qualities not necessarilly the best looks. Your strikers look great. From my view they have a slight bell/mushroom, which I like. I hunt Easterns only in PA and maybe New York or Ohio. I want the call and strikers you recommend as your best sound wise. I will contact you in the near future.
 
I do make most of my strikers with a slight flare at the tip and a bit higher "dome" on the tip than some makers. I like the results, and have had some veteran turkey hunters (30 years plus) comment that they sound better than any they have used. I have had good results with zebrawood pots for rasp coupled with either osage orange or zebrawood for a striker. I am now making a call pot that has a flat, slightly tapered side that looks similar to many of the commercial pots available. I am very pleased with the sound of this simpler styled call. Due to the shape being easier to turn and sand than my trademark Honeypot calls, I can offer them for about $5 less than the Honeypot calls. I started making them to sell at gunshows, etc. I have sold about 30-40 of them so far with good comments from the buyers. I have done some walnut pots in this style that have rasp out the wazoo!
 
I went back and re-read the original post on this thread. As far as call surfaces, my slate calls generally have a medium-high pitch overall. The glass calls generally have a bit lower pitch, often with a fuller, or meatier sound (tone). I used bead blasted glass surfaces that require minimal conditioning and add a bit of "grit" to the sounds produced. I use powder blasted anodized aluminum for my aluminum calls. I promise you won't find a production aluminum call that will touch the sound of my aluminum calls. Many people don't like the sound of an aluminum call... simply because they haven't tried my aluminum calls. I sent an aluminum call made of canarywood to a very well known and respected box call maker at the request of a friend. The gentleman called and told me that it was one of only 2 aluminum calls that he had ever heard that he would use. He assured me that it would have a place in his vest. I have pictures on my website of 3 birds that fell to the canarywood/aluminum calls in spring 2006.
As for strikers, you can really change the sound of a call with the strikers that you use. I personally don't use any acrylic or carbon strikers... they just don't suit my taste. I have made strikers out of at least 30 different domestic and exotic woods. Striker wood and design can give extremely different sounds from the same call. A heavier striker will generally create a deeper tone in the call. A lighter striker will generally raise the pitch of the call. Due to the density of some woods, the thickness of the entire striker has to be adjusted to get the desired sound. The "right" striker wood comes down to what sound (pitch/tone) you want to create with your call.
 
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Wendell, I'd bet your "Lil' Gem" calls could produce barks, puppy yelps and ki-yi's besides all the turkey sounds. Barks and yelps are great for stopping coyotes for the shot and yelps and ki-yi's can bring them in. Do you have a few of those made up and ready to ship?
 
Actually, I made one last weekend, which was the first I have made in a couple of months. I do have some blanks ready to turn in a number of woods. I never thought about trying to get other sounds out of them.... I may have to turn one this weekend and give it a try.
 
Wendell, now my ears are burning /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Glad to see you on board. I'll be in touch---------------need a couple more strikers. Been a while. Best, Mark.
 


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