How to Use a Turkey Box Call?

Spring turkey hunting is full of entertainment and adventures if you know how to make varied types of turkey calls to draw these big birds towards you. The more calls you are familiar with, the greater your chance of having the ideal combination for the given circumstance.

One of the most widely used turkey call styles is the box call. But how to use a turkey box call? Keep reading to learn about the top 8 turkey calls, and begin your practice to make the next hunt worthwhile!

What is a Turkey Box Call?

A turkey box-call is made of premium-quality wood, such as mahogany, walnut, or cedar. Its durability and easy operation, like the push-button call, and other features, make the turkey calling super effective!

Besides, they can also be incredibly loud, making them an excellent option for beginners and turkey hunters who need to travel a distance. However, the most significant advantage of using these box calls is its ability to make various turkey calls.

How to Use a Turkey Box Call in a Better Way?

Here’s a list of 8 turkey box calls you can master to bring fun to your turkey hunting.

1. The Plain Yelp

Plain yelp is a loud, distinct sound that turkeys use to locate one another, making it a compelling call to imitate while spring tom hunting. Toms will gobble in response to hens yelping, and hens will yell back as they approach a gobbling tom.

A plain yelp consists of three to seven notes with an even gap. Each note will have a two-tone pitch, starting from high to low, sounding like “keyoke, keyoke, keyoke!!”

However, cut back on your call whenever you hear a gobble in response to your yelps. Otherwise, you’ll tell the tom you are a hen, which will ultimately cause him to hang up and wait.

How to do plain yelp with a box call?

When using a box call to create this sound, apply mild pressure on the paddle or lip while gliding along the side panel’s lip.

Hold the box in your left hand and press your thumb into the paddle’s base. Using your right hand, slide the paddle back and forth. To get different yelping sounds, change the friction.

2. The Tree Yelp

Hens create a gentle three to six-note yelp cry immediately after waking up in the morning to re-establish contact with their fellow flock members. It is a nasally sounding call, as they hardly open their beaks.

In case you are close to a roosted tom, use this call once or twice to let him know your position at first light.

If he gobbles back, stop yelping. Otherwise, he will remain on his limb until a hen appears below him so he can fly down. Staying quiet will make him fly down and look for you.

How to tree yelp with a box call?

This method is pretty simple. Use less pressure on the peg or paddle, slower than the plain yelp.

3. The Lost Yelp

A hen creates a series of 10 to 30 loud yelps when she wants company or to rejoin her group. Her voice becomes creaky and hoarse due to calling so loudly and for so long.

When milder calls have failed to evoke a gobble in response, and you cannot find a tom, you can use the lost yelp as a searching call. It comes with a frantic and pleading sound!

It works well as a seeking call because a tom can hear it from a great distance away and pinpoint your location.

Create a yelp from a ridge or top of a hill to make the call resonate and vibrate. Mix in a few simple yelps and pay close attention to a gobble following the shortened sequence, as a lost yelp can always overpower a gobble.

Check Also: How to Clean a Wild Turkey?

How to lose yelp with a box call?

Make the call as you would for a regular yelp. Make it louder, and up to 30 notes long.

4. The Cluck

It is a quick, harsh sound used as a close-range call for other turkeys. It might be a single note or a scattering of clucks spaced unevenly.

Clucking is a turkey’s way of saying “I see you” or “show yourself so I can see you” when they see each other or expect to see each other.

Using this call will drive a tom towards your location since he will think a hen can see him from that direction if he walks a little bit further.

How to cluck with a box call?

To produce a single cluck—press the paddle’s other end with your left hand and slide it back to the box with your right.

5. The Cutt/Cutting

Cutting is the loud and fast clucking of disturbed or aroused turkeys. They basically cutt when they see a newcomer or another bird in the flock. A hen that is alone may repeatedly yell while cutting to express her agitation.

This is a compelling spring-seeking call as it reaches a far distance into the woods shouting, “Hey, something’s going on over here.” As a result, a silent tom might become curious enough to come to see what’s going on. It can also rouse a boss hen to enter the room along with a tom in tow.

How to cutt with a box call?

Vertically hold the box in your left hand. Stop the paddle by extending your thumb over the sideboard’s edge. With other hand, tap the paddle handle so the handle hits your thumb and bounces back. Add random pauses to your set of cuts once again.

Note: Don’t apply a strong grip on the paddle.

6. The Purr

Turkeys create the purr—a gentle close-range call—to express mild irritation. They purr in a flock to prevent other birds from occupying their territory.

When combined with clucks and yelps, purr makes the call more realistic, creating the impression of peaceful turkeys meddling with their everyday works. Use this instead of yelling loudly to prevent a wary tom from coming out.

How to purr with a box call?

Although the sound is a little lighter, the technique is the same as a yelp. Roll the paddle’s rounded surface on the sideboard, slowly scraping it with medium pressure. Try different contact points and pressure levels, and keep experimenting until you get the purring sound.

7. The Kee Kee Run

A three- or four-note whistling rhythm sounds like “kee, kee, kee, kee.” Lost young birds use it to ask for help in the summer.

This sound is an effective searching cry for spring toms since it invokes images of a lonely young hen. As most hunters utilize yelp, it is an effective switch-up call for pressured, hunter-wary toms.

How to kee kee run with a box call?

To get higher notes out of the paddle, hold it firmer and for a shorter period. The highest note is produced when you begin scraping the paddle over the side panel. As the note transitions to the lowest sound, halt the swing.

You should back up the paddle and strike the high note three more times while maintaining a slightly slower rhythm than the yelp. Finish the call with a short string of plain yelps.

8. The fighting Purr

When agitated to fight for breeding privileges and the flock’s social hierarchy, a tom’s purr changes to rattle or a loud gargle in its throat.

As they battle, the birds attack one another with their wings and spurs, creating a loud cutting sound on the leaves and wingbeats. The hens also fight and create the same sound.

To simulate a pair of fighting hens, use a mouth call in combination with a box or pot call. Add some slashing, beating wings, and leaf-scuffling to make it more authentic. Use this combination when milder calling has failed or if a tom hangs up/refuses to leave the hens.

Since a battle might have an impact on their ability to breed or their place in the social hierarchy, all turkeys are interested in it.

How to create fighting purr with a box call?

Grind the paddle slowly and firmly over the sideboard. Try several positions on the sideboard with varied pressures and speed to create a loud purr.

To Sum Up

That’s all from the discussion regarding “how to use a turkey box call?”

As you can see, many kinds of turkey calls are available to assist you in communicating with any local turkeys. Once you’ve determined which one you prefer, start practicing and polishing your skills to get into the business!

After all, nothing can be more satisfying during a hunting season than calling a large gobbler directly to you!

FAQs

Check out the below questions to clear any doubts in your mind:

How does a turkey box call work?

For box calls: Rub the bottom of the paddle against the lip of the side panel and the hollow chamber in a constrained and fixed space. Gently rock the lid back and forth across the striking surface. You will need to practice this call’s speed because if you yell too slowly, it will produce a purring sound.

How do you gobble with box calls?

For gobbling with a box call: Hold the device vertically and rapidly shake it to simulate a turkey cackling. It will start shaking and then begin clattering. However, if you stir it gently and slowly, the effect will be a gobble like a turkey.

Is box calls effective while hunting turkeys?

Although a turkey can make various additional noises, box calls are the most frequently used and effective when luring a spring gobbler into shooting distance. No wonder they have been with us for such a long time and are still in high demand among hunters.

When should I stop calling turkey?

If you are deploying decoys, and he keeps waltzing in closer, understand that it is time to stop calling. And thus allow him to bridge the distance on his own. A fantastic trick occasionally entices a gobbler away from his harem is to call softly when he is hung up with some hens.

Can box call get wet?

Despite maintaining all the precautions, if a box call gets wet, it won’t sound nice until you dry it out. If you do it incorrectly, you risk damaging it. The secret to success is to use dry, low, and stable heat.