How To Use Slate Turkey Call? (Tips For Newbies)
If you’re new to turkey hunting, one of the essential hunting equipment you’ll need to equip yourself with include a slate turkey call.
Why?
It’s one of the best turkey calls you’ll find out there, capable of producing a variety of sounds that match those of the wild turkey. And this will help you lure a gobbler to its doom like a charm.
But as the experienced hunters will tell you, learning to use a slate turkey call takes time and practice.
However, with the following expert tips, you’ll accelerate your learning curve on this call.
Hold on:
Before we venture into turkey calling tips, let’s familiarize ourselves with the structure of this call.
A typical slate call comprises a striking surface, attached to a hollow housing/pot, and bears drilled holes underneath for creating sound resonance with the inner chamber.
The striking surface material is usually made from slate, but glass and aluminum can also do.
It also comes with the peg (striker) – that you use to strike the slate to produce different sounds. The peg is made from wood plastic, carbon, glass, or even the wild turkey bones.
And now to our turkey calling lesson with the slate call:
Hold your call correctly.
As we’ve seen above, the slate call is a two-piece equipment. To use it, you’ll need to hold it properly in your hands.
How?
Let me show you:
Start by holding the striking surface facing up. Place your thumb in the 9 o’clock position and your middle finger at the 3 o’clock position.
Now grip your striker in one hand like a pencil, with the thumb in the striker’s center.
If you’re holding your turkey call as I’ve explained above, congrats! Now you’re ready to make a variety of realistic bird calls by just varying your stroke pattern.
This video will help you learn this thing rapidly:
Making Different Calls With Slate Turkey Call
NOTE: To make different vocalizations, you’ll have to keep the tip of your striker on the striking surface.
Now allow me to walk you through the most important part of this post- making different turkey calls with your slate call:
1. To Cluck: put the tip of your striker on the striking surface. Slight angle it inward and with pressure and then pull it towards you. If you wish to cluck softly, exert less pressure. If you would like to cluck louder and deeper, put more pressure!
2. To Yelp: this is as simple as drawing small ovals on your pot’s striking surface. Similar to clucking, the lesser the pressure, the softer the yelps and vice versa.
3. To Purr: Wish to purr like a wild turkey? Great; make a slow line across your surface- to imitate purrs for feeding or walking birds. Making these lines in an agitated manner produces fighting purrs.
4. To cut (fast clucking): you’ll have to keep your peg tip on the slate surfaces s with all the other calls we’ve discussed above. Stroke as if you’re clucking (but repeat it multiple times).
Final Thoughts
As the expert turkey hunters would always say, learning to use a slate call takes time. Make use of the above tips on how to use the slate call to accelerate your learning process.
