24 Mississippi Sportsman^ | April 2015
Friction calls
Many turkey calls make their hen copying sounds through
simple friction. There are pot calls and box calls, and there are
many variations of each style.
Box calls: The most common box calls have big swinging
handles or paddles, while others are small handheld scratch-
boxes with two basic sides and a bottom. A separate piece of
material is used to draw/pull across the top or edges of the
sides to create various hen sounds.
On regular box calls, the paddle is drawn across the upper
edges of the sides that have been chalked to create a scratch-
ing sound that really quite closely mimics
calls made by real turkey hens in the woods.
The top paddle is usually attached at one
end of the box most often by a screw-spring
arrangement to allow for some adjust-
ment to tighten or loosen the paddle. Users
toy with these adjustments to get the hen
sounds just right.
Most box calls are fabricated from wood,
and the varieties can be astounding. Choices
can include walnut, purple heartwood, sassa-
fras, sycamore, mahogany, butternut, cherry,
bloodwood, poplar, oak, maple, pecan, and,
undoubtedly many more exotic woods most
of us wouldn’t recognize. Many calls combine
two or more woods in the same box call.
Push-pull calls: Many hunters prefer
the simplicity of a push-pull scratch box,
which can be used with one hand. It is a small
box with a dowel and a paddle-like piece
inside. The paddle is pushed, usually with a
spring arrangement, to create friction on a
surface within the box. These can be made of
various woods or plastics.
“We have a new type of mechanical call we
named the Bombshell,” said Will Primos of
Primos Hunting in Flora. “You simply push
the rail on top to make yelps or tap it to
make cutting calls. The rail can be lightly and
slowly pushed in to issue a purr or turkey
whine call. The rail is adjustable to change
the pitch from raspy to high peak calls. It is
designed to mount on a turkey shotgun to
minimize motion in use.”
Pot calls: Fitting in the palm of one hand
and used with a striker in the other, the pot call is most com-
monly just referred to as a friction call. These are constructed
of a round pot or carved out or molded sound chamber. The
pot or lower part of the friction call is most often made of
wood, but it could be plastic or even metal.
The pots are topped with a variety of materials from rock
slate, glass, aluminum, crystal or synthetic materials. Each typeof top material seems to have a uniquely subtle sound — and
some are resistant to weather —so it is important to store
test them to see what sound you like best. Some are very high
pitched, while others are more raspy or deeper in sound.
Strikers can be as customized by shape or materials, just
as the calls themselves. Different strikers can make different
sounds on different calls too. Test a variety to see what each
does on the pot call you have, and don’t be surprised if one
company’s pot with a different one’s striker produces a sound
pleasing to your ear.There is much variety and diversity in the turkey hen sound
calls these combinations can make. Sometimes just changing
a striker on a friction call can make all the difference in turn-
ing a locked up gobbler in your direction. I have seen a simple
change in strikers change the mood of a gobbler.Mouth calls >
Beginner’sluck