The 10 Best Turkey Calls on the Market

Knight & Hale were the first big call company to market calls that used fighting purrs to call dominant gobblers to the gun, and they are at it again with the Ultimate Fighting Purr System. The call utilizes a rotating spindle to create coarse, angry purrs with only one hand.  It makes fighting purrs easier to make than any other call. ($30; knightandhale.com)

Tune your pot calls for perfect pitch with these adjustable strikers from Hunter’s Specialties. Tuner Peg Packs feature strikers made of various materials including a mahogany rod with a carbon tip and hickory striker, a Wire Stik carbon peg with a wire tip and the company’s Power Stik strikers and another that is made with both carbon and rosewood strikers. If the sound from your glass, slate or metal friction call doesn’t fire a tom up, adjust the striker in the field to create an entirely different pitch that might make all the difference in getting a response. ($20; hunterspec.com)

If you really want to control your own calling destiny, M.A.D. has a box call kit that will allow you to make and customize your own call! The kit includes a lid, pieces to create the box and hardware. The woods used are walnut, cherry and poplar. Just add glue and some rubber bands to hold it together, then tune and go hunting. ($15; flambeauoutdoors.com)

I first used one of Roberts Brothers two-sided pan calls on a Georgia hunt nearly 10 years ago and have been a fan ever since. The Model 200 is the highest pitched call Robert Brothers makes, and has an aromatic cedar pot that encases a preconditioned glass-style acrylic for the main friction surface, then can be flipped over for the smaller pure-sounding slate surface for soft tree calls and contented purrs. Each call comes with a hardwood and aluminum striker, stone conditioner, camo lanyard and sandpaper and slate conditioning pads ($65; robertsbrothersturkeycalls.com)

One of my favorite box calls of all time, Woodhaven’s champion-caliber calls include the Real Hen box call, a one-piece walnut trough-style box with a matched Brazilian cherry lid. Makes great raspy yelps of an old boss hen. New this year is a cherry box model for higher-pitched calls. Both are the same price. ($60; woodhavencustomcalls.com)

Mouth calls are at the heart of most hunter’s calling arsenal and this pack provides three calls for one great price. Flextone’s Untouchable Series of mouth calls offers the Hustler, which features a Magnum Double Bat Wing for raspy yelps; the Gangster, which has a wave-style cut for cleaner, crisper calls and the Mobster, with an uneven bat wing cut for both loud, raspy calls and soft, clear yelps and purrs. ($25; flextone.com)

Since the passing of famed callmaker Neil Cost, hunters can only get his calls if they are willing to pay thousands of dollars. But you can still get Cost-like quality and style from Pennsylvania custom callmaker Pat Strawser, whose short box call is a solid hand-hewn one-piece box and matching lid. Each box is made-to-order with custom checkering on the outside and tuned to each owner’s specifications. The most popular woods used are poplar, butternut or mahogany. ($100, patstrawsercustomcalls.com)

This pot and peg call is brand new from the fast-growing Down-N-Dirty Outdoors. This Kentucky company’s Signature Series Cherry Crystal friction call combines a cherry pot and laser engraved cherry soundboard with a crystal striking surface. The call is then hand matched with a purple heart striker. This custom-quality call is showcase worthy, but you’ll definitely want to take it afield. ($60; downndirtyoutdoors.com)

This is the first box call I have ever seen that comes with easily interchangeable lids, essentially providing the hunter with two calls in one. The paddles—one of purple heart wood, the other of maple— are held on with a super strong magnet. The box is carved from Padauk wood. Use the purple heart lid for rasp and the maple lid for higher-pitched calls. ($45; primos.com)

Quaker Boy’s Supreme box call defeats the challenges of wet wood from spring rains and is coated to work either wet or dry. The lid’s surface also never requires chalking or sanding. The Hurricane Supreme is custom-crafted from American black walnut wood and delivers loud, raspy, yet high-pitched yelps and cutts. ($30; quakerboy.com)