Editor’s Note: My friend, Gary Sefton of Cornersville, Tennessee, the former promotions manager at Woods Wise Products, including their turkey calls, and I hunted turkeys together several times. An expert caller, Sefton took his first turkey in 1961. For years he refused to carry a box call with him hunting because he thought they were awkward. He also hated chalking them and trying to work with them wet. But about two decades ago, while hunting in Connecticut, he learned the value of a box call.

• Hold the call low to produce cutts and cackles. Hold your thumb on one side of the lid or on the back of the call, and use your thumb as a blocker, so the lid only can go a certain distance. Then tap the lid or the striker on the other side, and tilt the call down, perpendicular to the ground, so that gravity will give you a series of clucks.
• Use no-chalk calls in the rain. The no-chalk coating on the call is impervious to moisture but is not waterproof. Although the call will be waterlogged and feel like it weighs 2 pounds, it’ll still play because the gritty surface of the coating will allow it to maintain friction even when it’s totally soaked.
• Go with your individual tastes when buying a call. All box calls play the same. You have to determine what qualities you want in a call. You’re the one who’s going to have to play it. You have to have confidence in that box call when you set-up to call a turkey. Before you buy any box call, you need to play the call and be satisfied that it sounds good to you.
• Use the best wood, and avoid the bad wood when selecting calls. Everyone has different tastes. I want my box call to sound like a turkey. Walnut and poplar are two of my favorite woods to use in a call. Cedar sounds great, and any of the hard woods are wonderful. I’ve even seen one made out of sassafras wood. I’ve also seen them made out of white oak, pecan and cherry. Any softwood or pine that isn’t rigid makes a bad box call. You want a vibration in your call. You want that dense wood, so the sound carries. Soft wood dampens the sound. If somebody makes a box call out of an orange box crate or pine, then it’s not going to have the sound you need.

To learn more about hunting turkeys successfully, visit John E. Phillips’ Amazon book page at https://www.amazon.com/John-E.-Phillips/e/B001HP7K6O. For even more information from many of the top turkey hunters and callers, go to the book, “PhD Gobblers: How to Hunt the Smartest Turkeys in the World” at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B083V83RLG/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p4_i11 and available in Kindle, print and Audible. You may have to copy and paste this link into your browser. (When you click on the book, notice on the left where Amazon says you can read and hear 10% of the book for free). On the right side of the page and below the offer for a free Audible trial, you can click on Buy the Audible book.

Tomorrow: Tips for Turkey Box Call Care