YooperMike

Hey Everybody,

I've posted here in the past for advice about mouth calls and have greatly improved thanks to the responses. I picked up a slate last night and I already sound like a turkey. The questions though are these: How often do I need to rough up the surface? Do I leave the dust alone or shake it off? And, does the material that the striker is made out of make a difference in sound? The one I have is a Primos with a hardwood striker. It works well, I'm just not clued in too much on slate calls. Any help would be appreciated.

ultimag

I like to keep my slates roughed up often the best thing I have found is those green scotch brite pads. It is okay too leave the dust on. Yes different strikers will give you different tones.

RIStrutStopper

I always try to rough up my friction surfaces before a hunt or when you can hear that it needs it. When you rough them up, make sure you do it in one direction and move your striker across the direction you sand. I carry the Primos Slick Stick and use the stone to sand my glass calls and the steel wool to rough up slate and my striker tips. It probably doesn't matter, but I blow the dust off, but try not to get the surface moist. Different strikers do sound different, try different ones out and see how they sound on any particular call.

YooperMike

Thanks alot guys. I called for quite a while tonight to practice and I am getting much better. My problem was consistency. I would get quite a few off-pitch squawks but now I think have that problem remedied. I think I will buy a couple more calls though so I have an arsenal of sounds to make. Thanks for the tips!

r33h

I like to keep my "dusted" and roughed. I find that I get a better sound out of it this way. RIStrutStopper has a good point with the roughing...sand in one direction. They make all types of slates and all types of strikers. I have a friend that has the same slate as I do but a different striker. When he calls, he doesn't get any response, but when I do, I get one. We are doing the exact same thing, just a slight different pitch gets the gobbler going. You will just have to expierement and see what works in your area. Some days the will answer to one call and others days it will be a different call.

ICALL2MUCH

Good tips guys!
That is exactly what I tell my customers to do. Condition one way and play the other. This gets the best amd most consistent friction. Like brushing your hair, you wouldnt brush your hair boths ways would you? This is where the calls get the name "friction calls". Good job on the practicing, thats the only way to get better, lots of surface time...
r33h is right, many times the gobblers are picky, when you sit on top of a ridge, be there for a 1/2 hour or so. Take your time and dont over call, but make sure you use different weight, size and type of strikers to really work over the birds in that area! Good luck and may you have many Magic Mornings!!!

YooperMike

Thanks alot guys. Is there a certain brand of call that you guys swear by? I'm new to this, so I'm just getting my feet wet. My cheapo Primos sounds like a turkey, but is it possible to sound even more turkey-like???!!

ICALL2MUCH

Good question!
Almost all turkey calls in the production lines will call a turkey. A lot of people prefer them, they are cheaper and many of they sound good. Some people prefer custom turkey calls made out of wood. I make these. I happen to think that they sound better than production, and I am sure that they look better! Many different options are available with custom calls, but if your looking for a cheap turkey call, production is the way to go! There are also many differernt surfaces and sounds that can be made with custom calls that cannot be made with production calls. I get many customers that prefer a certain sound, they tell me the sound they are looking for and I create a call to suit their needs!!!

Good Luck in your search!

SouthernStrut56

Here's a question for you. Does also roughing up the tip of the striker make a difference inthe sound or consistency of theslate? I use a few different slates and I like torough up the end of my strikers a little bit sometimes.It seems like it makes a difference,ever heard of doing this?

ICALL2MUCH

SouthernStrut,

YES! This is good for your strikers and everyone should do it every few minutes of use. Particles of slate,copper, glass, etc get stuck in the tip of the striker making the striker slip a little, when you condition your striker, you take those away and keep the good friction going, giving you a better more consistant sound! Hope this helps and please PM if you have any other questions!!!
Good Luck!