Without question, the single most beneficial tool aiding in the preservation of wildlife, herd and habitat health, and increasing numbers is our North American model of conservation. For hunters, conservation efforts have positively impacted huntable species in dramatic ways, most notable in increased populations. Wild turkeys are no exception. According to the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF), turkeys were nearly extinct, with estimates ranging from 30,000 to the more widely accepted estimate of 200,000. In 1973, the number had grown to roughly 1.3 million with distribution across 22 states. Just 52 years later, the population is estimated to be between 6.5 and 7 million wild turkeys stretching across 49 states.

Of course, with conservation as a tool and the population growth as it is, turkey hunting also grew in popularity to roughly 2.5 million turkey hunters annually — good news for hunting, conservation and the industry, manufacturers and retailers alike. All said, turkey hunting is tricky business for turkey hunters. Often, they depend on counter guys for dependable product suggestions and sage advice. It’s important to offer an array of turkey call types at an equally varied price range, and double important to offer quality products from reliable, reputable brands. To help, here are a dozen turkey calls to help you bring in more sales.

 

Woodhaven Small Frame 3-Pack Mouth Calls

Mike Pentecost had a “burning desire to become the best turkey hunter” he could be but simply wasn’t satisfied with the calls he came across back in the ’80s. By late in that decade, Pentecost was set on solving his own problem by handmaking custom turkey calls. By 1992, Woodhaven had been established in Heflin, Alabama, and in 1999, his endeavor became a full-time pursuit. More than 25 years later, Woodhaven has become a go-to call brand trusted by countless discriminating turkey hunters, me included. On one frosty spring morning outside of Bridgeport, Texas, I pulled a tom in from 800 yards away using a Woodhaven call, and they remain among my personal go-to mouth calls today. Unfortunately, the Lord blessed me with a narrow palate, and small-frame mouth calls can be tough to find. Luckily, not only do Woodhaven’s mouth calls deliver the rich, raspy tones I love, but they also come in small-frame models, including a three-pack set.

The Woodhaven Small Frame 3-Pack Mouth Call Set includes three double-reeded diaphragm turkey calls. All three calls offer the smallest frame design on the market, perfect for narrow palates and even hunters wearing dentures, and are constructed with tape shells and durable latex reeds. This three-pack of calls includes a Mini Red Scorpion for exceptional kee-kee, yelp, cut and purr calling; Mini Yellow Ghost for mildly raspy helps and soft, “sweet” kee-kee calling; and my favorite, the Mini Green V for raspy old-hen yelps, cuts, clucks, purrs and cackles. As a sidenote here on volume, Woodhaven calls also have given me the greatest volume range, from soft purrs to booming yelps, without compromising sound quality. www.woodhavencustomcalls.com

 

Woodhaven Fusion Ceramic Pot Call

The Woodhaven Fusion Ceramic Pot Call utilizes a ceramic striking surface to ensure realistic, reliable calling without striker slipping in all weather conditions. The call also boasts a precision-machined acrylic pot body that delivers unique, raspy, soft to long-range calling. The Fusion Ceramic Pot Call includes a Deluxe Striker as well as Woodhaven’s Rain Check Striker, complete with a Sure-Grip rubber-coated dowel and water-resistant tip. The call includes a conditioning kit and surface-saver lid.

 

Team Primos Turkey Bundle

As a young duck hunter, Will Primos handmade his first call in 1963 at just 11 years of age. Of course, by the early ’70s, Primos had another addiction, turkey hunting, and his call making naturally shifted. The mid-’70s found Primos handmaking calls in his garage, and by 1976, Primos Yelpers was founded with the overwhelming focus on producing friction and mouth turkey-hunting calls. More than 60 years after his first duck call and 50 years after its Jackson, Mississippi, founding, Primos, now headquartered in Madison, Mississippi, remains one of the most trusted names in turkey calls today and produces calls for hunters at every experience level. A great all-in-one example perfect for your retail space is the Team Primos Turkey Bundle.

The Team Primos Turkey Bundle includes an array of Primos’ most popular turkey hunting calls: Power Crow Locator Call, Tall Timber Gabriel Box Call, Rare Breed Glass Pot Call and the True Double Mouth Call. Great for hunting crows, the Power Crow also is Primos’ most popular turkey locator call, and its barrel and reed design make it perfect for lanyard carry and soft- to loud-range calling; in fact, Primos states it is the loudest crow call on the market. Perfect for rich, raspy yelps, cuts and clucks, the Tall Timber Gabriel is a premium wood box call featuring double thumbholes for better control. The Rare Breed Glass Pot Call is designed to deliver low and deep calling (toward the center) and higher-pitch calling toward the edge. The call boasts a premium slate surface and hardwood body (and striker) construction. The True Double Turkey Mouth Call delivers a rich, raspy tone toms can’t resist and is constructed of dual tape frames designed to keep the latex reeds from sticking. www.primos.com

 

Primos The Gobbler Shaker Call

A great tool for locating or challenging toms, the Primos Gobbler Shaker Call provides realistic gobbling. The Gobbler is capable of two gobble sounds, including a jake gobble by using one hand to shake the Gobbler. Using two hands mimics the gobble of a mature tom. The call also features a patented silencer cap to prevent accidental noisemaking during handling or carrying.

 

Primos Rare Bree Slate Call

Is a premium, custom-call sound possible from a large call manufacturer? Yes, and a great example is Primos’ Rare Breed Slate Turkey Call. My first choice, especially when bowhunting turkeys, has always been diaphragm (mouth) calls that keep my hands free. Second to mouth calls, I am a slate call fan, and the Primos Rare Breed is one of the best-sounding production slate calls I have used. This hardwood call and single-piece striker make raspy old-hen music seem effortless. Hunters can expect exceptional sound pitch and quality, even at higher volumes, in the forms of yelps, cuts, clucks and purrs. For hunters looking for an exceptional slate call experience at a mid-level price point, the Rare Breed is going to be a retailer win.

 

FOXPRO Turkey Pro

From a humble, American-success-story beginning, John Dillon established FOXPRO in his garage in 1993. With the invention of the first exclusively digital call (no cassettes, etc.) Dillon’s business skyrocketed from spare time in his garage to employees in a 4,500-square-foot building, to the FOXPRO we know today in a 45,000-square-foot building, still close to its roots in Lewiston, Pennsylvania. While life changed dramatically for John Dillon and his boys, Mike and Steve, with the introduction of the FOXPRO FX-3 decades ago, and the company’s meat and potatoes remains predator calling, they also have produced an exceptional digital turkey hunting call worthy of the FOXPRO brand and reputation, the Turkey Pro.

The Turkey Pro comes loaded with 28 turkey hunting sounds, and as one might expect from FOXPRO, it also includes 17 predator sounds, making the Turkey Pro a dual-purpose calling system. The Turkey Pro doesn’t stop there. It’s capable of storing up to 300 sounds! Ever the digital call innovator, FOXPRO considers turkey-hunting reality; they never come in the direction you expect. The solution? Hunters can use up to three Turkey Pro Calls simultaneously from a single remote, and while the Turkey Pro includes a great-sounding Mylar cone speaker, it also features an external speaker jack for enhanced volume, sound and direction control. The remote control features a categorized call organization, an illuminating display, robust elastomeric keypad and simple user interface with tactile power, select, volume and scrolling buttons. (Check your local regulations regarding the use of electronic turkey calls.) www.gofoxpro.com

 

FOXPRO Counter Strike 2-in-1 Call

As evidenced by the company’s history and reputation, innovation is second nature to FOXPRO, even with handheld calls like their American-made Counter Strike 2-in-1. At first glance, the Counter Strike looks like a simple box call; however, it doubles as a slate call — the slate surface is on the bottom of the call. The Counter Strike includes a single-piece hickory striker, and as innovation would have it, the striker stores conveniently inside the Counter Strike’s body. FOXPRO asserts the call delivers a rich yet raspy tone with exceptional volume range for soft, up-close work as well as for calling in long-range birds.

 

Knight & Hale HD Cutter Push/Pull Call

Who knew the minds and desires of a barber, Harold Knight, and a farmer, David Hale, would form a collaborative call-making endeavor that ultimately would become one of the most widely known, respected producers in the industry? Not even Knight and Hale would say they saw that writing on the wall, but here we are 53 years after they made their first call in Cadiz, Kentucky. By 1984, Knight & Hale Game Calls was established, and the team quickly grew a reputation nationwide for quality hunting calls. Of course, master callers using Knight & Hale products to win world goose- and turkey-calling championships didn’t hurt, either! Knight and Hale sold their business to Pradco in 1996; however, Knight and Hale remain present with the brand for product design, promotion and more. Today, Knight & Hale continues the legacy, producing affordable, high-quality, realistic-sounding calls for novice to expert turkey hunters. A great novice hunter turkey-hunting call to include in your inventory is the HD Cutter Push/Pull Call.

The Knight & Hale HD Cutter Push/Pull Call is compact, allowing for comfortable one-handed operation in most hands. Each call is hand-tuned and handmade here in the U.S. with a cherry-wood body. The Push Button Yelper is a friction-style call perfect for new hunters, yet also quite effective for seasoned-veteran turkey hunters on a budget. Hunters can expect realistic soft to aggressive yelps, clucks, cuts and purrs. www.knightandhale.com

 

Knight & Hale HD Crystal Surface Pot Call

As its name implies, the Knight & Hale HD Crystal Surface Pot Call boasts a premium crystal surface for crisp “two-note” yelps, clucks, cutting and purring. At a mid-range price point, the call offers truly rich, premium raspy sound with soft- to long-range volume control without compromising tone quality. The call boasts a cherry wood pot, as well as a cherry wood striker, and comes pre-conditioned for calling out of the box.

 

HS Strut Push Button Yelper

Nearly 50 years ago, in 1977, Hunter’s Specialties was founded in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, by Carman and David Forbes. While their first product was No-Mar Camo Gun and Bow Tape (still available today), their entrance to turkey hunting in 1985, and subsequent introduction of the HS Strut brand, set the company on its historic path to eventually become one of the largest turkey call producers. Today, HS Strut’s turkey call lineup is ridiculously crowded; however, all their calls are exceptionally well-priced for us working-class hunters, and most sound great. While HS Strut offers calls for hunters at all experience levels, a fan favorite for new hunters has been their always-dependable, easy-to-operate Push Button Yelper.

Perfect for turkey hunters at all experience levels and great for single-handed operation, the HS Strut Push Button Yelper is a compact, easy-to-use friction call employing wood and slate striking components within an injection-molded, plastic housing virtually impervious to rough weather conditions. Hunting customers on a budget, especially newer hunters, are sure to love this call and can expect richly-toned, mildly raspy yelps, cuts and purrs. www.hsstrut.com

 

HS Strut Raspy Old Hen Combo Kit

Purposed as a highly effective, yet ridiculously affordable all-in-one turkey call collection, the HS Strut Raspy Old Hen Combo Kit includes the namesake box call, glass friction (pot) call and a Premium Flex diaphragm (mouth) call. The Raspy Old Hen Box Call features a hybrid boat-paddle-style design, cherry wood body and maple lid. The call is waterproof-treated and hunters can expect high-pitched, raspy yelps and cuts. The Raspy Old Hen Glass Friction Call is a pot-call design capable of producing raspy cuts, yelps, clucks and purrs in a wide volume range. The call’s pan is custom molded, and an all-weather carbon striker is included. The Premium Flex Raspy Old Hen Diaphragm Call is a double-reed design with a double-split top reed. The Premium Flex mouth call boasts Infinity Latex reeds and a durable, water-resistant tape shell. Hunters can expect similar high-pitch raspy sounds to the friction and box calls.

 

Phelps Triple Locator Call

Founded in 2009 by master call-maker Jason Phelps and headquartered in Pe Ell, Washington, Phelps Game Calls grew legs with the popularity of its elk and deer calls. Phelps Game Calls quickly grew to a full line of premium, realistic-sounding calls, adding predator, waterfowl, moose and, of course, turkey calls to their offerings. Today, Phelps’ array of turkey-calling tools includes box calls, slate calls, mouth calls and locator calls. Perfect for this roundup, Phelp’s new Triple Locator Call is attracting a growing number of diehard turkey hunters and sure to be a win on your retail shelf.

Perfect for your customers’ call lanyards, the Phelps Triple Locator Call is a traditionally designed, barrel-style mouth call constructed of acrylic and an internal reed system. True to its name, the Triple Locator is three calls in one: Owl Scream, Pileated Woodpecker and Hawk Scream. From early to late season, no matter how call shy the toms are, one of the three locator sounds this call is designed to produce will give your turkey-hunting customers the one answer they need at the beginning of every pursuit. www.phelpsgamecalls.com