Turkey Pot Call (Slate)

Where the box call shouts, the pot call converses. A disc of slate, glass or aluminum over a resonant pot, played with a wooden striker, gives the finest control of any friction call: feather-soft tree yelps at dawn, contented feeding purrs that melt a wary longbeard's nerves, and clean two-note yelps all morning. Most turkey vests carry one box for reach and one pot for the close, careful work - this is the careful one.

What it is & the sound

A palm-sized pot holding a striking surface over an internal soundboard, played by dragging a striker peg in small strokes - each surface has a voice: slate soft and warm, glass higher and cleaner, aluminum loud and rain-proof.

When & where it works

Every phase of spring, shining brightest mid-morning on birds that have gobbled, closed to 150 yards and slowed down - the purr-and-cluck finesse range where realism decides. Glass and aluminum surfaces keep working in drizzle that kills slate.

How to run it

Hold the pot on fingertips (never flat palm), striker like a pencil at ~45°: small ovals for yelps, short pull-taps for clucks, light dragging circles for purrs. Sand the surface and striker tip regularly - friction calls die of polish.

Choosing one

Start slate for forgiveness; add a glass pot with a second striker for range and rain. Strikers change the voice more than pots - three different-wood strikers effectively make one pot into three hens.

Practice drills

Purr drill: slow, light, stuttering drags until the surface 'skips' evenly. Yelp drill: two-note rhythm, high-to-low, against real audio. Cluck-purr-scratch drill: add leaf-scratching with your free hand - the full contented-hen scene.

Common mistakes

Palming the pot flat (mutes the soundboard), a polished glassy surface with no sound left in it, and running it too LOUD too close - the pot's whole advantage is whispering.