Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder?

Based on the messages in my inbox and the stats on my blog profile, Get Out & Go Hunting has never been this popular.  This is good because I haven't done anything with it in about four weeks.  A combination of broken leg, increased workload from my real job, crippling writer's block, and the birth of my second child (just last week!) have waylaid my attempts to keep this ballgame current.

No more.

Following the theme of this post's title, it has taken a broken leg to show me how much I really miss turkey hunting.  The season opened here in Ontario last week and I don't even have the choke in my gun.  Getting around stealthily and safely is not an option right now, and my heart is filled with the yearning to get up at an ungodly hour, sit under a tree in the dark until the dimmest vestiges of morning show up, and then blaze away hopefully on turkey calls until a bird either shows up or I get hungry and frustrated.  Since I took up turkey hunting in 2007, this is the first opening weekend I've missed, and admittedly I've been a bit of a bear these last few days.

Emails from friends and readers (while appreciated, and even encouraged) have only depressed me further...what with their glowing stories of success or the exciting tales they tell me of the big tom that "almost" was.  Pictures of their beaming smiles beside the broad fan of a big tom, pictures taken in the sun-dappled verdure of the spring woods no less, almost push me to the precipice of binge-drinking.  The sleep deprivation of having an eight-day old in the house may also be a factor contributing to my pitiable state...but I do not dare tell my wife that.  After all new fathers are expressly forbidden from admitting that they are 'tired' at all, because in truth what have we really done that would make us sleepy?

But I digress.

Likewise for you my reader, it would seem that the meager information that I have placed on this blog has been highly in demand.  This little corner of the internet keeps appearing in Google searches with the keywords "turkey hunting simcoe county" or "bruce peninsula wild turkey" or for some strange reason "turkey calling contests".  No matter.  Clearly, spring turkey hunting is on many a mind other than my own.  Hopefully, the people stumbling upon this mental effluvia of mine like what they read (although based on my subscriber statistics, not many do).  But it is the thought that counts and I'm glad to contribute whatever scraps of turkey hunting esoterica that I can.

So that's what has been happening; thanks be to those who keep inquiring on when the latest post is coming out as you keep me thinking.  There's a small light at the end of the tunnel too...I just may get a weekend or two of turkey chasing in late this May.  Perhaps that will turn around my mood and reignite some of the vim that has been sorely lacking in this forum.

But don't expect too much...you won't be disappointed that way.

Over Before it Started?

2012's Ontario spring turkey season may not be happening for this intrepid soul now; not because my wife is due to have a child in four weeks or less (even though that is one of the scenarios about to play itself out) or because I've suddenly lost the passion for chasing longbeards (because I haven't).

Nope, this silly bugger snapped his fibula and sheared a chunk off the backside of his ankle on Monday night.  While playing rec soccer.  Dammit.

Anyways, this will give me some down time to write...and write...and write.  But for now that's about it.  If I don't need surgery, then the cast could be off by mid-May, but then again it might not be.

I bought my license Monday before all this went down so I guess it isn't a foregone conclusion, and of course I'll just be laying here practicing my calls so maybe in eight weeks I'll be some kind of turkey language savant too.  Have to look at the positives I guess!

So in the end I'll be living vicariously through my friends, readers who like last year took the time to share their stories with me, and some hunting DVDs that I have laying about.

Its not the real thing, but it may be as close as I get this year.  Dang.

New Turkey Toys for 2012—Mouth Call Reviews

I received an email earlier this week from a turkey hunter who was looking to get some new mouth calls, and they had read an earlier post where I had mentioned that I now owned some Woodhaven mouth calls.  They reminded me (politely) that I had promised a more in-depth review of the product which as of this week was undelivered.

Since there hasn’t been much doing around here for turkey activity (and I’ve been scouting pretty hard…but that’s another post) I thought now would be as good a time as any to post up my thoughts on these calls.  I haven’t had a chance to test these out on any turkeys yet, but I have had three months to practice with them, so consider this a mid-term review.

From L-R: Woodhaven's Copperhead 2, Copperhead, and Red Wasp

As I alluded to earlier this year, I was fortunate enough to receive a Woodhaven Customs Calls TKM (Turkey Killing Machines) three pack this past Christmas.  At first glance, they are as sexy a mouth call (aesthetically) as I’ve seen.  After doing some online research that may be a bit pricey compared to some other brands of mouth calls, but according the Woodhaven’s website, professional hands touch every call so like anything, craftsmanship comes at a price.  The three calls included in the pack are the Red Wasp, the Copperhead, and the Copperhead 2.  Each is different, and each can be purchased individually (as opposed to buying the whole three-pack), so I’ll briefly share what I found each call to be like.

The Red Wasp is billed as “great for raspy cutts and yelps” and a call that is “very raspy and bold like an old hen”.  No arguments from me.  A red latex reed with a V-cut overlays two thinner clear reeds, and the tape is flexible but not too soft, which I like because I find the tape on some other mouth calls I’ve bought from the Big-Four manufacturers (HS, Primos, Knight & Hale, and Quaker Boy…I’ve owned them all) starts off a little too soft and after a couple of hunts betwixt cheek and gum the tape begins to separate from the frame or break down.  No such problems yet with the Red Wasp (or the others for that matter) and I’ve been practicing nightly for the last couple of months.  This call is set up pretty stiff and so far the reeds have retained good snap and tension.  I prefer a stiff call so out of the three, this one is my favourite so far…which was why I started with it.  If the call has a downfall it is that it is too sensitive, which is likely a function of being a bit on the stiff side.  If you have too much pressure on the reeds they tend to squeal a bit.  Too little pressure and the call gets muted or even just goes silent.  It took some getting used to, so for a mouth diaphragm beginner this call might not be suitable.  After some consistent practice though, the call goes from soft tree yelps and purrs right to the loudest, raspiest cutting pretty easily.  If you don’t like stiff calls or are just looking to start out with a mouth call then the Red Wasp might just frustrate you, but if you already have some know-how running a mouth call, this one is probably the most versatile of the three in the pack.

To be blunt, the Copperhead is probably my least favourite call in this pack, but it is still as good, or better, than most mouth calls I’ve had.  The call has an orange latex reed with a silky finish and a snake-tongue cut that is laid over two clear reeds.  Again, I love the tape job, but what I dislike about the call (the only negative really) is that it is a uni-tasker; I find it to be an ultra-loud call with serious rasp and good cutting and this is probably ideal for shocking a distant tom into gobbling, calling to a fired up and aggressive tom, or on windy days.  In fact, I’ll very likely use it in those exact scenarios this season, but I find it tough to change volumes on and I think it is the worst at purring of the three, which is less than ideal for those situations where you need some subtle ‘finishing’ calls.  I’m not a fan of switching out mouth calls when a bird is coming in, and although I’ll do it, I’m also not big on carrying two calls in my mouth at once.  If you’ve mastered subtlety on this call, then good for you.  I haven’t yet.  Also somewhat troubling, but not really a big deal yet, is that the bottom clear reed has started to pucker already.  This is likely a factor of the tongue pressure I find I’m using to ratchet up the raspiness on this call making it an operator problem not a call problem per se, and it has not yet been detrimental to the call’s sound so like I said, no big deal…just worth noting if you’re like me and exert a lot of pressure and wind on a call.  Yes, I sometimes call loud and I almost always call often.  If volume is all you’re looking for than the Copperhead will be great for you.

According to the product specs, The Copperhead 2 “features a special yellow and orange latex combo with a new ‘snake-tongue-combo cut’” in the top reed.  The one that came with my TKM 3-pack has the combo cut and the yellow latex, but my other reeds are clear, not orange.  Don’t ask me why…Production error?  Just ran out of orange reeds?  Who knows?  I’m not too concerned though because the call still runs well.  I’ve found that the Copperhead 2 is a nice medium between the Red Wasp and the Copperhead; with a broad range of volumes and rasp the only thing that the Red Wasp does better than the Copperhead 2 is purr.  It goes from tree yelps to plain yelps to cackles smoothly.  It doesn’t purr badly, if not just a bit inconsistently, and the cutting is nice and crisp.  A good all-around call, just as stiff as the Red Wasp, but like I said, just a bit tough to get consistent purrs; it does however have the best kee-kee of all the calls in the pack so that’s a win.

So there you have it.  To say I have an embarrassment of options at my disposal this year in terms of mouth calls would be an understatement.  It’s always going to be a toss-up between the Red Wasp and Copperhead 2 for the starting job this year, but it is nice to know that on a windy day I can jack up the volume on the Copperhead.

Of course, as with most reviews, this is strictly what I’ve found.  There may be those of you out there with loyalties to other call manufacturers, or those who have had completely opposite experiences to what I’ve had with the above calls.  What will be really telling is how they fare some early morning in April or on a sunny May afternoon when I get to put the call out to a love-sick gobbler.  That will be the true litmus test of the worth of these calls, and I look forward to writing more about them here.