I use calls made in Arkansas to call Arkansas gobblers, but they also work very well for gobblers in other states.
Fortunately, we have a lot of makers of fine turkey calls in Arkansas, including Bill Rhodes of Sheridan, David Taylor of Sheridan, Grant Westmoreland of Sheridan, Patrick Frachiseur of Dierks and Eddie Horton of Camden. Add one more to that list: Michael O'Bryant of Little Rock, who was recently awarded a patent for a new slate call. There are two versions. One is a modified rectangle and the other is more similar to a traditional pot.
Named "Obe's Calls," the rectangular call is 41/8 inches long, 23/4 inches wide and 13/16-inch thick. It fits easily in a shirt pocket.
The slate is 1/16 inch thick and rests upon thin shelves on both sides. Milled openings on both sides of the shelves enhance resonance. A single pillar in the middle at both ends provides support and strength. Two channels are routed down the lengths of the sides, which shaves a little weight. The interior is hollow, creating a compact but spacious sound chamber.
Also, three holes are milled in both ends, allowing a user to securely carry three strikers. If a striker sits inside the middle hole in the longest part of the call, two-thirds of the striker handle protrude from the top of a shirt pocket, virtually eliminating any chance of a striker working or bouncing free and being lost.
It looks like a larger version of a tree call that I have, which makes very soft, delicate notes for calling to turkeys on roosts before flydown. O'Bryant's call can be played as loud as any pot, but it is also easier to play softly than a pot, which suggests versatility. Its tones have a crisp finish instead of a pot's ringing finish.
Unlike a pot, it doesn't matter where you strike it. The tones are crisp and clear on every centimeter of the surface. I really like pot calls and use them a lot. I will definitely use an Obe in April.
River birch box
Bill Rhodes, who makes custom calls out of unconventional woods, is excited about a new batch of calls he made from river birch. I can see why.
I played that call for about an hour, trying and failing to find something I didn't like. It makes a loud, dulcet yelp with a nice, finishing "yawp." It makes loud, urgent, consistent cutts with minimal effort. Best of all, it makes an absolutely wicked purr. Rhodes' calls are just the right size and shape for one-handed purring, and river birch makes one of the most realistic sounding purrs I've ever scratched from a call. Worked just right, it can also reproduce the subtle whistling sound that turkeys make when they communicate with each other walking through the woods.
After a long absence in his catalog, Rhodes is also making dual chambered box calls again. I have two, and they are some of my most effective calls, especially in heavy wind when you really need to project. For years, Rhodes got irritated with me whenever I wrote about it because hunters flooded him with requests.
"They're hard to make, they take a lot of time, and it's too easy to mess one up," Rhodes said. "Then you've got a piece of wood that ain't good for nothing."
Rhodes said he changed his mind when a sheriff in south Arkansas asked for one.
"I told him I don't make them anymore, and he said, 'Mr. Rhodes. I'm sorry to hear that. It would be a real shame if you were to get pulled over in my county and you didn't have a couple of those calls in your truck.' " Rhodes has told me that story twice since January 2020.
"So I told him, 'I'll make them, but they're going to cost you a hundred dollars apiece,' " Rhodes said. No, problem. Rhodes decided if he was going to make two, he might as well make a bunch.
Rhodes has come a long way with his calls. He tunes each one by hand with a whittling knife and sandpaper. As fond as I am of my Rhodes' calls, I must say that a new one sounds better than the early models. They play easier, too.
Rhodes is also working on a new call designed to make fighting purrs, a raucous racket that has sealed the deal on a few gobblers in Arkansas and Oklahoma. I make it with two calls, so I'm interested to see how this project turns out.
