Home Grown Archery/Tackle, Spring Turkey's 2007

[Tique]

Joe, Your "build alongs" just keep getting better nad better. Just awesome stuff, what's next? Thanks!!

[Osagetree]

Tique, I was thinking about a crow call or maybe predator calls. Heck I'll do both types. might cet lucky and call in a coyote while trying to locate a Tom turkey!

My wife will be hunting with me and she carries a shotgun. So,,,, I'll need something to knock her over the head with. See, if we get a turkey coming in she won't wait till it gets 15 yrds,,, she'll shoot at 30yrds and I won't have a chance.

So,,, that is why I'm building this tomahawk. I'll konk her on the head if we get a hot bird coming in.
                             

When I was much younger someone gave me a bunch of stone artifacts. They've been sitting in a shoe box in my building for the last 20 years or so.I thought I would like to recreate on of the stones that I thing was an axe head or tomahawk head. I am probably wrong but this si what I did with the one piece.

Here is the head
   

Here is a picture with the lighting so that you can see the places the stone was workes. Also the edges front and back are smoothed/angled like a knife edge.
   

A limb cut from a dead dogwood tree that is in my back yard. My Dad had planted this tree in the early nineties before he passed away and it  died last summer for some reason.
   

Oh yeah,,, Skin off the bark with a draw knife!

[Osagetree]

Cut off the knots at each end
 

 

Clean up the butt end with a rasp leaving enough wood for a nice bulb at the butt of the handle
 

And then I round of the end of the handle to be knotched and hafted to the stone artifact
 

[Osagetree]

Get a feel of the handle to direct the way I want to set the head into the handle, I then use the handsaw and cut a notch in the dogwood...

I used a coping saw to cut of the bottom of the notch
 

After some trial and error, I hafted the stone head into the handle by first heat bending the top of the handle over the head to kinda pinch in the head. Then wrapped it with a leater strapping. Soaked the head, handle and leather hafting in warm water for the night and then let it all dry out.

I must say,, it is set in the handle well, and does not move in the handle what so ever. When I showed it to my Son for the first time, I asked him "Do you think it looks corny?" he replied No, Wow you could kill someone with that thing!"

 

 

[MWhitehair]

Amazing...absolutely amazing. Sir, you are a true artist in every sense of the word...

[ChrisS]

An owl hooter? Creative for sure! I need to remember some of this stuff for camping. Trying to piece together little projects in front of a campfire is one of my favorite things to do. Anything I manage to finish would be crude in comparison though hehe.

[MJB]

Osage,
I like them "OLD SCHOOL OWL HOOTERS"
 

[Shaun]

I bet you don't hit Mrs Joe with that thing, but it might come in handy to finish a stuck gobbler. Nice owl calls too.

[Osagetree]

Treeyelpr,

"When the dogwoog flower is as big as squirrels ears, the turkeys are gobbl'n"

   Can I borrow that one?        

Shaun,
Would'nt that be something?    

[MJB]

Certainly   :D

[Tique]

Joe, Nice job on the "hawk" but watch out what your "konking";, especially when she's carrying a shotgun. I'd like to see a predator and hawk call build along. I've heard gobblers sound off when a hawk makes a call; been looking for a hawk call but have not found one yet. Whatever it is that you choose to build next will be great. I'll keep watching.

[Marvin M.]

I'm really looking forward to the Predator call too.  That is one that I would like to be able to make.

[razorsharptokill]

Do the turkeys ever spot the snake skin on the lid and freak out?

[MW]

Thanks for the wing bone info.

That is my son's favorite call and wanted to make one this spring if he gets a turkey.

[UKarcher]

Good timing Joe for the wingbone calls. I brought home with me the wingbones from the Christmas dinner, so I'm making two commemorative calls. One for me and one for Lea Ann.        
Graham

[Osagetree]

Okay Gang,,, I had some spare time today and got back to this thread.

You can use wood for these calls, but I like to use deer antler as it will last forever and they are indestructable.

First, I take an antler from a harvest years past. It takes about 3 1/2" to start, so I cut off the base to that lenght.
 

Marked at three inches or so
 

Cut off base and mark lines for the next cuts I'll make with a hand saw
 

Place the base in my vise and cut along the 1 1/2" or so line towards the base end of the piece
 

Make the cut on the other line
 
Another shot of the final cut
 

Draw an outline of the mouth piece
 

Using my big half round file, I shape the mouth piece to the lines I drew
 

[Osagetree]

 

[Osagetree]

In this picture you can see the softer marrow like part of the anlter
 

Using a 1/4" drill bit, I let the bit follow the softer part of the antler through and out the end of the base. Thus leaving a nice chaneel in the flat side of the mouth piece
 

Using the end of the bit I finish off the channel leaving 1/8" or so of the antler flat around the edges of the mouth piece
 

Turn the piece around in the vice so the base is facing me
 

Using a 1/2" bit I fallow and wallow out the first hole half way back through the base. Thus crating two chambers. A smaller chamber at the mouthpiece end of the call and a larger funneling chamber at the other or base end of the call. Sort of like a megaphone shape inside
 

Finished inside
 

Using a rattail file I file off any burrs or sharp edges left by the bits
 

The flat part of the mouth piece should start flat at the call end of the mouth piece and drop off slightly or slop downwards towards the tip of the mouth piece. This is where you will fine tune your call by the angles on the flats of the mouth piece.

 I find,,, A larger gradually sloping mouth piece will be loud and very raspy. A mouth piece that barley slopes at all will be sharp and high pitched.

In other words,,, the distance and slope between the reed and the flat part of the mouth piece of the call will determine the sound you achieve.

Playing around with that aspect takes time and patients,,, you must go slow and try it every little it to see if it where you want it.

With a little practice this call can make a crow "caw" easily and makes very good coyote howls and Challange barks.

I buy this artificialreed material that is sold for making duck calls. I get it off a internet auction site and it is cheap and you can make more calls than you'll ever need.

I cut enough off to the shape of the mouth piece and leave enough at the tail end to fold up on the back part of the call at the mouth pieces base.
 

[Osagetree]

Using my round file again making a slight channel around to hold the bands in place I will use to hold the reed to the call
 

I use the bands they make for castrating your goats for the bands that will hold everything together. You may have noticed them on my wingbone calls too.

 

A little fine tunning with some sandpaper and you've got crow or coyote howler calls. Do the same thing with smaller antler tines and you can make a great rabbit distress call. using your teeth against the reed of the small calls immatates the quivering sounds of a dieng rabbit very well.

 

Note the leftover strings for linyards
 


I wish I could record and post the recordings of these calls so you all could here them. I will be using these in my first trad turkey hunting adventure this spring

[Matty]

I'm all ears....Ererr uhhh......eyes