Being in the landscaping business, the spring season is my
busiest time of the year so any chance I get to go turkey hunting
is well taken.
With that being said, I’m not one of those guys that harvests a
bird every year but just being able to hear them is enough of a
thrill.
Most of my success has been during the middle of the morning.
Around 9 or 10 a.m. I like to stop every 100 yards or so and call.
I’ll start out with a diaphragm in case something is close and then
switch to a box call if nothing answers my first sequence. Like I
said, this has worked for me in the past but I have always believed
that there are turkeys out there that can’t hear me.
Bradford resident John Kelley of Quaker Boy Inc. is a good
friend of mine. Kelley is one of the best turkey hunters there is.
Whenever I get the chance to speak with him, I’m usually trying to
pry turkey hunting tips out of his brain. Well, Kelley is smart,
let’s just say getting knowledge from him is like pulling teeth.
It’s not easy! But every now and then he slips and I take it for
granted.
One thing Kelley always told me about was this giant box call he
used to locate turkeys. He actually showed it to me once and I was
doubtful it worked. I felt like he was trying to trick me into
using something like this and then maybe I wouldn’t bug him about
turkey hunting anymore.
Well on another occasion, I ran into Kelley in Bradford. I had
already heard about this huge gobbler he harvested just a few days
earlier. I congratulated him on his bird and once again asked him
for tips. Well sure enough, he pulled out the mammoth box call and
said, “I called with this one time and two birds came running
in.”
I paused for a second, and then asked him to run the call for me
and it actually sounded really good. Kelley said he believed
turkeys could hear him from a couple miles away and I agreed with
him.
I knew I needed one of those calls, but it was just a prototype
and it wasn’t on the market. I’m not the kind of guy to steal
something, but deep down I knew what that call was capable of
doing. It would be perfect for the terrain I hunt and most
importantly the way I hunt.
Well just recently, Quaker Boy Inc. finally put the call on the
market. Its actual name is the “Road Warrior” but to me I still
call it the “Monster.” It is just under 17 inches long and there is
not a louder call you can buy. It may not fit in your turkey vest
but it works great for driving along roads and trying to locate
turkeys.
As spring gobbler hunters, we have to locate a bird before we
can call it in. And sometimes, it can be very difficult to do. With
an extremely loud call, like the Road Warrior, it makes finding
turkeys much easier.
“This call is perfect for the Bradford area,” Kelley said. “I
have located turkeys from very long distances with the Road
Warrior. This may not be something you would use anywhere in the
country but is perfect for mountainous terrain.
“The Road Warrior is something I use often. It is a great
call.”
The giant boat paddle also beats all other calls on windy days.
The slightest breeze can minimize the volume of your call, so when
the air is blowing a Road Warrior is a must-have. Also, when the
spring foliage blooms, you need to call louder to locate toms. The
leaves tend to muffle the sound of calls and you lose a great
amount of sound. The average call won’t always get the job done,
but a Road Warrior will.
So if you haven’t bagged your spring gobbler yet, don’t give up.
This giant box call is the perfect tool for harvesting a
late-season turkey.
For more information about the Road Warrior go to www.quakerboy.com.
