Harold Knight and David Hale (Knight & Hale) invented the fighting purrs caller decades ago. It was so popular that many retailers doubled the MSRP and still couldn’t keep them in stock. Unfortunately, the push-box callers didn’t weather well and were bulky to carry. If you have ever heard two turkeys fighting or a flock of jakes attacking a decoy, you will recognize the sound.
Why It Works
Male turkeys have an innate sense of dominance and literally have a “pecking order.” The fighting purrs call simulates a fight among turkeys, and gobblers may feel threatened just as a strutting decoy challenges their dominance. Since mature gobblers attack jakes, it may bring them directly to you when no other call will.
A Tip From Eddie Salter
You can use a peg and slate caller to make the fighting purrs sound, but you can add greater realism with a mouth caller, too. This takes a little practice, but if you can “putt” on a mouth caller, you can sound like two turkeys fighting by making two distinct sounds. I once hunted with Eddie Salter, who demonstrated this alluring tactic.
Will Askew on Fire
I just returned from a turkey hunt in South Dakota and shared a camp with Wil Askew, who is introducing a new line of “Beard-Buster calls.” In the following YouTube video, he shows how easy it is to make this call.
