#4-Play Turkey Call – Share the Outdoors

With spring rain and wind, staying warm and dry requires planning.
When hunting: Stay free of deer ticks, learn about using Permethrin, Picaridin, and Rynoskin.
Hunting or Fishing: Keep your feet dry and warm. Check out Vaprtrek insulated boots and light Merino wool socks.

By Forrest Fisher

When the wind and rain occasionally find a vacation stay in Western New York, experienced hunters like Gary Huber change tactics to find the birds. This is Huber’s second spring-season bird this year, filling his 2-bird season limit.

It has been an excellent year for rain gear and umbrella salesmen. So, getting out there with rod/reel or hunting gear requires a combination of preparation, proper gear, and strategy to stay dry, safe, and productive. You know the old saying: Failing to plan is a plan for failure.

It’s spring in the North and East and elsewhere. It’s chilly. It’s rainy. It’s “uncomfy.” If you’re fishing or hunting, invest in high-quality, insulated, waterproof boots. Add a thin polyester sock as the first layer on your foot, then a thin pair of Merino wool socks before inserting your foot into the boots. What boots? I’ve been wearing the Irish Setter VAPRTREK models because they are light and comfy. I wear out at least one pair a year. They are my everyday boots for when I play outdoors.

If you’re in the turkey hunting woods looking to find a thunder-chicken, get some gaiters too, and spray them up with Permethrin to keep the deer ticks from finding a doorway to crawl up your leg with your back against a tree. While you’re in protection mode, add some Picaridin to your neck and any other exposed skin. Sawyer Company sells both products; they are inexpensive at under $15 each. To stay chemical-free, consider a Rynoskin armor suit as your underwear cover. Even no-see-ums can’t get through. I wear them hunting, fishing and gardening because going through a cure for Lyme Disease in the human body is no fun at all. Ask me how I know? The Rynoskin full-body suit costs about $150, worth every red cent.

The bottom line is that there is nothing like wet feet to END outdoor fishing, hunting, camping trips, or whatever you’re doing outdoors. Stay dry, stay warm, and enjoy the experience.

Next, be smart about where you’re at and what you’re doing. Remember, it’s wet. Get a small dry bag to stow in your rainproof backpack to protect your wallet, keys, and phone.

When the jumbo perch in Lake Erie are biting, chilly weather with wind and rain can take a backseat, but keeping dry with the footware and outerware is important. *Captain Hans Mann photo*

You’re ahead of the curve if you wear moisture-wicking clothing layers with breathable, waterproof outer layers, such as pants and jackets (like Gore-Tex). Get these garments in the color you need to be where you are. Add a wide-brim hat or hood and waterproof gloves if you need them, and life will be cozy and dry. Happiness is.

It has been windy and stormy from the Midwest to the Northeast for weeks. Right through the start of many opening day fishing and spring turkey hunting seasons all across the north country regions. If you don’t postpone your fishing trip because of wind and waves, and then decide to go hunting instead (no big waves in the woods), use a buddy system. Don’t go alone if possible – but at least tell someone where you’re headed. Trees can crash down in heavy wind at times. So, look around for solid trees to be protected from that type of event before sitting down. Be safe.

Jumbo perch are schooling in Eastern Lake Erie and modern sonar can find them. *Captain Daryl Glassner photo*

Fishing for Lake Erie jumbo perch in heavy winds can be challenging and downright brutal. Just ask big perch prize winner, Mark Mohr, from the annual Southtowns Walleye Lake Erie Perch Contest, always held on the first weekend of May. Mohr caught the biggest perch of the tourney with a 2.74-pound jumbo, but his fishing buddies Mark Woelfle and Charter Captain Rob Ebersole admit that their fingers felt frozen and their feet were wet. With heavy wind and high waves, it’s difficult to keep the fishing lines down and even more challenging to keep the boat still enough to drop down 2-hook and 3-hook fishing rigs with minnows in 55 feet of water depth.

If in the turkey woods, remember that turkeys move less in the wind. Set up in wind-protected hollows, field edges, or lowland woods, and be watchful. Don’t call too often, sounds move in funny ways in the wind. Plus, the rain quiets the forest floor, so you must listen and watch more carefully than usual.

On any day, it’s pretty exciting when a bird in the far distance answers and you realize he is answering you! You wait a few minutes and reply back with your call, and they return their volley of turkey jabber. It’s honest, exciting fun. In this light of turkey sound creation by us humans to fool a tom turkey into thinking we are sexy turkey hens waiting around the next brushpile for them, I want to share a new discovery. About a year ago, I met Brian Benolken, owner of Cutting Edge Game Calls. He shared with me, his new turkey-calling toy and explained how inventor Eric Steinmetz created one of the most unique turkey box calls ever made. I have one now and discovered the call is totally innovative and is deadly-useful if you hunt turkey. Constructed in a 4-way configuration of old-fashioned sounding boards made from four different wood species, it is called the “4-Play Turkey Call.” The paddle is a sort of a game-like joystick that allows variable pressure and angle change to provide never-before-possible turkey friendship, mating and boss-bird leadership sounds. All in one call. The 4-Play provides clucking, yelping, cackling and cutting sounds. Any of the four sounding boards can be accessed by rotating the paddle around one end of the call. The resulting notes can form a composition of turkey singing harmony unmatched by one call ever before. My wife actually gets upset when I practice with this call in the backyard. It attracts turkeys, a variety of wild birds, and some of those critters that feed on birds and turkeys (fox, coyotes, etc.). Deer know that turkey are keenly aware of predators, so deer come strolling through the yard too. Remind me to take this call when deer hunting during archery season this fall!

Numerous Wildlife Management Areas in New York and other northern states are open to the public and provide access to diverse habitats for turkey hunting. These are good places to hunt those tasty wild thunderchickens right now.

By equipping yourself with the right gear and adapting your strategy to the weather conditions, you’re setting yourself up for success. Whether you’re fishing or hunting, the thrill of a successful and safe outdoor experience is hard to match.

Gotta love the outdoors.

Scott Jordan with youngster, Ethan Cole, with a successful youth turkey hunt. The 2025 New York State Youth Turkey Hunt weekend ended this past Sunday. *Photo by CRCS Outdoors*

My favorite Turkey Call is the Box Call, it can make turkey music.
The type of wood can make a huge difference, reasons why some turkey hunters carry more than one box call
The 4-Play call is single box call that can make more notes, at more different pitches, than any 2 to 4 standard box calls combined!

By Mike Roux

I give dozens of game calling seminars and demonstrations each year. Every single time I pick up a call, I explain to the folks watching and listening that the device in my hand, although it is described as a game call, is really no more than a musical instrument. I also tell them that game calls operate on the same two principles as do all musical instruments. Those principles being, rhythm and pitch.

If you can master the rhythm and pitch of a given call, you can be successful in the field as you use that call. And, like a musician, practicing their instrument alone, imaging what it would sound like with the full orchestra, you must practice your calls imaging what they will sound like outdoors, at some distance.

Over half of my seminars each spring deal with calling and hunting the wild turkey. The spring gobbler is still one of the toughest and most sought after game trophies to collect and his popularity grows each year. Mastering the turkey call can make you a hero in your hunting group.

My favorite turkey call, by far, is the box call. I have had lots of professional experience calling turkeys. For over 40 years I served on the Pro Hunting Staffs for a couple of national call companies. So, my box call is like an extension of my own hands.

Not all box calls are created equal. You must be very selective when choosing this call. Not only does the type of wood make a huge difference, but also the workmanship itself is critical to the performance of a box call, just like any other instrument. Box calls that are made of plastic, or stamped-out mass-produced wooden calls will not give you the sound or the success you desire. Pay the extra money, up front and get a custom-built box call that will drive the toms crazy. That is why my box call preference is now the 4-Play Turkey Call.

Until recently I carried 2 box calls in my turkey vest. One of these makes the sweetest yelps on the planet. But its clucks leave a lot to be desired. Likewise, the box call I cluck with is not worth a plug nickel for yelping or cutting. That is why the 4-Play Turkey Call is the ONE box call I carry now.

The 4-Play call is made of different woods within the same call. It has four sound rails, all of which can be different wood types, instead of just two. By rotating the paddle around one end of the call you put 2 different rails into play. This single box call makes more notes, at more pitches, than any 2 to 4 standard box calls combined.

Once you have decided upon and purchased your box call, you must learn how to play it. I do like the box call because it is so easy to use. But do not be fooled by that statement. It still takes lots of practice to “master” all the sounds that this call can make.

All too often, turkey hunters fail to operate, or play, this instrument correctly. Pressing the paddle onto the box may help increase volume, but will likely cause you to loose the desired pitch. Quality custom-built box calls are designed for the weight of the paddle to be sufficient pressure to make the box play. Most paddles will have a sweet spot. Find this spot and you have found the key to your spring success.

Yelps are easily reproduced on a box call by dragging the paddle over one of the box lips. At this point you are looking for, and listening for, pitch. I will remind you that if you practice indoors, the pitch will sound profoundly different outside. Practice outdoors as much as possible.

Once you have mastered a single yelp, line-up several yelps into a short run of calls. At this point you are working on rhythm. Combining rhythm and pitch will give you a very accurate imitation of a wild turkey.

There are a couple of different ways that you can hold this instrument as you play it. My preferred method is to hold the box upright in my left hand and operate the paddle with my right hand. This allows the weight of the paddle to do its job correctly.

Another variation that I have seen, but do not subscribe to, is holding the box upside down with the paddle in your left hand, striking the paddle with the box, which is held in the right hand. To me, this method is cumbersome and eliminates the true resonance that the call can produce. Either way, learn to play your box call with the method that is most comfortable for you.

By laying the paddle on the lip and popping it sharply upward, you can make an excellent cluck with your box call. Putts can be made in much the same way. By slowly dragging the full width of the paddle over the lip, a very seductive purr can be accomplished.

One of the most exciting and effective sounds the box call can reproduce is cutting. To do this, hold the box in your left hand, paddle up and laying on the lip. Use your left thumb as a “bumper”. Tap the paddle with your right hand allowing it to rebound off your left thumb. Practice this until you get the pitch, then work on the rhythm. This call can really fire-up old tom and vastly improve your chances for success.

The key to this turkey call and to all others is practice. There is no substitution for listening to live birds and reproducing the sounds you hear them make. I would like to recommend a specific box call for you to try this spring. The 4-Play Turkey Call is the most versatile and productive box call I have seen and used. Get one. You will not be disappointed.

About the 4-Play Turkey Call: This innovative call is hand-manufactured by Cutting Edge Game Calls, a forward thinking company intent on creating and bringing to market innovative alternatives to help hunters be successful. Among their hunting products is the 4-Play Turkey Call. The company is staffed by creative-minded people who love hunting and whose innovative ideas are brought to life by talented craftsmen. To remove all risk about the 4-Play Turkey Call, they offer a 30 day trial! We realize the 4-Play is new and different, but that shouldn’t stop customers from trying it out. Order one today, try it, love it, or return it within 30 days for a full refund! For more visit: https://4playturkeycall.com/.

About the author: Mike Roux is an award-winning outdoor writer. He freelances more than 100 outdoor magazine and newspaper articles each year. Adding to his list of talents, he is also an accomplished speaker who annually books several speaking engagements nationwide – including banquets, game dinners and other outdoor events. Mike Roux has been a professional guide and game caller for over two decades. He has worked with the Pro Staffs of several outdoor products manufacturers. He is a member of the Outdoor Writers Association of American, as well as the Missouri Outdoor Communicators. For more, please visit www.mikeroux.com.

Tag: #4-Play Turkey Call

Jumbo Perch and Thunder-Chickens: it’s Spring in the Northeast