Spring is right around the corner and with spring comes turkey hunting season.

Spring is right around the corner and with spring comes turkey hunting season. If you were fortunate enough to get drawn this year it's time to get your calls and decoys ready.

If you use slate calls get out some fine sandpaper or a Scotch Brite and rub your calls down. Slate calls need to be a little bit rough to work properly, a 400 grit sandpaper or Scotch Brite will give you the correct texture. Your striker also needs to have a little texture, so use the same Scotch Brite or sandpaper. I prefer to sand the slate in one direction, you'll use your striker in the opposite direction. "Across the grain".

If you've never used the slate call before it's really quite simple. Hold the striker like a pencil and draw small circles on the slate, this will give you a nice hen yelp. For a cluck hold the striker firmly on the slate pop it off, this should give a nice cluck sound. For a hen purr slide the striker across the slate slowly on the same angle you would hold a pencil on paper, it should stick and slide a little bit. With just a few minutes of practice everything should sound good. I prefer to have two or three slate calls and strikers. Different slate call sound different, and difference strikers on the same call will sound different. Some people use wood strikers some use fiberglass and some use wing bones. Most slate calls will come with a striker so if you own two or three call you should have two or three strikers, mixing and matching is fine. Experiment and have some fun.

Box calls are another common call for Turkey hunters, one thing all box calls have in common is the need for dry chalk. Chalk gives the texture needed for different sounds. Without chalk the parts of the box call will just slide and not make any tones. Any chalk will work as long as it does not have wax and it, wax will cause the wood to slide and not grip. A rough textured chalk seems to work better than a smooth chalk. Rub a little on the upper edge of the box and practice.

Electronic calls are not legal in Minnesota so we'll just avoid that subject altogether.

If you have decoys in storage, now is the time to take them out and remove any wrinkles and creases. You can also touch up any areas were the colors come off, this is a fun project for the whole family and kids will really enjoy it.

Next time we'll talk about decoy placement and hunting blinds.