These H.S. Strut Turkey Calls Helped me Bag a Bird

On day 3 of my first turkey hunt of 2016, I bagged a nice longbeard gobbler and thought I’d give a shout out to Hunters Specialties (HS), the company that made two of the three calls I used to sweet-talk this bird into shotgun range.

These calls are brand-new, and I just unpacked them the night before the hunt began. And since HS has recently done a bit of a reboot, turkey hunters may not be familiar with these calls.

The first, seen in the photo above, is a slate pan call. This is my first pan call. In the past, I’ve used box calls for most calling because they’re simple and easy to use, and there are no parts to lose. But I like this slate call–a lot. It may become my new go-to call.

HS calls it the H.S. Strut Smokin’ Gun Slate, Model 06932, and it comes with a rosewood striker and a Smokin’ Gun mouth call (diaphragm).

I found this slate easy to use, and it can produce a wide array of turkey sounds with ease. Best of all, it’s made in USA.

I’m not much good with a mouth call, but the one in this kit seems to be a good one. The mouth call comes with a hinged, hard, transparent, plastic, snap-close case.

Next is the H.S. Strut Smokin’ Gun Waterproof Box Call, model 07009.

I cut my turkey hunting teeth on my father’s old Lynch box call, and it’s great, but it has some downfalls. First, you need to rub the striking paddle with chalk from time to time, and if it gets wet, forget about it. It’s not going to work again until it dries out.

This H.S. Strut call is not only waterproof, but it also has a permanent coating on the wood friction surfaces that produce the sounds–and that coating eliminates the need for chalk.

Another nice touch is the elastic loop for securing the paddle. That helps keep things quiet until you need to call. Any seasoned turkey hunter knows that the wrong sound from a call will end a turkey hunt mighty fast, and this helps with that.

I do find it a bit high-pitched for my liking, but it can be adjusted. A nice thing about box calls is their ability to make loud calls that reach out to those wild toms.

The package says it’s made of select walnut, is hand crafted–and again, it’s made in the good ol’ USA.

Spring turkey season is just beginning and I plan to use these and other H.S. Strut a lot more calls before it’s over. Check ’em out.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.