Crow-Calling Locators
Crow calls pull double duty as tools to fool those noisy predatory birds into range during fall seasons and as lucky locator calls for turkeys in spring.
“Wow, those crows coming in is cool,” my 16-year-old son whispered as he kept his eyes to the sky, watching three crows circle above us. Minutes earlier, I had pulled out my crow call and produced some loud, ragging caws and squalling whines of a common crow, hoping to locate a hot gobbler. No turkey answered, but my call grabbed the attention of that trio.
Many of today’s popular crow calls feature molded plastic mouth pieces, but others still use old-fashioned, hand-tuned wooden mouth pieces. Call makers use various styles of barrel shapes to achieve greater long-range volume.
Here’s a quick-hitting list of 10 good — and loud — crow cawing options you can easily look up: ATOMIC-13 Crow Call by Rocky Mountain Hunting Calls; Caution Zone Crow Call by Dead End Game Calls; Cherry Crow Call by Houndstooth Game Calls; Crow Squawker by Fantom Game Calls; Drury Outdoors Signature Crow Locator by Hunters Specialties; Harrison Crow Call by Hook’s Custom Calls; Last Pass Crow Call by Final Approach; Real Crow by Woodhaven Custom Calls; The Crow Call by Primos Hunting Calls; and the Walnut Crow Call by Faulk’s Game Call Co.
As with all game calls, choosing a crow call is a matter of personal preference. And because there’s only so much room in a turkey vest, some hunters seek something more special to put in the pocket reserved for a crow call. To most, nothing is better than a custom call built by an expert craftsman.
Bryan Stanley’s beautiful custom crow call is made from stabilized black ash burl with a yellow inlay, capped in black acrylic with hand-cut Osage boards.
Stanley is a 28-year machinist working in the aerospace industry. He has been a custom call maker for 18 years and makes a wide range of outstanding, award-winning custom game calls, including predator, duck, deer and turkey.
He can be reached on Facebook, or at (586) 863-3469, or bryanstanley25@gmail.com.
Seth Hamon’s incredible custom crow call is made of polished African blackwood, with handmade nibs crafted from SpectraPly dyed birch laminate. Hamon resides in Mansfield, Texas, where he designs and manufactures woodwind musical instruments — mostly bagpipes — and crafts custom turkey calls. His expertise and talent in making reeds and instrument parts transfers well to crafting high-end trumpet yelpers and locator calls.
Although Hamon has only been competing in callmaking competitions for two years, he took home first place awards at the 2023 and 2022 NWTF Grand Nationals, and has several other major contest wins in his career, including the 2022 World Championship in the hunting category. He can be reached on Facebook, or at (817) 966-4637, or texasbagpiper@yahoo.com.
As a final thought, it’s true that crow calls are well-known by turkey hunters as locator calls. But crows can be predators of turkey eggs and even poults in spring. Plus, they can do serious crop damage and other ugly deeds. So, consider getting more use out of your crow call by also using it to hunt crows this fall, too.