Gobbler or Hen???

[M Sharpe]

Here are three different size bones from adult gobblers. The one on the left came from an 18 1/2 # gobbler, the middle one came from a 20# gobbler my wife killed last year, the other is from a PA gobbler a friend sent to me. This middle bone is one that will NEVER find it's way into one of my calls. This is one of the reasons I am reluctant to build someone a call from a bird they killed. When I build calls from someone else's wings, I advise them ahead of time that they may not get a call using 100% of their bones. I will not send this type wingbone out because of the very reason that gobbler bones get such a bad rep.
A fella was looking at my wingbones in Nashville this year, asked how much, then showed me one that someone had given him. It was a pretty nice job as far as looks, til you looked at the mouthpiece. It looked like the middle one. A total waste of time and effort in my opinion. Those types are the reason you guys think gobbler bone do not make good wingbone calls. The bottom picture shows the wingbone I referred to in Roberts post compared to the middle bone in the above pic. I had two hen bones from Kansas that was every bit that big. I'm going to try to get it finished this week. I can't wait to get it into the woods.

 

[ryanwhit]

Mark, have you tried putting a piece of brass tubing inside of the bone like you did on my Jordan yelper?

 

[Bowhunter Matt]

im gonna try and make a couple of wing bone calls out of a jake i killed what do you bond the bone together with?? and how long do you let the bones dry before you make them?

 

[M Sharpe]

Ryan, the reason I put that brass in the mouthpiece of the cane yelpers is for strength. With bone you don't need it.

Matt, I use two part epoxy to bond the joints after the bones have dried for a few days.