Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk ALTurkey Talk -- Beards and Spurs Strikers

Can someone educate me on strikers? There are so many different kinds, even if we stick to only wood. Also there's flared tip, etc. Are certain shapes/materials better suited for crystal vs slate?

Yes. You match a striker to a call by running it. A matched striker is one that never misses. If you have to out some English on it, that's not a match.

I like dymonwood and purple heart for crystal, usually. Striker shapes are personal preference. I get like Tim Sanfords acorn strikers. You may like something else

A maker should match at least one striker and tune it to the call.

I have 2 strikers. 1 acrylic for wet or very humid conditions. 1 wood one. I bought them in a 2 pack. I think it's like anything else. You can get as deep as you want on how it sounds and spend as much money as you want.

Find you some Bill Lymam's

Lymans are nice. I'm partial to Derrick Stuckey. He's an Alabama boy and makes a dang fine striker in just about any wood you could want

A flare tip Stuckey made out of persimmon is the one I use the most.

I had Dustin Holtzman and Derrick Stuckey turn me some one piece strikers in various woods. My favorites so far are Stuckey’s Bloodwood and Holtzman’s Suriname ironwood. I also bought a JLH frog wood TSS that I really like. The John Sinclair all weather works well in wet conditions

Any of you fellers have one out of Black Locust ?

JLH makes one I do believe

A have a bunch of strikers and use several strikers with each particular call according to what I’m doing. Young hen, clean hen, rasp, tree talk, cutting, purring, fighting purrs, windy days, you get the drift. If you think all strikers sound the same on a call, you either don’t have an ear for it, or you’re not doing it right. I usually carry 4-5 pots sometimes and 7-8 strikers.

Those yours? Very nice!

Yep. Got one from Steve Torman that is magic on slate

I have no clue what strikers I have. Whatever Stoney sent with his glass call. Whatever Squeaky sent me with the aluminum call I got from him. A plexiglass striker that I got for the Ben Lee trough slate call. What I do know is that all of them make a turkey gobble when used.

A striker will make or break a call. It is just as important as the call itself. Generally speaking, harder woods are good on glass/crystal/ceramic and softer woods are good on slate/copper. Most calls you see sold now that come with a 2 piece striker will either be purple heart or Dymondwood. Usually those 2 woods will run well on most any call unless you want the traditional sound of a gray slate which requires a softer wood. Don’t get hung up on using just the striker that comes with a call. While it will usually sound really good, a striker made of a different wood may make it sound incredible. You can have one pot call with 2-3 different strikers and sound like 2-3 different hens. There’s so many variables that affect the sound of the striker that it’s hard to explain. Everything from weight, length, wood, forward of center weight, tip design, and how you hold it all affect the sound it will produce. A good quality one piece striker will usually cost as much as the call cost but it’s like having several different sounds out of one call. All the guy’s mentioned above make great strikers but they can be hard to come by. JLH makes really good strikers and usually has them readily available. His frogwood and tulipwood play really well on any surface and his carbon striker really makes a slate pop.

For reference, you can look at the Janka wood hardness scale and see where the strikers listed above fall (Dymondwood won’t be on it as technically it’s a wood laminate). A lot of the really good strikers will be on the upper end of that scale. It will give you some idea of what you will be getting when you buy a striker. Tip design is basically a personal preference. To some people, a flared tip striker is more “forgiving” therefore easier to use. You just have to try different ones to see which ones give you the sound you are after. Also how you grip the striker makes a huge difference. Watch videos of the friction call championships to see how they hold the striker. I like a fairly loose grip on the striker but you may like a more firm grip. The most important thing is practice, practice, practice. The more you use it, the more natural it will feel.

I usually prefer a mouth call, but I am wanting to try some pot calls. I have one I bought from Madhatter (Dean's son is one of my good friends). His came with a striker and is good to go. I was given a woodhaven crystal and I have some other slate call that I need strikers for. Thanks for the tips!