The art of the Cluck and Purr on a mouth call may be one of the most difficult challenges in the turkey calling world. The great thing is, once perfected, it can be one of the most useful tools in a turkey callers tool box. The following will be some helpful tips and techniques that will help you to sharpen up your cluck and purr or even begin the process on a mouth call.
PLACEMENT
First and possibly the most important is the position of the call in your mouth. If you don’t already know, the call goes in the roof of your mouth, typically with the cut reed up on the roof of your mouth. All of the mouth calls in the Dead End Game Calls lineup are used this way. The exception to this would be if you have a call that is cut on the top reed and bottom reed. If this is the case fill for the bump on the frame of the turkey call and make sure it is down toward your tongue. The horseshoe of the call will open outward. The call will be held in the roof of your mouth using the bridge of your tongue. The tip of your tongue tucks just under your bottom teeth towards your gum line. The mouth call should be completely behind your top teeth when positioned in the roof of your mouth.
THE RIGHT CALL is CRUCIAL-
The right call to cluck and purr on is crucial! With a lot of different companies manufacturing calls, I am sure you can find the call that is right for you! Mouth calls, are the calls that certainly meet the criteria for the old saying, “different strokes, for different folks”. Make sure you have the right size mouth call also. We have two size options of mouth calls in the Dead End lineup. There is a regular size frame, which most people use, that is found in our Roadkill and Road Crew Series of calls. The other, which is often overlooked by most adults, is our Roadkill Mini-Me Series. The Roadkill Mini-Me series uses a smaller frame and has smaller tape on it. While this series of calls is generally used by younger kids or women, due to typically them having a smaller pallet, they are also used by men who have a smaller pallet.
I find it easier to purr on a lighter stretched call that is 2 or 3 reeds. I have designed a mouth call that is made specifically for the soft talk. Cluck and purrs and soft yelps is its specialty. It’s a 2 reed call, in a batwing style cut that we at Dead End Game Calls named the Roadkill Batwing 2. It is certainly one of my finisher calls that I use to finish off a weary longbeard because I can cluck and purr and do soft yelps with it so easy.
BACK PRESSURE is KEY-
If you can already use a mouth call and can gargle, you typically can purr. Try gargling without the call in first. Just like you would gargle mouth wash. When gargling with mouth wash, you may tilt your head back and open your mouth. That’s not what you want to do with a turkey call. Yes, use the same concept with the back of your tongue as you do to gargle to purr, but close your mouth more to help build back pressure. If you watch me purr, air pressure builds up in my mouth beginning in the back of my throat all the way to the front of my lips. As this air pressure builds, my lips and cheeks slightly begin to expand outward, and I slowly let the air out while gargling. This helps me to control the speed on my purr and make is sound more realistic, just like a turkey would sound when purring.