There is no question about it that good calling is an essential part of turkey hunting success. The emphasis in the former sentence is on “good calling” as in getting the right sound and perfect pitch. Turkeys have been called to a great deal by hunters. They have learned to distinguish between a real turkey sound and almost real turkey sounds. This ability has saved many a toms life.

Game call companies go to great length to provide hunters with calls that that sound perfect and are easy to use. One such company is Hunter Specialties ® and I recently ha d a chance to field-test tow of their new friction pot-calls. The package information of the new HS Strut Ring Zone™ Starfire Crystal™ and the Ring Zone™ Ceramic reads, “Scientific testing shows that the Ring Zone™ produces remarkably consistent sounds, more so than other commercial calls. With more accurate and authentic yelps, hunters can call in more turkeys. You can ‘get in their head’ because you can make the same sounds they hear and produce.”

For comparison HS Strut ® provides two oscilloscope frequency charts, one of a real live turkey yelp and the other of the Ring Zone™ call. The similarity of the two charts is remarkable which leads the company to the conclusion. “Turkeys will hear the difference with the Ring Zone™ and you’ll be convinced that all turkey calls are not created equal.”

Am I convinced that the HS Strut ® Ring Zone™ Starfire Crystal™ and the Ring Zone™ Ceramic can make the difference the manufacturer promises? Lets find out.

The moment I looked at the call I noticed that the new calls had a new feature that will greatly enhance the sound of the call. The outer ring on the call is separated with spacers from the mainframe that holds the play surface. This invention serves in my opinion two important purposes. First it will keep your fingers of the calling surface, a mistake many novice turkey hunters make. Second, even if you hold the call wrong by cupping the hand around the bottom of the call you still will be able to get the volume needed. Both, touching the play surface and cupping the hand around the bottom of the call will muffle the sound.

Seeing this new invention was very pleasing, especially knowing from my turkey hunting seminars and working with novice hunters that this is a very common problem with many turkey hunters and HS Strut™ has solved it is great.

Inspecting the calls carefully for manufacturing faults convinced me that the Ring Zone™ is manufactured with great care to detail and the components fitted perfectly together, which is no small feat by mass production standards.

Satisfied that I held a quality turkey call in my hands I was eager to hear how the Ring Zone™ calls sounded. Having hunted turkeys for many years and having specialized in turkey vocalization I pride myself on knowing the difference between a real turkey sound and something that almost sounds like a turkey. Time to find out.

Since I have never used a ceramic call (photo left) I tried the Ring Zone™ Ceramic first. By the first yelp I produced with the supplied rosewood striker peg I was surprised about the clarity of the sound, the perfect pitch with just the right amount of raspy undertone common to older turkey hens. Yelping is one thing but clucks, cackle and purrs are quite a different story. In the past I have found that most calls can produce a passable yelp but are often fail a bit when producing a purr. Not the so the Ring Zone™ Ceramic, I was able with little effort to produce the perfect purr sound that experienced turkey hunter look for in every quality call.

After I was satisfied that the Ring Zone™ is everything it promised to be I focused my attention on the Ring Zone ™ Starfire Crystal (photo right). As expected form a class call, the sound was not as raspy and bit brighter but still at the perfect pitch needed to convince a gobbler to come closer. For me the glass call is the favorite to call a tom form a long distance and the Ring Zone™ Starfire has the power and volume needed to reach that extra distance without sacrificing tone quality.

Conclusion:

With the Ring Zone™ calls Hunter Specialties definitely has given turkey hunters a welcome and in some cases a much needed addition the their bag of tricks to call in even the weariest of toms. I can say with confidence that from now on the HS Strut ® Ring Zone™ calls will have a permanent place in my turkey hunting vest when I am heading out in pursuit of big mature toms.

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