Hi, Josh Wells here, of N1 Outdoors, and I’m going to show you step-by-step how to make a wingbone turkey call!
Why Make A Wingbone Turkey Call?
You might want to make a wingbone turkey call for a couple different reasons.
Practically speaking, you might want to use one to locate turkeys (sounds logical, doesn’t it?)
The fan and beard of a gobbler are prized possessions for a turkey hunter, but the wings can provide what is needed for a DIY turkey call!
Now, I’m not crazy about using one to call turkeys (I prefer a mouth call, pot call or box call). And, while a wingbone turkey calls will work to call birds, I prefer using it to locate birds because of its high pitch.
Secondly, you might want to make a wingbone call for a keepsake, which is why I’ll be showing you how to do this process.
I’m making one for my son Micah, as a way to commemorate his first turkey.
What You’ll Need
You don’t need much in the way of supplies to make your own wingbone turkey call.
Before we get into the specific steps of making a wingbone turkey call, here’s what you’ll need to get started:
- Pocket knife (for fleshing out the bone)
- Paper (to cover work table)
- Small pot
- Dish soap
- Peroxide
- Epoxy
How To Make Your Own Wingbone Turkey Call
The process of making a wingbone call is similar in some regards to another instructional I have done on how to make a European mount for a deer skull. But, the cleanup is a lot easier and the boiling takes less time.
Time needed: 4 hours.
HOW TO MAKE A WINGBONE TURKEY CALL
- Remove the wing
To get the wing off, you want to lay your turkey down on its backside so its breast is pointing up. Then, open its wing up, exposing the armpit.
Pull the feathers back and find where the wing connects to the breast. There’s a ball socket there. Cut the wing loose right at that ball joint. Get right in there and start cutting it away, so that the muscles come loose.
You’ll be able to see the socket expose itself. Just cut around the joint and remove the wing. - Cut away the wing feathers
Now, that we have the wing removed, we need to remove the feathers. from the middle wing bone. This middle will end up serving as the mouth piece and the body of the centerpiece of the wing bone call.
There are several ways to remove the feathers, but I prefer to get the cut started with a knife and then use kitchen shears. Use the knife to get right beside the bone and get it started down the quill of the feathers. Then, take some kitchen shears and just cut the quills away right beside the bone all the way down. They’re pretty tough, so just stay with it.
Once you have cut all the way down, find the wing knuckle with your fingers and cut the knuckle, so that you can break that wing at the knuckle.
Once you have broken the wing, just cut the skin away. - Flesh out the wing bones
Once the feathers are removed, we need to skin and flesh out the bones, removing the meat.
Get as much meat off the bones as you can with your knife. It doesn’t have to be perfectly clean because afterward, the boiling process will help remove what is left.
Now, we’re ready for the boiling pot! - Add dish soap to pot
Once you finish cleaning the meat off the bones, it’s time to boil them. But first, add a generous amount of dish soap to the pot. This will serve as a degreaser, and help remove the meat from the bones. - Boil the wing bones
Boil the wing bones for about an hour. Then, change out the water and boil again for about the same amount of time.
It’s important when boiling to turn the heat down once the boil starts. So, you don’t want a roiling boil, just a simmering boil. You will notice some fat rise to the top.
Once you have done two boil/simmer sessions, it’s time to add the peroxide. A third to 1/2 the quart of peroxide is ok. Once you’ve added the peroxide, let it boil again for about an hour.
Once you finish that, if you’d like it to be whiter still, you can boil or soak longer in the peroxide until it achieves the whiteness you are looking for. - Remove any remaining flesh
Once you are finished boiling the bones, you can remove the any remaining flesh before moving on the the next step. (The largest wing bone, once we cut it and clean it out, will be the end of the call that the sound will project from, while the smallest will be the mouth call portion. - Cut the small and medium bone
If you use a vice, put a rag inside the jaws of the vice, so you don’t damage or break the bones. use a hacksaw to cut the bones as straight as possible. Be sure you cut it so that the section that is left is as straight as possible.
When you cut the medium size bone, it will have a large crown on one end. Try to cut that off so that the bone is as straight as possible.
The main thing you’re looking for when you cut, is to have a smooth cut. - Cut the large bone
When you cut the big bone, you want to cut it right about here and at an angle (see above). We want that end to be as wide as possible so it will project the sound effectively. - Clean out the inside of the bones (smaller bones)
You can get the marrow out several different ways. Once easy way is just to blow it out like a straw. Just pretend like you’re blowing spit balls like you used to in elementary school.
You can use a chainsaw file and insert it into the bone to remove the hardened marrow. - Clean out the inside of the bones (large bone)
You’ll notice how the larger bone has much more that needs to be cleaned out. You can work at it with the same chainsaw file. If you have a Dremel or similar tool, you can work on removing the marrow fiber that way. - Piece the bones together and mark
Piece the bones together so that they follow the same crown line and mark the ends of each, so that when you take them apart to glue them, you’ll know how they go back together. - Glue the bones together
Use epoxy or other adhesive to glue the joints of the wingbones together.
Once you fit the glued pieces together, backfill any holes or creases so that the joints are airtight. The sound will be better, the more airtight it is.
You can use your finger to smooth out the adhesive.
Let them dry according to adhesive directions. Once it dries, you can lightly sand any undesired leftover adhesive residue. - Apply thread to joints (optional)
You don’t have to use thread on the joints, but it does give it a nice touch. Add a touch of adhesive and simply start wrapping around the joint until you reach the desired thickness/appearance.
Once you have finished wrapping, you can add some clear adhesive, so that it saturates the threaded section, hardens, and keeps the thread securely in place once it dries. - All done!
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Final Thoughts On Making Your Own Wingbone Turkey Call
We hope this tutorial has been helpful in teaching you how to make your own wingbone turkey call. They not only make great keepsakes to remember special moments, but they are functional as well.
Be sure to check out more great hunting and fishing tips videos on our YouTube channel!
Good luck in the turkey woods!
