6 Best Striker Materials For Turkey Calls That Work When Wet
Wet conditions can silence a turkey call. Discover the 6 best striker materials, from carbon to waterproofed wood, that ensure consistent sound in the rain.
The woods are silent except for the steady drip of rain from the oak leaves above. You see a gobbler strutting on the far edge of the field, but every time you touch your striker to the slate call, it lets out a pathetic squeak. This is the moment a wet-weather striker turns a frustrating morning into a successful hunt.
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Why Wet-Weather Striker Performance Matters
A spring turkey hunt is a battle against the elements as much as it is a contest of wits with a longbeard. Morning dew, pop-up showers, and persistent drizzle can render a standard friction call useless. When moisture gets between your striker tip and the call’s surface—be it slate, glass, or aluminum—it eliminates the very friction needed to produce sound.
This is where your striker choice becomes critical. The striker is half of the sound-producing equation, and its material properties determine how it interacts with a damp surface. A porous wood striker will absorb moisture, soften, and slip, while a non-porous synthetic or an incredibly dense hardwood will bite through the moisture and grip the surface. Having a dedicated wet-weather striker in your vest is not a luxury; it’s a fundamental piece of gear for any hunter who refuses to let a little rain send them back to the truck.
Zink Power Striker: The All-Weather Carbon Standard
When the forecast calls for a downpour and you’re heading out anyway, a carbon striker is your most reliable companion. Carbon is a synthetic material that is completely impervious to water. It will not swell, soften, or lose its aggressive texture, no matter how soaked it gets. The Zink Power Striker is a prime example of this technology, engineered to create a high-friction connection on any call surface, wet or dry.
The primary advantage of a carbon striker is its unwavering consistency. It produces sharp, loud, and high-pitched yelps and cuts that can slice through the sound of rain and wind. This makes it an excellent choice for locating gobblers at a distance in foul weather. The trade-off? The sound can be slightly harsher and less nuanced than a fine wood striker. But when the goal is simply to make a turkey talk in a rainstorm, that powerful, cutting sound is exactly what you need.
Woodhaven Dymondwood Striker for Wet Slate & Glass
For the hunter who wants wet-weather performance without sacrificing the feel of wood, Dymondwood is the answer. This material isn’t a single type of wood; it’s a composite made from wood veneers that are impregnated with phenolic resin and laminated under extreme pressure and heat. The result is a striker that is incredibly dense, durable, and highly water-resistant.
Woodhaven’s Dymondwood strikers are renowned for their versatility. They offer a great middle-ground, providing more warmth and realism than a pure synthetic striker while offering vastly superior moisture resistance compared to standard hickory or ash. This material excels on slicker surfaces like glass, crystal, and even damp slate, where it provides a sure grip for rolling yelps and soft purrs. It’s the perfect all-arounder for the hunter who faces unpredictable spring mornings with changing humidity and dew.
Primos Slick Stick for Cutting Through Wind and Rain
Sometimes, subtlety is the last thing you need. When a storm is rolling in and the wind is whipping, you need a striker that screams. The Primos Slick Stick is built for exactly this scenario. Made from a waterproof acrylic, this striker is designed for one thing: maximum volume and rasp.
Acrylic is another non-porous material that water simply cannot penetrate. Its hard, slick surface grips a call aggressively, generating loud, raspy tones that carry a long way. This is your go-to tool for high-wind days or for calling across a wide-open field in the rain. While it may not be the first choice for sweet-talking a gobbler in close, its ability to cut through the noise and get a response from a distant bird makes it an essential piece of any serious turkey hunter’s foul-weather kit.
Dead End Game Calls Ipe for Natural, Rainy Day Yelps
If you’re a purist who cringes at the sound of synthetic strikers, there are natural wood options that hold their own in the rain. Ipe, also known as Brazilian Walnut, is an exotic hardwood so dense and oily that it’s naturally resistant to water and rot. These inherent properties make it one of the best-performing natural woods for a wet-weather striker.
Unlike softer woods that absorb water, Ipe’s tight grain and natural oils help it shed moisture and maintain a solid grip on the call surface. A striker made from Ipe, like those from Dead End Game Calls, produces exceptionally realistic, full-bodied yelps with a deep, raspy backend. It offers a significant advantage over synthetics in sound quality while still performing reliably in a light to moderate rain. For the hunter who values natural tone above all else but still demands performance when conditions turn sour, Ipe is the top contender.
JT’s Custom Calls Purpleheart for Subtle Wet Tones
Not all wet-weather calling is about being loud. When a gobbler is hung up just over a rise on a misty morning, you need finesse, not volume. This is where a striker made from Purpleheart wood shines. Like Ipe, Purpleheart is an extremely dense and naturally water-resistant exotic hardwood that performs admirably when damp.
What sets a Purpleheart striker apart is its ability to produce incredibly soft and subtle sounds. It excels at creating quiet clucks, purrs, and tree yelps on a slate call, even one slick with morning dew. While it can certainly get loud if needed, its true strength is in close-quarters conversation. For the patient hunter working a call-shy bird in damp, quiet woods, a Purpleheart striker provides the control and realism needed to close the distance.
Lynch World Champion: A Box Call Striker That Works
While most of the focus is on pot call strikers, we can’t forget the classic box call. Moisture is the mortal enemy of a box call, capable of turning a beautiful yelp into a dead thud. The paddle, or striker, of the legendary Lynch World Champion box call is a testament to design and material choice that stands up to humidity.
The key to its wet-weather performance isn’t a single "waterproof" material, but a system. The paddle is typically crafted from a carefully selected piece of walnut, while the box is mahogany. The most critical factor is keeping the chalk dry. Many seasoned hunters carry their box call in a plastic bag and use a waterproof chalk holder. The design of the call itself, with its precise angles and finish, helps it function even in high humidity where lesser calls fail. It proves that sometimes, all-weather performance is as much about care and preparation as it is about exotic materials.
Conditioning and Care for Your All-Weather Strikers
Even the best wet-weather striker is only as good as its maintenance. Tossing a high-performance striker in the bottom of your vest and forgetting about it is a recipe for failure. Proper conditioning of both the striker tip and the call surface is essential for getting consistent sound, especially in the rain.
Before every hunt, take a moment to clean the tip of your striker. A small piece of green Scotch-Brite pad is perfect for this. Lightly scuff the tip to remove any oils from your hands and to refresh the gripping surface. Do the same for your pot call, scuffing the surface in one direction to create a clean, friction-ready area. This simple two-minute routine ensures that your striker can get the bite it needs to sing, even when everything around you is soaked. Remember, your call is a system, and both parts need to be in top shape to work together.
Choosing the right striker for the rain is about giving yourself the confidence to stay in the woods when others are heading home. The gear is just a tool to enable the experience. The real prize is the extra hour in the turkey woods, listening to the world come alive in the rain, ready for the moment a gobble thunders back.
