Four whistles and instruments you can use to call wildlife

Hunters and photographers know that one of the best ways to observe a wild animal is to lure it in by speaking its native tongue. Most creatures avoid humans, but when they hear a mating call or a cry for help, they’ll likely come check it out. Gobble, quack, and bleat your way to a close encounter with these tools.

Elk

Bull elk can weigh more than 700 pounds, but they emit surprisingly high-pitched sounds that taper off to a low grunt. Produce calls convincing enough to attract them with the Primos Bullet Bugle. Detach the blue silicone mouthpiece to clean it or swap it for a new one if it wears down.

Duck

The 4-inch-long Zink PH-2 works much like a ­musical ­instrument—​­practice will definitely help you hit the perfect pitches to imitate waterfowl. Blow air into one end while fluttering your fingers to modulate what comes out the other. A polycarbonate build makes the call sturdier than its wooden cousins.

Turkey

To use the David Halloran Longbox, move the attached paddle back and forth slowly or rapidly over the hollow black limba wood box. The 1-inch-deep cavity amplifies the noises, mimicking the gobbles, yelps, and clucks the wild birds make as they pick through North American forests.

Deer

Puff into the Flextone All-N-One to attract ­ungulates with a ­kazoo-​like cry. Press down on one of the three buttons on top of the 6-inch tube, and you’ll constrict the passage of air traveling through it. This lets you choose between the ­vocalizations of young bucks, does, and fawns.

This story originally published in the Noise Winter 2019 issue of Popular Science.