Every year when I hunt for shed antlers, I always keep an eye out for small abandon turtle shells near the ponds and creeks. Turtle shells make a natural base instrument just from their shape.

If you remove the bottom portion of the shell and turn it upside down, the shell is the shape of a bowl, which also makes a great base drum.

Turtle shells automatically come in a natural camo pattern which makes it great for hunting, but don't set it down. You may not find it later.

After you have removed the bottom of the shell, you can sand off any rough edges to make your surface fairly even. You then have a thin slice of slate rock that you can glue onto your shell where the bottom used to be.

Sand your slate rock in several diffrent directions with fine grain sand paper to create a rough edge.

You can use diffrent types of wood dols such as rosewood and pine to create diffrent pitch sounds of a turkey by gently striking your dol back and forth on the slate.

Sand in diffrent areas of your slate to create diffrent sounds and pitches.

You can also be creative with your turkey strikers and add something special to the tip. I use old corn cob pieces or decorative wood knobs.

Have fun and let me know how yours turns out. Thank you for reading. Minx