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Author
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Topic: What call is right for you ?
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Melvin
Knows what it's all about
Member # 634
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posted April 16, 2005 07:20 PM
There are so many calls on the market today Its hard to make a choice of whats right for you..especially the newcomers to the sport..I want to talk a little about the open reed howlers and get some feed back from some of the members here at huntmasters..There are so many varients in calls..some long..some short..some big..some small..some loud..some not so loud..the no.1 and formost part of a call is the mouth peice..once again i want to stress that we are talking about the open reed howler.some mouth peices are short with a quick curve..some are long with less curve.. the grove in the mouth peice..some big..some small..The size and length of the reed..some short some long..some wide some narrow..some thick..some thin..to blow into the mouth peice...some easy..some hard..the diameter of barrel into which the mouth peice is inserted..some large..some small
As individual callers it would be impossible to put anything together above to satisfy all
Thats what keeps callers buying...looking for that perfect call that works best for them
Any advice on what to look for in a good call guys?
Posts: 661 | From: PA. | Registered: Apr 2005
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted April 16, 2005 07:45 PM
Sooner or later, you will hear someone sing the praises of the Higgins Howler, and it doesn't fit into any of your catagories, since it uses a latex band.
Conventional open reed howler, the JS is easy to blow, the reed is kinda unique; it's injected molded with a built in taper.
Good hunting. LB
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31462 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Cdog911
"There are some ideas so absurd only an intellectual could believe them."--George Orwell.
Member # 7
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posted April 17, 2005 05:49 AM
I'll sing the song. Rich's Higgy Howler is built on the Elk Inc Power Howler platform and is, without a doubt (for me) the easiest to use for making any vocalization I typically employ on stand. Again, it's a band-reed call and, IMO, is as much an open reed call as any other. The reed just looks "different".
Now, as far as conventional open reed mouthpieces go, I've either got or had the opportuinity to use many of them at one time or another, including the venerable Cronk, Red Deserts, Sly Pup, AP-7, CrittrCall (Magnum and Standard), and JS's CH-1. None of them are as fail safe as my Higgy Howler, and that's a major selling/ buying point for me. Having said that, the best ones in this category for me personally have been my Sly Pup (custom), and a little diddy I fashioned for myself using a CrittrCall standard jammed into a steer's horn. The CH-1 is a good howler either with or with the funnel, but it's a little long (~18 inches) with the bell.
Which howler is most suited to your needs depends a lot on the area where you hunt and what you expect from the call. The Power Howler doesn't have the reach and is excellent out to 3/4 mile for me which basically means that if I can see him, I can work him with the Higgy. It also produces incredibly accurate pup/juvey/female-type sounds but can't really get going with the low, baritone mature male stuff as well as some of the others. If you need reach, say - a mile - the Magnum works pretty well. In fact, at this time of the year, if I want to sound like the whole famn damily, I carry my Higgy, my Magnum CritterCall, and my Sly Pup.
Higgy's are (at last word) out of production, but the original base platform can be picked up for under $20, which is giving them away in my opinion and a helluva bargain at twice the price. The Sly Pup is getting hard to come by and might be a pinch for somebody on a budget. The Magnum can be picked up at any call vendor nowadays for under twenty.
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I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something; and, because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
Posts: 5438 | From: The gun-lovin', gun-friendly wild, wild west | Registered: Jan 2003
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Tim Behle
Administrator MacNeal Sector
Member # 209
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posted April 17, 2005 07:18 PM
I don't often howl, but I like to have a howler with me, just in case I need it. Therefore my top priority is convenience. If it isn't small enough to fit in my shirt pocket, it's probably going to be in the truck when I need it the most.
If it doesn't make good sounds, it's never going to even make it out to the truck.
Boddiker's Song Dog and the JS Dog Howler are the two I carry. Both fit in my pocket, and are there when I need them, both give good quality sounds.
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Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take
an ass kickin'.
Posts: 3160 | From: Five Miles East of Vic, AZ | Registered: Jun 2003
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Greenside
seems to know what he is talking about
Member # 10
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posted April 19, 2005 06:52 AM
I usually just have a couple of Song Dogs with me with different reeds. I also carry a Carlton bell for occasional use on the Song Dogs and also to use on CC standard and mini-blasters.
Dennis
Posts: 719 | From: IA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Rich Higgins
unknown comic
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posted April 19, 2005 10:14 AM
We never leave home without our yellow rubber duckie.
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted April 19, 2005 11:48 AM
Yeah, that's the way I feel about my pink frog...
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31462 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Melvin
Knows what it's all about
Member # 634
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posted April 19, 2005 03:10 PM
Your lucky to have something to take with you..........My hamster got rigamortas
Posts: 661 | From: PA. | Registered: Apr 2005
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Kokopelli
SENIOR DISCOUNT & Dispenser of Sage Advice
Member # 633
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posted April 22, 2005 03:48 AM
Melvin, I like the Crittr-Call standard for all around calling. Somewhere in my wanderings, I picked up an 8 inch plastic tube that extends out to 30 inches. Could have been a 'Natural Wonders' or a toy store. A Crittr-Call fits nicely into one end. At the 8 inch length, it does decent howls. Stretched out to 30 inches it's an elk bugle. It may not have the 'best' sound, but it's there when I need it, and out of the way when I don't. This is important, as mentioned above. If I happen to lose, break or give one away, they're cheap & I can easily replace it. If I want to experiment with a cow horn or other type of bell, I again go to the Crittr-Call for the voice, because I know the curve under the reed. Not needing to 'learn' a different call each time is a big plus.
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And lo, the Light of the Trump shown upon the Darkness and the Darkness could not comprehend it.
Posts: 7580 | From: Under a wandering star | Registered: Apr 2005
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Melvin
Knows what it's all about
Member # 634
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posted April 24, 2005 12:06 AM
A feller told me the pointed end of a coyote dropping pointed to the direction it was traveling. 'I don't agree' I think it was the way he was turned at the time he dropped it. Sometimes they just leave a puddle. In that case he good only go up or down.
Posts: 661 | From: PA. | Registered: Apr 2005
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted April 24, 2005 08:46 AM
Makes me wish there was some sort of prize for that one, Melvin! What a whopper!
Good hunting. LB
PS do those fabulous large eastern coyotes shed equally large spoor?
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31462 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Melvin
Knows what it's all about
Member # 634
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posted April 24, 2005 03:36 PM
I think that would depend on the size of the coyote...We do have some very large coyotes here in the East...I killed one that weighed 55lbs.but there has been bigger ones taken...The bigger the animal the bigger the dropping makes sense..Right?...That is if he had a big dinner
Posts: 661 | From: PA. | Registered: Apr 2005
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Melvin
Knows what it's all about
Member # 634
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posted April 24, 2005 07:15 PM
I don't know for sure if size of a coyotes track always has something to do with size of a coyote or not...Some men are short with big feet...Some men are big with little feet...But i would say over all that our coyotes have bigger spoor...From one spoor maker to another what would you say
Posts: 661 | From: PA. | Registered: Apr 2005
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted April 24, 2005 11:14 PM
You are what you eat. Especially if it's Mexican!
Good hunting. LB
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31462 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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TheHuntedOne
Knows what it's all about
Member # 623
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posted April 25, 2005 08:00 AM
I have to wonder if the size of the track, even the depth of the track, may be a true indication of the size of a coyote. Even if the track is fresh, don't coyotes use direct registering? If so, this would certainly throw off any measuring of the tracks to determine size? I say this based on haveing seen numerous coyotes traveling in groups of 3 or more, yet leaving only one set of tracks as they cross a field along the fence row. One set of tracks, almost perfectly shaped, yet 3 or 4 animals passed.
As for the size of the scat being an indicator, my 10 year old has forgotten to flush a time or two, and you would swear that boy is 6'5" and a good 275 by the looks of things. ![[Embarrassed]](redface.gif)
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The On Line Resource For Custom Call Makers
THO Game Calls
Posts: 266 | From: New Hampshire | Registered: Mar 2005
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Melvin
Knows what it's all about
Member # 634
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posted April 25, 2005 09:52 AM
TheHuntedOne I'm glad you brought that up...I have tracked many coyotes in the snow...Ihad tracked what i believed was one coyote many times for quite a long distance...The track often would turn out to be 2 or 3 coyotes many times...I wonder do the coyotes out west do the same thing.
Leonard "You are what you eat?"I must be a whistle pig!For i ate many ground hogs when i was young...Called "marmot" out west...
Now i know why i hear those screams in the bathrooms....Hot mexican food...Yeeeoweee
Posts: 661 | From: PA. | Registered: Apr 2005
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted April 25, 2005 10:39 AM
Well, it may not be obvious, but with a large "combo" plate of tortillas, beans and rice, and three entrees, you yield quite a bit of BULK.
Also, (didn't happen to me, but my son remarked on the "yield" from the daughter of one of his friends, also ten years old....also forgetting to flush. Claimed it was quite impressive, if that be a proper description? Yuck.
We do discuss important stuff, once in a while.....
Good hunting. LB
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31462 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Tim Behle
Administrator MacNeal Sector
Member # 209
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posted April 25, 2005 05:50 PM
My #3 child has the bad habit ever since being house broken of "Forgetting" to flush his "Trophies"
He and his Twin have had their own bathroom for several years, so he didn't catch too much hell from his Mom and I. His brother threw fits over it.
A year or so ago, the wife and I came home to find Craig with a shiner. We knew that Dean had done it, but never could get the full story. Just that it happened in the bathroom.
The boy has come looking for a plunger a few times since, but hasn't forgotten to flush a trophy since. ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
And we eat a TON of Mexican food!
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Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take
an ass kickin'.
Posts: 3160 | From: Five Miles East of Vic, AZ | Registered: Jun 2003
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Melvin
Knows what it's all about
Member # 634
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posted April 25, 2005 06:43 PM
How did we get on this subject....LOL
Posts: 661 | From: PA. | Registered: Apr 2005
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted April 25, 2005 07:19 PM
Subject? Who knows? Something about a natural compass consisting of coyote droppings, scroll back and learn.
BTW, should have mentioned it previously, and then I got an email...out west, we may have yellow bellied marmots, but the locals invariably call them "rockchucks".
Thanks for the heads up, Krusty. ![[Smile]](smile.gif) (he seems to prefer the back channels, these days?) No crime, in that. Right Lance? Right, Rich?
Good hunting. LB
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31462 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Cdog911
"There are some ideas so absurd only an intellectual could believe them."--George Orwell.
Member # 7
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posted April 25, 2005 07:21 PM
I don't know, Melvin, but it seems to be runnin' it's course as usual around here tonight. From calls, to coyote tracks, to coyote poop, to Mexican food to Tim's kid's trophy scat.
Just to close the circle, I was at a trapping demo in October and the guy demo'ing the coyote sets remarked that he liked to use a coyote turd to bring those coyotes in close. I told the guy next to me that, despite my best efforts, I hadn't yet figured out how to keep one between the tail- and headstocks in the lathe long enough to turn a call from one. The only thing harder than turning it might be selling it!
There, you see? It's all connected.
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I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something; and, because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
Posts: 5438 | From: The gun-lovin', gun-friendly wild, wild west | Registered: Jan 2003
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted April 25, 2005 07:46 PM
Haha. Funny thing, a couple weeks ago, while driving a few back roads on the Kofa, saw a bunch of coyote scat, very fresh. Consisted primarily of grasshoppers...ugg! I suspect it would be a little lumpy, might be hard to turn, Lance. Actually; I KNOW it was a little lumpy. But, if you did a little work, impregnating coyote turds with resin, you just might have a saleable product? I used to save those little "vent" fur collars, for necklaces, and give them to friends. Much appreciated.
Good hunting. LB
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31462 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Melvin
Knows what it's all about
Member # 634
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posted April 25, 2005 08:09 PM
I just put on my chest waders....This is getting deep....lol
Posts: 661 | From: PA. | Registered: Apr 2005
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Locohead
World Famous Smoke Dancer
Member # 15
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posted April 25, 2005 09:11 PM
Perhaps, you've heard this before on another board. I was chastised for wasting band width for this story.
I'm often teased by my hunting buddies for always taking time to analyze terds while hunting. Year before last, elk hunting, we were hunting through pinion trees. The area is known for both black bears and mountain lions. I crossed a sandy arroyo while hiking with my brother in-law. I saw a super sized mongo and super fresh terd laying in the sandy soil. I didn't right off notice any grain or grassy fiber so I announced that it must have been a meat-eater. Just as I went to a knee and bent over for a closer look, piece of used toilet paper blew right under my face.
WAAAAAAAAAAWAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!
Talk about yuck... YUCK, YUCK, YUCK!!!!!!
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I love my critters and chick!!!! :)
Posts: 2219 | From: CO | Registered: Jan 2003
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Cdog911
"There are some ideas so absurd only an intellectual could believe them."--George Orwell.
Member # 7
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posted April 26, 2005 04:24 AM
Your bears use toilet paper?!?!?!
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I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something; and, because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
Posts: 5438 | From: The gun-lovin', gun-friendly wild, wild west | Registered: Jan 2003
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