Hey guys, You can use a reed without a tube and should sometimes. I don't use a tube when I cow call. The tube enhances the sound of a call. Makes the bugle and grunts sound real. But a tube does more than that for you. It allows you to send a call to the side or behind you to fool an elk on your location. This will help you get them into bow range.
Gselkhunter
I've spoken with gselkhunter before about this subject and it took me 15 minutes into the conversation to realize there is different lingo for these calls. I'm assuming by reed call you mean the type that is a horse shoe shaped plate that goes completely in your mouth. Many people call these diaphrams. I usually refer to the calls that you blow but are external calls with reeds as reed calls like the hyperlip by primos.
If you are refering to the diaphram style calls my opinion is they make great cow calls without a grunt tube. In fact you don't really want the grunt tube for cow calls unless you are really trying to get some volume out. When making bull sounds you can sound like a small bull without a grunt tube. But you need the grunt tube to get the pitch, tone, and the deep guteral sounds that a medium to large bull makes. So to answer your question I believe that most calls you'll do imitating a bull will sound more "real" with a grunt tube. Cow calls sounds better without.
Theres a such thing as a grunt tube for an Elk ?.I thought those were for them whitetail deer .
I myself prefer mouth reeds far more then a bugle that is designed with an open reed . I can get a lot better sounds and mix it up a lot while calling, throw a cow , calf, and a bull all in at once "if need be"with a mouth diaphram.
performance of elk calls
