I bought one years ago and never had an elk respond to it. Other hunters in the area have good responses. Go figure. I've a few different calls, but it is hard to beat a diaphragm call and a grunt tube to bugle, chuckle, cow call, etc...

Used to carry one, called in many many elk with it with my buddies. I have always used a mouth diaphragm reed, but I can't get volume with it. Its great in thick timber close in where you don't need that volume. Right now, I like the Imakadabullcrazy calls both long and short range, and the Carltons Fighting cow call. Called my bull in with all three on Sept 16. The hoochie stays on the shelf anymore.

Are you an elk guide?

The hoochie mama has two issues:
1) to easy to use, so MANY people grab it. In seconds you are ready to roll
2) Almost impossible to vary the sound

These combined make it not such a good choice as an "only" call. I have used it and have had bulls respond, but I've used it in conjunction with others. Best result I had (very limited being from NH!) is guide with a bugle, me with a hoochie mama and diaphram/tube. My job was to cow call, his was to bugle. I was to move around a bit to. Worked great, brought in a herd bull from a good distance.

Yes I am. :biggrin:

Ya I guess I can see how the HM might be a good call with another call. I might give it a try.

I think they would work great if hunters would stop using them for the first two weeks of archery season letting every elk in the woods know that the hoochie mama has arrived. If the elk aren't being vocal why would hunters want to be>? Food for thought.

ah, because I can't count on one hand the number of times that we've called in bulls that never once bugled? Good enough reason?

Elk often come in silently, though I find more subtle calling seems generally better if the elk are quiet.

I am not trying to be an a-hole when I ask this but is this your first year guiding?

Because I honestly can't believe that a professional elk guide has never tried a hoochie mama in the several years that it has been on stores shelves, has never used multiple calls in conjunction with each other to sound like multiple elk, and a professional guide would be relying on "cabelas reviews" to determine if he should use a call or not with paying clients.

Seems to me that a guide would want to have this all figured out before he used a clients paid hunt as a guinea pig.

I know if I were a paying client I would want my guide to know what calls work and what calls don't seem to produce the results (bulls) on a regular basis.

Just sayin ya might want to think about it.