buckeye

It is getting to that time of year when most of us are picking up the new gear to carry this fall. If you are in the market for a new grunt call I hope this will somehow aid you in the quest to find the perfect call for you.

NOTE: These calls may differ in sound and performance than your own. So keep this in mind as I do not look for an argument. If we do not agree on one, theseare just my opinions and should be viewed as such.

I started the test out with six different grunt calls and narrowed it down to my top three forthe comparison.

The field to start was;

H.S. Calls -"Quad Grunter Plus"
MAD Calls -"Grunt Snort Wheeze"
River Valley Game Calls -"Deer Flute"
H.S. Calls -"True Talker"
A Way -"Hands Free Bow Grunter Plus"
Primos -"Hardwood Grunter"




[/align][/align]Myfield of three was narrowed down to(inno particular order):

M.A.D. -"Grunt, Snort, Wheeze"
River Valley Game Calls - "Deer Flute"
H.S. Calls -"True Talker"

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M.A.D. -"grunt, snort, wheeze"

Likes:
---Offers an option that all others lack.... The snortand or snortwheeze combination.
---Producesby far the loudest grunt of all the calls for long range calling.
---Makes very accurate snort - wheezecalls.

Dislikes:
---Is much bulkier than any of the other calls.
---Does not produce young buck gruntsor doe and fawn bleats. Your options are limited and you must carry a second call if you want to produce young buck, doe or fawn calls.
---Is missing that deep tone of a mature buck.
---Poor lanyard setup. Kind of "Mickey Moused" in my opinion.
---Failed the bounced off the bow noise test horribly.







[/align]River Valley Game Calls - "Deer Flute"

Likes:
---The sliding brass call indexer is fast and easy to change. No internal "o" rings to mess with. Very cool concept.
---Easily makes the full array ofcalls from fawn bleats to mature buck grunts.
---Nice lanyard setup with a spring to hold the tension. Feels very secure.
---Makes very accurate sounding calls. Also,the most accurate sounding "loud" call. It doesn't break up or go flat with heavy air pressure. Makes by far the best loud calls of the bunch.
---Was sufficiently quiet when bounced off my bow for the noise test.
---Makes a doe bleat just as well as the Primos "can".

Dislikes:
---I don't care for the orange head of the call. The call (the orange) is aesthetically pleasing and it probably doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.......but...... it just sticks out to me.
---Takes a decent amount of air pressure to producebuck grunts with the call. Which in turn makes it somewhat difficult to makequieter soundinggruntsfor close range calling fromrequiring more air pressure to sound the call.





H.S. Calls - "True Talker"

Likes:
---Easily makes a full array of calls from fawn bleats tomature buck grunts with out the use of "o" rings.
---Makes the most accurate deep mature buck grunt.
---Will produce thequietest calls of the bunch for close range calling.
---Was the king of the bounced off the bow noise test.
---Also makes a doe bleat as well as the Primos "can".

Dislikes:
---And this is a big one in my opinion. The call will not make loud calls without breaking up badly. Makes a squealing sound much like a goose call if to much air pressure is applied. Could ruin a hunt real fast.
---The rubber on the call acts as a great insulator for noise but the rubber also holds foreign odors for long periods of time. Mine still smells of "fresh earth" wafers from a transportation accident last fall. Which alone may be OK but what other odors is it holding as well?
---Poor lanyard set up. Just some rope ran througha very thin rubber sleeve.



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As I said these are just my observations from using and playing extensively with these calls. I really believe the Deer Flute and True Talker are peers with out company from my testing. Both offer great features such as very accurate sounding calls and ease of use. Although both have draw backs as well. If your in the market for a new call keep my observations in mind as you browse these as well as the other models available.


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mobow

Very nicely done, buckeye. Nicely done indeed.

I've used the TruTalker in the past and personally I didn't like it. I didn't like that I had to put my finger on a certain spot to get a certain sound. Easy, yes, but I dont' want to be messing around w/ it when I need it. But you are dead on in your testing.

As you know, I'll be looking for one this fall. I'm gonna check out the MAD call as I like the snort/wheeze option. What's the MSRP on all 3?

ButchA

The only calls I have are:

Primos L'il can - great call for quiet doe bleats.
HS Calls Buc-Grunt - like the True-Talker but without having to put a finger or your teeth or your tongue on a certain spot to make it work. Has a flexible tube too. Pretty good call...

Calls thatI threw away (i.e. what the heck was I thinking when I bought it?)
Primos 5-1 hands-free Buck & Doe call - Tiny call, with sliding rubber band to make different call sounds. My initial thought: good God, what the heck is this thing? It doesn't sound like a doe bleat. It sounds like a sick crow cackle. The buck grunt sounds like a cow with a clothespin on its nose! [:'(] ....pitched into the trash. Lesson learned... [:-]

krabbiepatty

I had 3 bucks come to me at one time using that MAD snort wheeze. I am sold on it. I was using the snort/wheeze part of the call when they came. I also had a small 6 point run away from it the next day. The ones that came in were 2 nice 8 pt. bucks and one small one.

Kamil

i think the true talker is the best grunt call out of all of them...for those of those that complain about the rubber band...that is just a way to guide people you could produce different grunts depending on where u put your finger

phall2

im a true talker guy. but your right that squeel could mess up a hunt real fast. how do you adjust your grunt to sound like a smaller buck?

Rob/PA Bowyer

I use to be a True Talker guy but the River Valley Deer Flute is more consistant and versatile.

Big John

I have a ton of grunt calls, but none were loud enough for me. I like to reach out and touch someone. One day with nothing to do I took em all apart and interchanged parts, and played with the reed distance and made a call that will work in wind, and loud leaves. Can you hear me now !!!! Several bucks "heard me now" and paid the price.

Kamil

you just move your finger down a lil

Greg / MO

Like Rob was, I've been a faithful True Talker carrier for years, and it's worked extremely well for me. Then earlier this year, Rob sent me a Deer Flute to try. I made mention of it in another post recently, but I've got a strip of woods separating the 17th green and my back yard, and evidently there was a momma doe bleating to her newborn in it a few days ago; she wasn't too far away, but the woods are too greened up to see her. I ran in and grabbed my Deer Flute and matched her bleating perfectly.

The Deer Flute will definitely be accompanying me to the woods this fall.

This was my big complaint, too. I've got two of them (my three-year-old confiscated my first one ) and on both of them the lanyard tore through that thin strip of rubber. There needs to be a better way to secure it.