TROPHYHUNTER25

i had troublr with regular mouth calls. the primos dome calls work good for me but thats just me

r33h

Agreed. And as others have said...you have got to practice with that thing all day long. It takes a lot to get the hang of the mouth call. Don't get frustrated and give up either...it will pay off in the long run to be able to use the mouth call and have both of your hands free so you can put them on the gun!

hossdaniels

make sure you have the call sealed in the top of your mouth, after you figure that out, it gets alot easier.

SwampCollie

As it pertains to friction calls, this is not exactly accurate. First of all, the high/low yelp of a hen is built into a good custom friction call. Hence the sound board. These $15-20 plastic calls that some makers put out make a decent squeak,and it will call in a bird that has never been called to before and is hot for some action, but please don't confuse that sound with a true to life yelp.Calls without sound boards, orplastic pots with a ridge on the bottom that serve as a sound board will NEVER sound as good as a wellmade pot. Not to a hunter and especially not to a turkey. And will subsequently not produce the same results. Also no "hunting" friction call is going to run you "100s" of dollars. There may be one or two out there I don't know about, but for the most part almost all hunting grade friction pot calls are under $100. Most are in the $50 to $80 range.

Secondly, you are not paying for looks like you are in a presentation call. This is why the NWTF has two classes of competition for call makers; hunting and presentation. Heck, most presentation calls won't even make a sound! Its just a canvas inthe shape of a turkey call.

What you are really paying for is quality control. Most custom calls, such as Woodhaven or Bud and Betty's are made by hand, usually by one or two people. But what really comes in handy is that Mike Pentecost at Woodhaven, and Russell Lynch at Bud and Betty's sound check each and every call that leaves their workshop, and they hand pick which striker goes into each package. Flat calls or "duds", get scraped, not packaged and sold. Itshonestly a good thing to see that scuffed upsquare inch area on a glass or crystal call when its still in the package, because that means someone at the factory took the time to make sure it was right before sending it out to the stores.

No way. Everyone has a different size mouth, and a different size diaphram. The very nature of the difference in the human voice from one person to another shows that to be true. Just like how different people like different pairs of shoes, everyone is built differently. And what feels good to one foot, might feel rotten to another.

Now what is true is that you will get a much raspier sound with more reeds and more cuts. But we all know that, I'm not going to get in to that. But to say that one mouth callwill sound the same no matter who is using it is just crazy. Just look at how Matt Van Cise or Billy Yargas yelp. I know Billy yelps across the call, which makes it that nice high low, and thats built into the reeds just like how its built into a good friction call. If you were to yelp on that call like you typically would a V-cut call you would get a flat, whining yelp that sounds more like a heron then a turkey. But if you yelped across a line built call, you wouldn't get the same quality of sound. It takes a custom call, but it also to some extent takes a custom caller. But these are for judges more than turkeys (although I could make some comments about some of my judges that I won't ).

This is very true. The reason the Sting Team at woodhaven designs their own calls is the same reason you do. Their calls match their calling style. I like thick, rather stiff, 3 or 4 reed calls for yelping, cutting, and gobbling. I prefer a thinner reed ghost cut for kee kees, or to a lesser extent even for yelping, especially in hunting situations.

Right again. The most aggressive call I would recommend for a beginner would be a Quaker Boy Old Boss Hen. Two reeds with notch cuts. Its a fantastic call, and the very one that I learned how to call turkeys with.

botechboy

It takes practice and patience, I couldnt use them at first either but now can make any sound a turkey does including Gobbles , dont give up , I love to use a mouth call the same time im using a friction call sounds like more than one hen fires them boys up

BKE

I'm glad to see your reply swampcollie, since it's very informative. I came in today with the intent of putting in a post about the differant style diaphrams so maybe you'll help me out here. Not trying to hijack this original post,I think ratman21 and others will also benefit. I started witha primos package and am most comfortable with the mini-a w/2 reeds (best fit) but think it may sound to high pitched. So,bought some Quaker Boysand pitch seems to sound better but after a fewminutes in the mouth purring gets more difficult (purrs easily at first) so that's confusing. Also, have some with 1 reed, 2 and 3 reeds andnotched and vee'd. Can youor someone explain the differances? Bottom line is: my intent is to find one mouth call that will suffice for everything because I am doing my hunting with bow only and wantfree hands and not have to change callsevery so often. Is that possible? let me edit real quick, primos reeds seem nice and tight and quakers seem very loose, is that causing my purring troubles possibly?

NYdroptine

Im with trophyhunter on this one the primos mini-sonic dome is the only call Ive found that fits me.

SwampCollie

This is tough to explain and diagnose over the internet without acctually hearing you call. But I'll try to help as best I can. Maybe it will help you find the answer yourself by pointing you in the right direction...

As your mouth warms up the latex, it expands. It becomes more flexible. Over time, the frame will acctually bend a bit as well, and you'll notice the call feels more comfortable in your mouth. Diaphrams have a bit of a breaking in period, and they also have a point at which the latex has stretched so much that you can hardly make a turkeysound with them anymore.

I think a lot of it depends on precisely how you are purring. Purring, and purring well is one of the most difficult things to do on a mouth call, or heck any wind driven call for that matter in any discipline.I personally purr best, by fluttering my lips. Its a delicate flutter, and I throw in a bit of a tounge roll and a bit of vocal vibrations, but its hard to explain it. Exactly what will work best, well, its sort of up to you to figure out. I will tell you this however, some of the sorriest sounds in the forest come from the real thing. I think that rhythm, more so then pitch is the most important part of calling for turkey hunting.But even that comes after volume, and I am writing about AMOUNT, not how loud you call, which would likely be third.

As far as reeds go, it depends again on exactly how you call. The more reeds and more cuts you have, the raspier, deeper and louder a call typically is. Also, the more pressure, or wind, you are going to have to put through it. I am not going to kid you, after practicing for 30 minutes real hard on a Matt Van Cise call, I have a headache. It takes some pressure. Sort of like doing sit ups for a long time. Its not really backpressure, but it sort of is.

With regards to just having one call that does it all....I haven't seen it.(SEEEDIT!!!) Considering that in the course of hunting you sometimes have to make both hen and gobbler sounds, you are trying to find something in a mouth call that not even the turkeys themselves have. A call that does a good kee kee, will often do a so-so yelp, and often a rotten fighting purr (which I think is more important than a hen purr). Calling competitions are certainly not turkey hunting, but it is useful to hunters because it teaches you how to use a turkey call better. The more noises you can make, the better. Comp callers have an assortmentof calls they use in a routine. Usually at least 3 or 4, and each one of those does ONE certain call better than any other they have ever used. And in some competitions (most in fact) you aren't even limited to mouth calls, so why purr on a mouth call when a slate does it that much sweeter, and that much easier? But there again, we are calling turkeys, not judges.

Personally, and here is what you are probably looking for now that I have rambled on too long, I would much rather have a raspier, louder call in my mouth, if I could only have one. Something like a Van Cise Woodhaven, or a V3, or a Sadler McGraw. I can make a passing grade hen purr with just my mouth, tucking the call away in my cheek. Really though, I wouldn't worry about a hen purr too terribly much, yes it is an important call, but most hunters make it WAY WAY too loud. I would focus on yelps, cuts, and clucks. Most importantly, I would use leafing raking, or scratching to finish a bird off. In my experience, this works 10 times better than even the best hen purr I have ever heard (the real thing).

EDIT: There is in fact one call, and in effect one caller that I have seen that can effectively immitate every sound a wild turkey makes, both male and female. The caller is a gentleman from Capron, VA named Tommy Dead-Eye Barham, and the call is a Primos Snuff Tube. Tommy has been using that thing longer than I have been alive. To hear him use it is like hearing a whole flock. He can make it sing like Springstein can make a 6 string sing, which is exactly why if you should buy one, you will see Tommy with a large Gobbler he killed on the face of the package. Will Primos knows talent when he hears it no doubt, and he's no slouch himself.