Custom vs. Production calls
#1
Thread Starter
Typical Buck
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 882
Likes: 0
From:
I have only used production calls in my 5 years of turkey hunting. Are custom calls supposed to be more effective then production calls? Id think that sense companies like Cody, Woodhaven, And others wouldnt even be classified as custom calls anymore because they are mass produced every year to thousands of hunters. Whats your opinion on this?
#2
Nontypical Buck
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,636
Likes: 0
From: Bandera, Texas
Well IMHO, I haven't been able to tell a whole lot of difference between production and custom excpet the workmanship on the pot or the boxcall. Of course in all fairness been at it only for three or four years, and I would love to have a bunch of custom calls, but the budget, and then when I go to the woods, and the ones that seem to make the Toms around me gobble the most are the production calls! So then I think, i can get a used call, which i use, grom ebay and the Toms come across the field, and then I pull out a blodgett and get no gobbles, why pay the money! I have bought a few, but I dont use them because they dont seem to call the turkeys! [&:]
#3
Typical Buck
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 655
Likes: 0
From: Nicholasville, KY
I'll give my biased .02 on this. You can kill a turkey just as dead with a production call as you can with a custom call. HOWEVER, I don't think there is any comparison between quality of the product. Custom calls aremade from hand selected pieces of wood to particular dimensions to get a desired sound. Different woods ofdifferent densities have their own sound properties, and we use that knowledge to achieve the desired sound. Most call makers can find out what sound the customer wants and maybe what wood, and make a call that will come very close to what the customer has in his mind. You pay for craftsmanship and quality, but we all know most turkey calls, production or custom, will kill aturkey if he is in the mood to commit suicide.
#4
Nontypical Buck
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,636
Likes: 0
From: Bandera, Texas
ORIGINAL: slee
I'll give my biased .02 on this. You can kill a turkey just as dead with a production call as you can with a custom call. HOWEVER, I don't think there is any comparison between quality of the product. Custom calls aremade from hand selected pieces of wood to particular dimensions to get a desired sound. Different woods ofdifferent densities have their own sound properties, and we use that knowledge to achieve the desired sound. Most call makers can find out what sound the customer wants and maybe what wood, and make a call that will come very close to what the customer has in his mind. You pay for craftsmanship and quality, but we all know most turkey calls, production or custom, will kill aturkey if he is in the mood to commit suicide.
I'll give my biased .02 on this. You can kill a turkey just as dead with a production call as you can with a custom call. HOWEVER, I don't think there is any comparison between quality of the product. Custom calls aremade from hand selected pieces of wood to particular dimensions to get a desired sound. Different woods ofdifferent densities have their own sound properties, and we use that knowledge to achieve the desired sound. Most call makers can find out what sound the customer wants and maybe what wood, and make a call that will come very close to what the customer has in his mind. You pay for craftsmanship and quality, but we all know most turkey calls, production or custom, will kill aturkey if he is in the mood to commit suicide.
#5
Nontypical Buck
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,647
Likes: 0
From: Pa
I've killed 90% of my turkeys with a call I bought at a outdoor show 12 to 13 years ago... It was from a old timer from Pa... Anyhow this call makes the most realistic clucks I've ever heard... I payed $20.00 for it. I would not consider it a custom callbut it's not a production call either(it is a #'ed call thoe)
It's a slate with a wooden pot and has a Corn cob plexiglass stricker...

It's a slate with a wooden pot and has a Corn cob plexiglass stricker...
#6
Nontypical Buck
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,894
Likes: 0
From: Calif
Slee gives a great reply.No question both types kill turkeys imho the biggest difference between the two is you will get more years of service out of a custom made call than a mass produced call simply because of what slee pointed out,higher quality materials in most cases are used in the manufacturing of a custom call.
#7
I go to the turkey expo every year here in arkansas. I have found that custom calls work great. I test every one of them at the turkey expo and all of them sound good. But of course some better than others. Some even sound better than production calls. I use an HS Strutt lil' duce and i also use a custom call i purchased from the expo. They both work great.
#8
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 542
Likes: 0
From: Bennettsville, SC
ORIGINAL: slee
I'll give my biased .02 on this. You can kill a turkey just as dead with a production call as you can with a custom call. HOWEVER, I don't think there is any comparison between quality of the product. Custom calls aremade from hand selected pieces of wood to particular dimensions to get a desired sound. Different woods ofdifferent densities have their own sound properties, and we use that knowledge to achieve the desired sound. Most call makers can find out what sound the customer wants and maybe what wood, and make a call that will come very close to what the customer has in his mind. You pay for craftsmanship and quality, but we all know most turkey calls, production or custom, will kill aturkey if he is in the mood to commit suicide.
I'll give my biased .02 on this. You can kill a turkey just as dead with a production call as you can with a custom call. HOWEVER, I don't think there is any comparison between quality of the product. Custom calls aremade from hand selected pieces of wood to particular dimensions to get a desired sound. Different woods ofdifferent densities have their own sound properties, and we use that knowledge to achieve the desired sound. Most call makers can find out what sound the customer wants and maybe what wood, and make a call that will come very close to what the customer has in his mind. You pay for craftsmanship and quality, but we all know most turkey calls, production or custom, will kill aturkey if he is in the mood to commit suicide.
I do think that mass production mouth calls are no comparison to custom mouth calls.
With pot calls, its a little closer.
#9
for my money, i'll use production calls. i'm not a great caller but you don't need to be the best caller to kill a turkey... i try to compensate for my average calling with good camo, scouting and shot selection so for me a custom call wouldn't pay...
#10
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 542
Likes: 0
From: Bennettsville, SC
ORIGINAL: jghoffman12
for my money, i'll use production calls. i'm not a great caller but you don't need to be the best caller to kill a turkey... i try to compensate for my average calling with good camo, scouting and shot selection so for me a custom call wouldn't pay...
for my money, i'll use production calls. i'm not a great caller but you don't need to be the best caller to kill a turkey... i try to compensate for my average calling with good camo, scouting and shot selection so for me a custom call wouldn't pay...


