Tim Grounds makes a flute that he won 5 world championships with. It sounds just like the Foiles meatgrinder but its only $40 instead of $150. I blow a short reed most of the time but I keep the Foiles and the Grounds flutes available, especially when I"m hunting ice or open water.

First off don't start with a flute. Your best bet is to go with the big river shorty or a Goozilla from RnT- they will run you about $25-$30 but with a flute you can only do so much. Start with a short reed and you'll love it- you just gotta practice.

I'd stay away from the big river as well and start with a shortreed, especially if you plan on getting into waterfowl seriously. Short reeds aren't that tough to master, and sounds 110 times better. Last year we had a guy setup in a field right adjacent to ours and he was blowing a big river. We would let him start to work the geese and then 3 of us would lay into them with shortreeds, needless to say, he never fired a shot that day.

I like the Big River Long Honker in wood, easy to blow, sounds better than the plastic.