The differing opinion about the primos call below had me thinking. I always worry about what I feel is misinformation or closed minded, limited experience type things getting to folks trying to decipher information.We all start out somewhere and the opinion on calls can at times be confusing or may steer you wrong. Pick almost any call, just for kicks say the primos bamboozle. Call is terrible imo. Will it call birds, for sure, if not it'd never sell. Perhaps you read or watch the reviews. I bet they're all positive. You'd be pretty sure you can't go wrong w the purchase. Guys a limited experience often will quote "it's the best call they ever used". Don't relate any of this to the other thread. I just prefaced that as it got me thinking.
There's times and I know at least a couple here will agree w me a well known maker came out w a call. Someone picked one up at a show or convention, they came home raving about it. Seemed no one wanted to be left out. Many bought it and started to rave. More got it,the bandwagon of sorts got bigger.
Months later zero to few pictures were posted and they were all over the classifieds. Now you hear zero talk about the call.
When I first started here years back I thought I'd heard lots calls. I'll tell you I bought more than I want but open mindedly realized they weren't more than ok if even ok.
So what should a new guy do? I'd recommend once you do get a call or so and realize a guy or so has the same ear/liking for a call you do to pay more attn to what he says if that holds true w multiple calls. Listen to sound files, you tubes, etc but realize some aren't played great. When guys claw at a pot, can't purr, roll a call over, pick up box call lids or don't close them enough to break it, etc etc etc it can be tough but start there really listening and watching for these things. Than use the guys that think same as you whatever that might be. Remember to keep your mind open too or we'd all be happy with the first call that was better than what we had. Hope that makes sense and I hope it helps someone.
I agree with your statement, I have been lured into buying a call by others opinion and after I got the call I couldn't believe it sounded so bad to me. Also the price of a call doesn't mean it sounds better than a call half the price either. I have found call makers that make calls I like and tend to buy from them often.
The other comment I often see in classified section is one of the best calls I have played, and I ask myself why are you selling it?
Good read.
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yep
The problem with calls is your idea of a good sounding call may differ than mine and if I do not agree with you then I am inferior. The calls and sound of a call is all personal. I have played calls I loved that you never hear about and calls that people go on and on about I want nothing to do with. Does that mean their opinion is wrong, no it just differs than mine. What will make me turn off a sound file immediately is one played inside a building, especially a house. I have played calls in my house that sounded incredible to walk out side and think I must have grabbed a different call as it sounded bad, and the other way as well. If a guy loves a call and I do not care for it then I just move on cause who am I to tell him that is not the sound he likes and he can kill turkeys with?
Sometimes we value OUR opinions more than we should around here.
Quote from: davisd9 on March 02, 2021, 07:52:53 AM
The problem with calls is your idea of a good sounding call may differ than mine and if I do not agree with you then I am inferior. The calls and sound of a call is all personal. I have played calls I loved that you never hear about and calls that people go on and on about I want nothing to do with. Does that mean their opinion is wrong, no it just differs than mine. What will make me turn off a sound file immediately is one played inside a building, especially a house. I have played calls in my house that sounded incredible to walk out side and think I must have grabbed a different call as it sounded bad, and the other way as well. If a guy loves a call and I do not care for it then I just move on cause who am I to tell him that is not the sound he likes and he can kill turkeys with?
Sometimes we value OUR opinions more than we should around here.
No one is saying anything bout inferior. It's all the way the call sounds to our ear and works. My point is trying to help a few new guys to consider how they could approach getting calls. We all will differ
It all boils down to the hen in your head and what she sounds like. That being said, though, there's a reason certain names get brought up over and over and over again and new people to the sport would be wise to listen if they're wanting to move into custom calls. Especially nowadays with all the "custom call makers" on the Faceboogers and YouTubes. There's a reason people mention names like Watkins, McKamey, Lapp, Shoemaker, Paul, etc. with regards to boxes and it's because calls don't leave their shop without running immaculately. There's a reason people mention Buice, Cox, Prudhomme, Permar, Ellis, etc. with regard to trumpets and it's because what they turn is packed full of turkey. So while calls certainly sound good to some and like hell to others (that really not always correlating with whether or not that call will get a response from a turkey), there are certain makers consistently turning out the very best there are. That doesn't mean a twelve dollar pot won't kill a bird, but that twelve dollar pot's not nor will it ever be a thirty year old Cody.
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I rather help a new guy or someone asking for opinions on who to get a call from and not make the mistake a lot of us have done in the pass and end up with a draw full of calls we will never play again. Agree if you ask who do i get a turkey call from you will get 6-10 different answers. If you think about it most of us on opening morning of turkey season will hit the woods with a variety of calls and all of those calls will have a different hen sound or multiple hens. SO as some have said, it's the hen in your head, i don't necessarily agree with that, because in most case we have several hens in our head and are always looking for that magical call that gobblers will come running to from low pitch sounds, high pitch sounds, less raspy, less barky and more rasp. Just because you have a call that will call birds up in one state doesn't necessarily work on birds in another state, it's the same with turkeys some morning they will respond to a different call in you bag of tricks better than others. A custom call will give you better opportunities in being successful, reason why it's what you feel has the best hen's in the call, with production call your limited to just what it is production call. Sure on any given day anything may and will possibly kill a turkey, but how may times have we killed a gobbler on a yes it could possibly work, again you will get a lot of answers. SO in my bag of tricks I'm going to have lots of calls with a variety of sounds in hoping i have the call he's wanting to hear, not necessarily what i want to hear. It's what hunts the best in the area or birds your trying to hunt.
Bottom line
Turkeys do what turkeys do.......
Another factor is who's running the call. Some guys could make a so-so call sing (at least to the best of its ability) while others make a really good call seem flat and unappealing. Ya have to consider that also.
Does it matter? If someone purchases a call, practices with it and has confidence in it, calls in and kills turkeys with it then nothing else needs to be said. Someone else's opinion in that area doesn't mean much to me.
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Quote from: EZ on March 02, 2021, 10:55:30 AM
Another factor is who's running the call. Some guys could make a so-so call sing (at least to the best of its ability) while others make a really good call seem flat and unappealing. Ya have to consider that also.
Absolutely! Perfect example, this is the crudest call I've ever held. There's wood glue seeping out of the joints. It's a piece of slate picked up off a lake bank. We passed it around a room and no one could make it sound much like a turkey. Then Jeff McKamey got his hands on it and that sucker would have killed anything in the woods. (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210302/a6f69867ae6767d53dd824b8839e7de8.jpg)
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I have several hens in my head, but one that is the "standard" so to speak. I have several calls (both diaphragm and pot) and strikers that can help me with the "other hens". The opinions that matters the most are the gobbler's and the hen's. I've heard and done what I would consider crappy calling and had birds come a' running. Many times the calling that sounds really good doesn't result in birds. It's all bird and situational dependent. I looked up the Primos call and almost bought it just to try it out, especially since it was so cheap. But I have so many calls I like I determined that the $13 could be spent towards something else I really wanted. The right call, used by the right caller, being heard by the right turkey at the right time will always work. Those "rights" don't always line up.
Some of the worst hen sounds I've heard have been made by real hens.
This post will be my opinion and my opinion only. I have many, many turkey calls of all styles. I have made hundreds of turkey calls. I have bought many calls by many makers, mostly custom calls. The only call style I have not made of the standard commonly used and sold calls are turned pot calls and push pin calls. I play some types of calls much better than others. I am not good with mouth calls, play boxes not so well, do pretty good on pot calls, scratch boxes and trumpet-wingbone types of calls. Of all the calls I have made or bought, there are very few I would classify as a 9 or 10 on the call sound quality scale. I have been trying to make or buy the " perfect" turkey call for 27 years. What I have discovered over the past few years is that it does not require a 9 or 10 to call in turkeys consistently. I don't want to go to the woods with a 2 or 3, but I absolutely believe I call in just as many turkeys in with a 6, 7 or 8 sound quality call as I do with a 9 or 10. Practicing with the call you have and knowing when to call have a lot to do with call in success. Cadence to your calling is more important to me than sound quality once I get into calls I classify as a 6-10. So with all that being said, I want to make and buy the best sounding call I can get, but I think that's more for my satisfaction than it is for the calls ability to call in turkeys when it is operated properly. So get yourself a few good calls, of different types and pitch, practice and become proficient with them, hunt where there are turkeys, be patient, enjoy yourself and you will call in some turkeys.
As others have said , we each have that sound we look for. thank goodness all hens sound different and cadence plays the biggest roll in my opinion. now there are only a handful of guys that post about their opinion of a certain call that I pay attention to. I know we like similar sounding calls. That being said , take a guy that says " This is the best call I have owned. It's awesome". Well , does that gut have a hundred pot calls or only a couple. Has he been playing calls 40 years or one year. You have to be careful of the opinions you are listening to. Take this into account also. Just because a call comes from a well known maker , does not mean its a smoker. You and I could get the same call from a maker that was made out of the same board and mine may be a smoker but yours a average one. You can pick up 10 calls off of a call makers table at a show , and find one out of the 10 that you would personally hunt. It gets me when guys ask about a certain combo , especially on a box call. Well I may have a all walnut that is a smoker and you may order one and its nothing like the one I have. The important thing is pick calls YOU like the sound of. You will tend to run it more , therefore increasing the odds of calling in birds , the result will breed confidence and before you know it , that's your go to call. It took awhile but I finally figured out there is no Holy Grail call. I love Turkey calls and will continue to hoard them. Its my hobby. I love getting new calls and calling in birds. I find I have a almost all new lineup the following year. I do have a couple that stay with me year after year, They are my Holy Grail calls so to speak.
99% of calls will kill turkeys, The sound is for the people buying the calls.
Quote from: ol bob on March 02, 2021, 02:47:27 PM
99% of calls will kill turkeys, The sound is for the people buying the calls.
I totally agree with this simple statement. The fact is that we are human beings trying to understand and speak the "language" of a bird,...and that is a bird that has as many varying voices as we do as human beings. Calling turkeys has more to do with what you are saying to that bird,...and how you are saying it,...than it does the sound of the "voice" in the call that you are saying it with.
Yes, it is true that a call has to sound somewhat like a wild turkey, but hunters have a tendency to put way too much stock in the sound of a call rather than learning what to say (or NOT to say) and when (or NOT) to say it.
Turkey calls are like bass baits. They catch more hunters than fish.
Quote from: Spitten and drummen on March 02, 2021, 04:35:47 PM
Turkey calls are like bass baits. They catch more hunters than fish.
Yes but they are fun. There's some great points brought up. Hope it helps someone
Quote from: Meleagris gallopavo on March 02, 2021, 11:56:04 AM
I've heard and done what I would consider crappy calling and had birds come a' running. Many times the calling that sounds really good doesn't result in birds.
A truer statement has not been uttered.
Quote from: Bowguy on March 02, 2021, 04:53:59 PM
Quote from: Spitten and drummen on March 02, 2021, 04:35:47 PM
Turkey calls are like bass baits. They catch more hunters than fish.
Yes but they are fun. There's some great points brought up. Hope it helps someone
Amen brother
Guys if you're interested in turkey calling...get with me as I'll be hosting a NWTF turkey calling contest in June, college Station, TX. Details on how to from many callers who compete at national level. This will be a sanctioned contest that winners will qualify for NWTF Grand nationals in Edgefield, SC.
I working on the online application process and registration form. Best way to learn about turkey calling and get tips on how's and see various calls an technique. Prizes will be given
Norm wade
NWTF Texas State board
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Quote from: Spitten and drummen on March 02, 2021, 04:35:47 PM
Turkey calls are like bass baits. They catch more hunters than fish.
The really good turkey calls, like really good bass baits always seem to rise to the top.
There's a reason most good bass fishermen have a good supply of rubber worms in their box. Might not be flashy, but they work ;D
Calling contest calling is about as far as you can get from calling turkeys in the woods.
When I ordered a Beggin Machine from Mr Billy Bush we talked turkey over the phone.He related to me about a customer who didn't like the sound out of his 'machine'. Billy asked him did you call in gobblers with it. He replied yes but I don't like the sound and I won't use it and Billy laughed when he told me this. Billy said you have to go by the gobbler's ear not yours. So simple and so true. The gobbler's ear, not our ear. :funnyturkey: