Hello i am new to mouth calls but i am pretty good but want to make my onw

[Hunter109]

Hi i am new to mouth calls i was wondering what is the best way to make my own mouth calls on a buget jw any help would be greatly appreciated

[compton30]

Welcome to the forum!

Without trying to be intrusive, what would you say your budget for this endeavor is? It's hard to give a solid answer without first knowing how much money you're looking to commit to this.

At the absolute bare minimum I would say you could get started for 29 bucks. 50 pieces of tape, 50 frames, 100 pieces of .004 and 100 pieces of .003 latex. This is assuming you have a few other items already on hand. ie, pliers, scissors, something to tack the latex together with. You'd be stretching them by "feel", which for me would be an impossibility, but it can be done to very high success.

Cheers,

Ben.

[Hunter109]

I would say 50 to 100 to start

[GobbleNut]

As Ben (compton30) states, if you are willing to forego purchasing a press or jig, you can easily get enough assorted materials to make 100 calls for under $100.  As he stated, you don't have to have either a press or jig to make perfectly serviceable calls.  There is a bit of a learning curve for most people, but once you get the "hang of it", you can make call after call that you can take to the woods and kill gobblers with,...and quite honestly, you will most likely end up being better on a mouth call by making your own than you ever will be buying them from others. 

My advice would be to start by ordering the materials,...frames, tapes, reed material,...and make a batch of calls without purchasing a press or jig first.  If you choose to buy a press or jig that is worth spending your money on, your cost will increase significantly to get started. 

[Fdept56]

https://youtu.be/HKDJs4UXZx8
Check this thing out. I've been using mine for two weeks and have already improved significantly. There is a pretty steep learning curve but once you find out what works best for you, you'll never go back to store bought calls!

[compton30]

https://youtu.be/HKDJs4UXZx8
Check this thing out. I've been using mine for two weeks and have already improved significantly. There is a pretty steep learning curve but once you find out what works best for you, you'll never go back to store bought calls!

How do you like those snips he's using to make the cuts in the top reed of the call? I've never seen those before. Do they work good?

[Fdept56]

https://youtu.be/HKDJs4UXZx8
Check this thing out. I've been using mine for two weeks and have already improved significantly. There is a pretty steep learning curve but once you find out what works best for you, you'll never go back to store bought calls!

How do you like those snips he's using to make the cuts in the top reed of the call? I've never seen those before. Do they work good?

I like them. They seemed to dull pretty fast though. I ordered another pair before I try to sharpen them because I've never successfully sharpened a pair of scissors. I wouldn't call them a must have but I do think they're a little easier to slide between the reeds than normal scissors. You can get them for less than $5 on eBay, look up "thread cutters".

[compton30]

Interesting. I looked them up on amazon and you can get a 5 pack of them for 8 bucks prime. For that price it might be worth a flier

[GobbleNut]

I agree that those scissors look like they would be more practical than regular scissors,...mainly because they look like you can control the depth of your cuts more accurately than with regular scissors.  Good info on them.

Which brings me to my next point of discussion regarding the video.  Personally, I never go directly to a certain cut on a call without going through my "cut progression".  That is, instead of making all the cuts for, say, a batwing cut, I start out with that first single angle cut and then try the call before making the next cut. 

If I don't like the sound of the call, I will make the other angle cut for a V-cut,...and again try the call.  If that doesn't sound good, I will then cut off one side tab for the combo, (or if I want the ghost cut, cut out the center tab)...and try it again.  Still not good enough?....then I cut the other tab for the batwing. 

Of course, there are plenty of other options along the way,...tab-end snipping, reed shaving, cut depth adjustments, etc....depending on your own creativity. 

All of the above is if I am making a call for myself.  If I am making calls for others, I prefer to make no cuts at all and show them how to go through the cut progression.  As I have stated many times before, just about every call has a turkey in it somewhere,....you just have to find it.

[compton30]

I agree that those scissors look like they would be more practical than regular scissors,...mainly because they look like you can control the depth of your cuts more accurately than with regular scissors.  Good info on them.

Which brings me to my next point of discussion regarding the video.  Personally, I never go directly to a certain cut on a call without going through my "cut progression".  That is, instead of making all the cuts for, say, a batwing cut, I start out with that first single angle cut and then try the call before making the next cut. 

If I don't like the sound of the call, I will make the other angle cut for a V-cut,...and again try the call.  If that doesn't sound good, I will then cut off one side tab for the combo, (or if I want the ghost cut, cut out the center tab)...and try it again.  Still not good enough?....then I cut the other tab for the batwing. 

Of course, there are plenty of other options along the way,...tab-end snipping, reed shaving, cut depth adjustments, etc....depending on your own creativity. 

All of the above is if I am making a call for myself.  If I am making calls for others, I prefer to make no cuts at all and show them how to go through the cut progression.  As I have stated many times before, just about every call has a turkey in it somewhere,....you just have to find it.

I would imagine that it was simply a method for a guy new to making his own diaphragms. They already know they like a batwing or combo cut from their past experience, so they want to know how to make those types of cuts right out of the gate.

In my experience since learning to use the cut progression, you really end up saving materials and having more calls you could take to the woods. Because you're not "going all in" on a certain cut, you're more likely to find that turkey in the call because you haven't removed a significant amount of material right off the bat. If you start with a batwing and the sound you want isn't there, you're handcuffed by what you can do to because you've already significantly altered the top reed.

[Stevenbeard1976]

I have tried several times to contact the guy about purchasing a "lil jiggy" but cant get a reply from him. Anyone have another source of contact other than facebook or email?

[Flintridge]

Try emailing them at sales@wildbobbles.com.  I just ordered one by emailing them and paying through PayPal.

Where is the best place to order the frames, tape and different varieties of latex? 

[Shady valley birds]

I used woodhaven mouth yelpers for years and I just thought itd be killer to kill a bird with a call I made. We will find out in a few weeks but I'm optimistic!

[GobbleNut]

I used woodhaven mouth yelpers for years and I just thought itd be killer to kill a bird with a call I made. We will find out in a few weeks but I'm optimistic!

Unless you are already a "contest-level" caller, you will very likely become a much better caller by making your own calls.  That process may take some time,...and you may make a bunch of calls before you hit on the combinations that work best for you,...but that learning process will eventually be well worth the effort. 

The problem with making your own calls is that, like turkey hunting itself, it is addictive.  I have more calls than I could ever possibly use, and I make calls for all my hunting buddies.  It is just enjoyable to make calls, and the added bonus is that it helps pass the time between seasons!

Finally, my single piece of advice for any mouth-call builder, new or old, is to always go through a cut progression when making your calls (that is, unless you have already found the "holy grail" of mouth calls and have figured out how to duplicate it every time).  By doing so, you will learn what you need to do to tune each call to get the best sounds out of them  It will also save you money and a lot of frustration!

[Shady valley birds]

Great advice! One thing I noticed and iv only built around 10 calls so I'm very green, but when I make the first cut the top reed just gets floppy on the end so I trim off the corners of the cut and go, but even with the  same tension (on the lil jiggy) and the same cut , the calls play a  little different.