Tree calls and soft stuff on box calls for the finish

[Bculbert88bama]

Ok I'm thinking about just running my box calls this season. Was wondering about soft calls on them they seem loud to me and when I muffled it with my thumb on the sides it does not sound rite any experience on this on live birds

[culpeper]

You 'might' be putting too much pressure and in the wrong place.  Find the ideal place where the box breaks over, then press ever so lightly from the front of the call working your way toward the back about midway up on the sound rail.  Run the call with very short abbreviated strokes.  I would also lighten, maybe you did already, the pressure on the lid.  It takes very little to get nasally tree and feeding sounds on a good custom box.  You might only need to move the lid 1/2" - 3/4".
Depending on the call itself, the friction and so forth...some will NOT do it.  I have found Butternut for the body to work best.

[Bculbert88bama]

Thank you wi try that out

[Bowguy]

Scratch box is more used by myself in those conditions. It's cheap and small.

[Zobo]

You can easily play softly on good quality box calls. Its one of the things I look for when choosing a box, not all of them can do it. Its not you, it's probably your call. Culpeper's right about the sounds you can get from a good custom call with very little pressure.