Using mouth calls from one year to the next?

[Meleagris gallopavo]

I used and practiced on several mouth calls last spring and summer.  I rinsed each with Listerine and water and put toothpicks between the latex until they dried and then put them in a plastic storage container in my house.  Will they typically work as well as when I last used them even though they've been sitting in storage for several months?

[Mossyguy]

I've had mouth calls last a couple years, depending on how much you use it. I'd go ahead and try them out now just to be sure. That way you won't be scrambling at the last minute to find replacements!

[Candyman]

After sanitizing them store them in the fridge. They will last much longer.

[guesswho]

I get 3 or 4 seasons out of most of mine.  After season I clean them with mouth wash and then store them in the refrigerator in a small container of water.   

[Meleagris gallopavo]

Good stuff.  Thanks folks.  Didn't know about storing them in the fridge.

[shatcher]

I remember reading, it could have been on here, you can rinse them with mouthwash then water and put them in the freezer.  The water will freeze between the reeds, keeping them separated.  It seems to work and you don't need toothpicks.

[GobbleNut]

I am not certain what the best thing to do to preserve your mouth calls is, but I know the worst thing you can do is leave them where they will be exposed to excessive heat and sunlight. That will destroy the reed material relatively quickly.

I also know that excessive moisture on the reeds will relax the latex and cause a change in the turkey sounds you will be able to make.  That is not necessarily a bad thing in that, depending on the call and your abilities, you may actually sound better with relaxed reeds rather than tight reeds.

Store your calls, at a minimum, where it is cool and out of sunlight.  After that, as others have stated, make sure you try them in advance of the season so you know if the ones you have are sounding like a turkey,...or a tuba. ...If they sound like a tuba, then you might want to get some new ones!

[bbcoach]

I can normally get a couple of years out of mine but since they are fairly cheap, new ones make it into my vest every year.  I just received my new spring stash today.  My old ones are disinfected with non alcohol mouthwash, separated and stored in the refrigerator, after the season is over.  I pull them out this time of the year and run them to see how they sound.

[Dtrkyman]

I typically start the season with one from the prior year, they all seem better after some hard use, though I think you just get a feel for them! 

[Brad_Colvin]

I remember reading, it could have been on here, you can rinse them with mouthwash then water and put them in the freezer.  The water will freeze between the reeds, keeping them separated.  It seems to work and you don't need toothpicks.

Mike Williams told me about this years ago and I store mine this way after every hunt. That said I buy all new mouth calls every year.

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[GunRunner]

In earlier days I fussed over cleaning them, placing spacers between the reeds, and then placing them in the fridge until next year.  Then one year somehow they disappeared from the fridge. An earlier than early spring cleaning I suppose.....I could not get a confession from the wife or kids. Bad thing is I did not find them missing until the last minute and I had to scramble to replace them and was unable to get my preferred diaphragms. The replacements did not cut it for me so I was handicapped for the first two weeks of the season.
That did it for me....for the last 15 years, I order 4 new yelpers every year. Only problem is that eliminated one more excuse for not having a successful hunt.

GunRunner

[Happy]

I have been known to make an emergency 4 am detour to walmart a time or 4 in my life. I feel naked without a diaphragm call.

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[Gobble!]

I normally get a few years out of mine. I freeze them.

[jmart241]

I soak mine in mouth was few hours rinse then keep in fridge get several years out of them