Mouth call question

[Hwd silvestris]

I run the same brand/model mouth calls year after year.   The ones that are salvageable I keep in the freezer during off season.   Call me crazy but I believe the older ones that have been in freezer for 9 months sound better than the brand new ones.  Do y'all have the same experience or am I just a mental case? 

How long do y'all use the same mouth call before tossing in garbage?


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[tracker vi]

Till it don't sound like turkey

[rakkin6]

I clean mine with 50/50 of non-alcoholic mouthwash and water dry them out and store them in my refrigerator during the season and off-season. Typically get a couple years out of them.

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[ChesterCopperpot]

Buddy I run 'em yellow from four or five years ago And they do sound better.


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[roberthyman14]

Yeah, I store mine in the fridge.  Usually sound great. I get 2 seasons. 3 at best.  But thats because I'm rough on them. Might throw a new call in there and see how it sounds next season

Prostaff member for Old Crow Custom Calls

[Gooserbat]

Not to sound rude but it's my opinion, it's because most new calls are stretched to tight for the average caller. 

[GobbleNut]

Here is my own personal experience with mouth calls,...may or may not be helpful or apply to anybody else. To preface,...I make my own calls and probably have a couple of hundred calls laying around of varying ages and types at any given time. 

Generally speaking,...and depending on the call design,...the older a call is, the more the reed material has relaxed.  That relaxation changes the sound over time, and that change can be good,...or bad. 

Relaxed reeds usually result in a more "mellow" sounding call.  That is, it is more difficult to get really "crisp" sounds out of them,...those really well-defined yelps and sharp, hard-edged cutts and clucks. 

Newer calls are usually just the opposite.  The reeds are fresh and, as Gooserbat points out, are generally pretty firmly stretched.  Those well-defined sounds are usually much easier to make,...but the flipside is that it is often much more difficult to shift to the softer, more mellow sounds that come into play. 

Personally, I can't make every sound I want to be able to make with a single call.  I carry specific calls for specific situations and change them up as needed for any given circumstance.  Again, speaking in generalities, the older, more relaxed-reed calls are better for the soft stuff, while the newer calls are better for the hard-edged calling. 

[eggshell]

I think it's important to clean them before storing. They do stretch and like gobblenut and gooserbat said the new ones are sharp on sounds. A lot of days I put a new one in one cheek and and old one in the other and I can switch between the two for what tone I want.

[TRG3]

I clean mine with 50/50 of non-alcoholic mouthwash and water dry them out and store them in my refrigerator during the season and off-season. Typically get a couple years out of them. 

I do the same thing, but extend them out more years, this being the 12th year for the same mouth calls. Of course, I use slate, box, nail, etc. other calls to simulate more than one hen doing the calling. Gobblers don't seem to mind.

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