Such thing as a bad call or maker?

[bwhana]

I have a friend that just bought a lathe to start making his own calls for himself for fun and our discussions about the calls he's made so far triggered some thoughts...

Just applying a little logic on data from the site for fun while I drink my coffee.  So every post I see about any call made by any call maker is always positive and sounds "pure turkey". The only negative comments I've seen have been about big box store cheap calls made by bigger name companies.

Don't take this the wrong way, but the data shows that either it is very easy to make good calls, because they all do according to the posts, or guys are not being honest and not "calling" out bad calls or makers. Are they all really that good, and if so, why pay top $ for one when it is no more effective than a cheaper cheaper call maker?  Anyone care to share bad ones openly and admit the $200 call you bought was junk?

I have a Permar trumpet that sounds great to me so far, but I got it right after the season last year from Ralph and will find out how the birds like it in a few weeks, so the verdict is still out on it.

[Yelper]

The short answer is Yes. There are a lot of bad call makers out there. If you read throughout the forum there are a lot of call makers called out for bad sounding calls. Remember these are just the opinion of some of the members on here, and most of the time people don't make comments about call makers because it strikes a nerve with others and then leads to a forum gone haywire and name calling ETC.

There are some great custom call makers on this forum and some that don't get the credit for the great call building they do and some get praise that really aren't that good. JMO

[ChesterCopperpot]

There are plenty of sh*t calls and callmakers. For the most part the callmakers don't get brought up. No sense knocking them publicly, but their names just don't ever get mentioned. There's thousands of them and more popping up every day. Meanwhile, the really good ones get mentioned again and again and again. Now sometimes a really good maker will let something sub par out of the shop. Most won't. The truly greats don't. But a good example would be a Wendell Rye call I've got. Wendell makes some incredible pots. I own a 3" copper of his I've had for years that's been the death of many birds—hell of a limb talker. But I got a ceramic off him that sounds flat as the floor. I've played it for others and they agree if they'd made it it wouldn't have left the shop. Hell of a callmaker still, but one slipped through. As for the anyone can do it, no they cannot. Anyone can make subpar calls that will kill turkeys, but anyone can't reach the consistency of someone like say Clint Corder for pots or Mike Lapp for boxes or Permar for trumpets. Ain't happening. Few get it dialed that well. Very few.

The novelist Harry Crews said something about the novel that's applicable here. He said, "Your chances of being a renowned brain surgeon are better than your chances of being a renowned novelist." He has that wonderful interview where he tells a story about being at a cocktail party and talking with this doctor and the doctor telling him that he's going to write a novel. Crews said what he wanted to say was, "What if I was to show up at your operating room tomorrow and just come in and say, 'No, no, just back off here. You're doing an appendectomy here, right? Give me a smock and something sharp and I'll just take it out for you'...And I'd sort of do the job on that guy on the table that he'd sort of do on the novel. The guy on the table would be dead and the novel would be dead."

Replace "I'm going to write a novel" with "I'm going to make a trumpet" and you get the general idea.


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[GobbleNut]

  So every post I see about any call made by any call maker is always positive and sounds "pure turkey".

The fact of the matter is that most turkeys don't sound "pure turkey".  The term "pure turkey",...or any of the other descriptions we humans use to describe a turkey call,...is strictly a subjective term as seen/heard through the "human filter".  Turkeys communicate through the "turkey filter", and no matter how good us turkey hunters think we are at bridging that gap, we will never completely be able to cross it.

So, to sort of half-way answer your question, it is a pretty rare turkey call made by a half-way skilled turkey call maker that won't call a turkey that exists out there somewhere.  Sure, we humans think certain calls are "pure turkey",...and conversely, certain others aren't,...but when all is said and done, it is up to the turkey that is being called to make the final decision on that. 

[Gentry]

You should be able to get something that resembles a yelp out of any call.


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[mtns2hunt]

There are bad turkey call makers, mediocre, good and excellent. There is no reason to publically denounce anyone. Most try hard to make a decent call but there is a learning curve.

I have at least 60 calls but only use about 10 on a consistent basis. These 10 are the calls that bring in responses. The calls were mainly bought on e-bay and some say they were trash to begin with but one of my most gaudy calls with a funky picture on it really produces. Why I have no idea as I do not know what pure turkey sounds like as this is subjective and differs by individual.

I feel I can only know a calls potential or the maker's skill buy trying the call in a hunting situation. I have found that by following the advice on this forum on good or great calls by known makers that my odds of acquiring a decent call go way up. Still I think most calls will call a turkey good or bad: some just take longer to produce.

My current delema is should I sell my less desirable calls on e-bay?

[Greg Massey]

The simple answer is having CONFIDENCE in the builder and the calls your using. If you don't have confidence in these calls, regardless the builder, more than likely your not going to use that call. Several call builder mentioned time and time again just flat out build a good quality sounding call. Lot's of factors goes into building a good call, dimensions, surfaces, soundboards and wood types all play a part in making a good, great or outstanding pot call. Sure some lesser pot call builders, sometimes think they build a great call, when really the pot call is just below average or subpar, but in most case's will possibly kill a turkey. I also give credit to us turkey hunters, as we become more experience and buy calls, we find out what calls give us the best opportunities to be more successful in killing turkeys. SO again it all comes back to what CONFIDENCE we have in the builder and calls we are buying. I will also agree, subpar call builder as he continues to prefect his call building skills with internals dimensions or outside dimensions, may one day become awesome call builder. I do agree, it's all about being honest with the builders and people on this forum. No need to call anyone out publicly, but i fell we always need to sharing our pass experiences in buying calls good or bad. The best call builders are not going to get it right 100 percent of the time, but at least with these builders you have better chances of getting calls you will have confidence in playing and calling turkeys.

[btomlin]

I didn't read the other responses, but my 1st thought was that the custom guys probably put fewer "bad calls" out into circulation.  I'm guessing the custom makers have more calls that hit the kindling pile than go out their front door to a customer as they all seem to take great pride in the quality of their work.   If you work for a "big brand", how long are you going to have a job if you are pitching 3 out of every 5 calls that come down the line because it sounds like crap???

[ol bob]

When I started out even though I had thousands of dollars worth of tools I wasn't a bad call maker I was a terrible call maker, couldn't give them away. This was a time no one would tell you anything, after making a ton of firewood I got descent at it. Today it you take the time to hunt it info. you can start out with a very good call, but you have to be able to make every one exactly alike, close is not good enough.There are some excellent call makers that no one has ever heard of.

[Nathan_Wiles]

Why in the world would any self respecting turkey hunter enter the woods with an effective 5 dollar call when he can have an effective 100 dollar custom call...its just silly.
Me personally I like the custom stuff and once the bug bit I've been unable to shake it. Not that I've tried all that hard either. In fact I've made no effort whatsoever.
I think in truth you can call turkeys with a plastic straw but its not nearly as cool. We all have in our head what a hen turkey should sound like, there's lots of turkey calls and we all hear them a little different. What I think is perfect someone else may think is too this or that but its still a hen turkey.

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[bwhana]

Great responses and it was meant as a mental exercise, especially for newbies thinking any call they buy is gold, as they might deduct from reading.  I get the differences between skill sets of makers and it wasn't meant to really call out individuals. And most importantly, my last comment about my Permar was dry humor, no way I would ever throw shade on Ralph at all!

[larry9988]

  A lot has to do with whose hand or mouth the call is in. It's sort of like this, If you handed me the finest Stradivarius Violin in the world, I would sound terrible, hand it to a master violinist and it will bring tears to your eyes. I have heard some people that can make an average turkey call sound great, and I have heard some people on a great call sound horrible. As I mentioned in a previous post on call sound quality, a six call ( on a scale of 1 to 10) will call just as many turkeys as a 10 if you you how and when to play it. I have some calls by makers that so many rave about, that are just average calls at best. You can get some very good calls in the $75- $100 range without having to pay top dollar or get on a waiting list to get a call. The biggest problem I see with store bought calls is I do not have the opportunity to play or listen to them as I do with a custom maker. If you go to big box stores or big time sporting goods stores and you can't play the calls, your chances of taking home a decent call are slim. It's a crap shoot at best.  You will probably end up spending more money $25-$30 at a time just trying to get a decent call, than you if you bought one from a good custom call maker for more money. But inexpensive does not automatically mean a call is no good, a good example is a $20 slate call will be with me in the morning instead of some of my more expensive ones.

[Crghss]

Calls are not all priced the same. Some calls go for less some go for far more........what do you think determines that?

[MK M GOBL]

I judge the call in my hand, some I like the sound and some I don't, everyone has their favorites!

I've had some custom calls in my hands that just are dead in tone to my ears, they don't sing. I always want to hear it play, and by my hand. Some clear, some raspy, just has to have "that" sound. I have given a lot of calls away and only a few make it to my arsenal.

The only judge I care about dies if all goes right 

Still the best call I have ever owned! CODY World Class Slate


MK M GOBL

[RiverBuck]

The simple answer is having CONFIDENCE in the builder and the calls your using. If you don't have confidence in these calls, regardless the builder, more than likely your not going to use that call. Several call builder mentioned time and time again just flat out build a good quality sounding call. Lot's of factors goes into building a good call, dimensions, surfaces, soundboards and wood types all play a part in making a good, great or outstanding pot call. Sure some lesser pot call builders, sometimes think they build a great call, when really the pot call is just below average or subpar, but in most case's will possibly kill a turkey. I also give credit to us turkey hunters, as we become more experience and buy calls, we find out what calls give us the best opportunities to be more successful in killing turkeys. SO again it all comes back to what CONFIDENCE we have in the builder and calls we are buying. I will also agree, subpar call builder as he continues to prefect his call building skills with internals dimensions or outside dimensions, may one day become awesome call builder. I do agree, it's all about being honest with the builders and people on this forum. No need to call anyone out publicly, but i fell we always need to sharing our pass experiences in buying calls good or bad. The best call builders are not going to get it right 100 percent of the time, but at least with these builders you have better chances of getting calls you will have confidence in playing and calling turkeys.

True.. Confidence is the key to every aspect of success in life.