# call upgrade!



## SDhonkers33 (Feb 1, 2012)

So I've had a polycarb zink power clucker for a while now and thinking about moving up since I got a little extra cash from a lucky night in Deadwood . However I'm not looking to spend a fortune, preferably under a hundred bucks. Just looking for opinions on calls and I know a lot of guys will just tell you just keep trying till you find one. I've been looking into this for a couple weeks and my head is starting to spin from all the different options! All suggestions welcome, I appreciate any help.


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## rottengander (Oct 2, 2010)

I went to an acrylic call last year. After weeks of tossing calls back and forth I settled on gk's giant killer. Really like it. Deep raspy sound out of the box. No reed adjusting. Took it out and called in birds. I would recommend that. So many good calls to choose from. Grounds, field proven, zinc. Have fun deciding on one.


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## HugeBurrito2k6 (Oct 25, 2011)

Just save up another 50 bucks and get to the 150 dollar mark. Then you can buy 90% of the calls available 100-150 dollars is where a lot of great calls are priced.


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## Gunny (Aug 18, 2005)

So many calls for $150

But if you have to be frugle I would say Winglock.

Good luck'

Gunny


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## xTrMWtRFwLr (Jul 28, 2009)

If you want a good affordable goose call try the TOXIC TBH GOOSE CALL with the worn in guts. They are very affordable and they sound pretty damn good right of the box. If you find the right prostaffer and or fieldstaffer you should be able to get one for right around $75.00-$85.00. They retail right around $115.00. :beer: 
http://toxiccalls.com/goosecalls.htm


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## FoldEmXtreme (Jan 3, 2010)

Check out Fowl Obsession Calls!!


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## dsm16428 (Feb 19, 2009)

xTrMWtRFwLr said:


> If you want a good affordable goose call try the TOXIC TBH GOOSE CALL with the worn in guts. They are very affordable and they sound pretty damn good right of the box. If you find the right prostaffer and or fieldstaffer you should be able to get one for right around $75.00-$85.00. They retail right around $115.00. :beer:
> http://toxiccalls.com/goosecalls.htm


I have one I'll sell you. Smoke swirl and orange, brand new. I'll let it go for $60 plus shipping. Nice, short little call. Just isn't for me and I just picked up 2 other calls so if you want it...


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## SDhonkers33 (Feb 1, 2012)

Are you able to send a pic of the call. Where are you shipping from?


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## dsm16428 (Feb 19, 2009)

SDhonkers33 said:


> Are you able to send a pic of the call. Where are you shipping from?


From PA 16428, so it souldn't be more than 5 or 6 bucks to ship max. I ship all my calls in the flat rate boxes with the calls packed well. Never had one get damaged yet. :thumb: I'll try to get a pic up when I get home from work later.


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## SDhonkers33 (Feb 1, 2012)

If its easier to text it my number is 605 545 4797


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## shooteminthelips (Jun 13, 2007)

Bill Saunders Traffic or Heavy


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## Anas Strepera (Nov 10, 2004)

At one point in time I used to buy and sell goose calls like I was a day trader. I've owned a call or two from probably the top fifteen call makers. I did it because I liked them and thought they were neat. If you want to try out different calls by all means knock yourself out.

Just don't wait to find a call to "fit you." That was very common advice ten years ago when the call market was really blowing up. After trying out all those calls you'll realize they're all essentially the same. I'd say stick with the Zink polycarb but if I'm not mistaken it has the garbage guts in it. By garbage I mean Zink intentionally made a set of guts that sucked just to put in his polycarb calls so there's an incentive to buy his high-end ones. A goose call is pretty much just a set of guts inside a tube that has larger diameter on the end you blow into and a smaller diameter where the air comes out to create back pressure. I'd buy a REAL set of zink guts to stick in your call and start there. You'll probably love it. Otherwise I'd recommend.

1. Super Mag in Maple or Hedge
2. Strait Meat Honker Acrylic (which you can probably find real cheap on ebay)
3. Buck Gardner Canada Hammer II ($25 call)


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## kingcanada (Sep 19, 2009)

The man's right, there are basically two sets of "guts" out there. The rest is just tuning and different barrel/mouth piece lengths. I build my own short reed calls with my own set of "guts". Have been for nearly ten years. I finally have settled on the right design. They are significantly different than what you can buy, but are a real pain to make from scratch. I build very few due to time and labor. Maybe someday I will build the tooling to do small scale production of the tone boards, but now is not the time.
I will lay this out for you: A longer barrel tunes for lower tones. A shorter barrel gives a wider range of tones and will hit sharper high notes. A longer mouthpiece makes a call easier to master, but limits tonal range. Changing the barrel material results in small changes in sound. Changing the mouthpiece makes very noticeable changes in sound. I will also say that many cheaper calls can be improved tremendously if you find someone who knows what they are doing. The tone board can be "blueprinted" by truing the surface with some 180 grit sandpaper on a perfect flat surface, or a ladies fingernail board. The goal is to remove the high and low spots left from the injection molding process without changing the profile. With the "worn in" versions, you are out of luck there. That's why I don't believe in them. Too difficult to "clean up" without the risk of changing the profile. Small changes in profile (very small!), make big changes in sound. Leave profile changes to experts only. Many calls don't have "shaved" reeds and many that do, are not done right. Tim Grounds said that there is more to shaving a reed than just scraping the middle of the reed. That is pretty much gospel there. Done right, it helps the reed break that transition between high and low notes smoothly and predictably. I have worked small wonders with $30 calls that my buddies brought to me. If you can find a buddy who knows his stuff or a pro staffer at some event, you are in luck.
Have fun choosing just one call with your winnings,SDhonkers33!


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## Gunny (Aug 18, 2005)

Another thought. Does it have to be a new call? If not, you have expanded your selection immensley.


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## EllendaleND (Dec 25, 2011)

I've got a lynch mob reaper. I will never go back. I got it in the bargain cave at cabelas for $90. What a steal, they usually go for $120.


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## jkolson (Mar 22, 2006)

Watch the classifieds here. I just picked up a GK Giant Killer in perfect shape (10/10) for $95.


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## HugeBurrito2k6 (Oct 25, 2011)

Here is my story when it came to goose calls. I finally broke down and bought my first nice acrylic call this spring to practice on so i was ready for this fall season. I narrowed my search down to a Big seans Mr. Big, Time grounds triple thang and some other call i don't even remember now haha. But anyways i really liked the sound that comes out of the mr. big with the rubber inlayed in the tone channel and i still do however when i picked the call up at the store to give it a few honks and clucks i was amazed by how easy it was to accomplish these sounds and everyone always says "just go try every call you can get your hands on at the store and pick one that sounds good to you. I could not disagree more now with this statement and i will tell you why.

I did the same thing that probably every new goose caller does and bought the bad grammar instructional dvd to help me along. One of the things that scott said that really didn't make much sense to me was his statement, "if you can find a call right out of the gate that is tuned easy and you can get a good sounding note out of it from the start is not for you, most call manufactures are just shaving the reed down so you can get a honk or two out of it that sounds good so you buy it" Now i understand that this statement could not be more true.

I quickly noticed after practicing with it that my calling quickly plateaued and i could only achieve 3 notes with little variation. After hearing all the different sounds that scott was getting out of that call of his (Real thang) i was dumbfounded on how he was doing that. SO i bought a real thang just like what he used on the DVD and i could not get a fricken sound out of the call for a week thought i made a terrible mistake. The call is much stiffer than that of the Mr. Big partly because IMO the Mr. Big runs a shaved reed and it is super easy to break over. I finally got ticked off and said i NEED to learn this call and yes it did not come easy but after about 2 weeks of practicing i finally am able to make every sound i feel necessary for hunting and do it consistently. This call also allows for more voice inflection as well and can get many more variations of the same note. I now pick up the Mr. Big and i can get all these sounds out of it now that i had to work on my form much more to get good sounding notes out of the Real thang.

If i had to do it all over again and start from the beginning and pick out a new call having never called before. This is my advice from what i learned.
-Choose a call that was comfortable NO GIANT BELLS at the end! 
-Do not choose a shaved reed goose call
-Pick a call that accommodates however much air you have to blow. (I also learned that you push air with your diaphragm and your diaphragm is muscle and like any muscle if you work it it will become stronger and allow you to push more air after you practice for a while. So if the call takes more air than you are used to it is not a big problem cuz your body will adapt as long as it is not a ridiculous amount of air)
-get a call that is tuned harder! ( this will make you practice more because you will sound awful and you will have no choice but to practice more and practice is key when it came to goose calling and i am sure NOBODY will ever pick up a goose call and be a pro at it.


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## kingcanada (Sep 19, 2009)

You do make some compelling points. Most people do think that if they keep trying, they will find the magic call that makes everything so much easier. Learning how to properly blow a short reed is not easy and is more important than finding the perfect call. That said, there are plenty of calls that are never going to deliver the goods. Trying to learn with one is a handicap that may prevent a caller from ever really learning how to do it right. 
I will also say that avoiding shaved reed calls is not the answer either. O mentioned that many so called shaved reeds simply amount to a bunch of scratches down the center of the reed. Others are shaved and tuned by individuals who actually know what they are doing and will produce a wide range of sounds and tones. A properly shaved reed can actually make it easier to control the notes, note just break between notes.
The guts and how they are tuned are the most important feature, especially since there are dozens of call brands/models with very little variation beyond that tuning.


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