Goose Calling....help......

leadeyedbugger · 12-04-2008, 06:13 PM

I have a primos honky tonk short reed right now, and frankly i am having a hell of a time with it, and despite working on it alot i am not getting better. I have a big duck and goose hunt in a couple weeks, tons of birds, private property etc....but i can't call. Is there a better call thats relatively inexpensive to try, are the flute style calls easier????? Any suggestions??? Am i just doomed???

Wingmaster · 12-04-2008, 06:25 PM

If the birds are there and thick, you may not need to call at all! Sometimes less is more, concentrate on being on the X and well hid. Especially being new to goose calling and the pressure involved with a big hunt it may be more frustrating than its worth to try and master the call in a short amount of time.

But there are a couple great teaching aids if you want the help, Bad Grammer DVD, Shawn Stahl's Honker Talk DVD, and the Dave Smith CD Breathrough II can give you all the pointers you'll ever need.

Wingman Or. · 12-04-2008, 06:43 PM

I've been blowing a short reed for going on 7 years and I still stink

. If you can't break it over or are having a hard time breaking over the call you could try to find someone that can re-tune it for you. (Anyone that knows how to do it can tune it light in a matter of a couple minutes tops) Trying a bunch of new calls at this point may be a lost cause. Keep hammering on that call and hopefully it will come.

Dave Smith · 12-04-2008, 06:53 PM

I was just looking at a Honky Tonk yesterday in the package. I didn;t actually blow it, but I was thinking to myself that call would be really tough to blow. You take those proportions and then cast it in PC and that call is going to be touchy!
If you want to bring it by, I will tune it as good as the calls demensions will allow, otherwise I agree with the others that you need to hide like a ninja and put out a killer decoy spread and calling won't be necessary. You can't master a short reed call plus all the subtle nuances of calling geese in a couple weeks.
Dave

quackerjack · 12-04-2008, 08:47 PM

When i was really learning to call a short reed i looked on a site that starts with a word "U" and ends with "TUBE". Just type in goose calling and a lot of useful tips will come up. The thing that helped me the most was the hand positioning for the back pressure.

junkyardjeff · 12-04-2008, 11:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by quackerjack

When i was really learning to call a short reed i looked on a site that starts with a word "U" and ends with "TUBE". Just type in goose calling and a lot of useful tips will come up. The thing that helped me the most was the hand positioning for the back pressure.

I would agree with this...also though, the Primos Video "Mastering the Art" can be helpful. If you can't get the "Honky Tonk" to work, keep at it. I use one and it took me about an hour just to get the right sounding "twit" out of the call. Once you break that first step, it should all start to come together. Hope this helped,

jyj

BanannaMan · 12-05-2008, 05:38 AM

I got the honky tonk and it actually is a easy call to blow. If it is new it might need tuning, my reed was sticky when it was new. As far a calling goes I learned an important lesson the other day when a flock of 50 landed in the decoys at 7am and I sat there for an hour and listened to what the real geese did when other flocks came in. Four other flocks flew in, I was under the goose tornado, and those real geese made a grand total of 5 clucks to flying geese. I sat there for an hour explaining to my lab that we couldnt shoot them yet...he didnt seem to understand.

handsmellikenet · 12-05-2008, 08:19 AM

I use a Zink power clucker cocobolo, I got it at joes they are always having good sales on there calls. I have also found the best way to learn is with a cd and play around with your call in the car.''when you're stoped at lights'' you may get some funny looks!

Threemuch · 12-05-2008, 08:56 AM

Put out a great spread and hide like a ninja. Awesome advice. Or be where they have to be. Last week on thanksgiving, it wasn't a goose day, and I had them piling in on my duck spread. No deeks, a decent tree hide, but no layouts and they just had to be in this pond. For fun, I tried to see how much I could screw up without flaring birds. I shouted at them, waved my arms, stood up with my gun and yelled BANG. Still they came. Not normal for sure. Went back Saturday, no play, they had moved on. My more usual situation is being made by every flock just out of range, and not being able to figure out what the heck is wrong.

I am not an expert, or probably even a novice yet, but I can cluck, doublecluck and moan and I know where you are coming from. I have a couple short reeds that must be busted, because I can't make them do anything remotely goosey. Especially the higher pitched calls. I just bought a Saunders refuge series lesser and I can make it break, I just cant imagine doing it for very long, it takes so much effort. I am sure it's me, too many competant hunters have told me it is a decent short reed for small geese.

But I have that honky tonk, and I think it blows pretty easy. It doesn't take nearly the air to get it to break as some of the other calls I own. Can you blow any other short reed call?

Any of you experts have any tips on how to tune short reed calls? I would like to play around with mine.

Wingman Or. · 12-05-2008, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Threemuch

Any of you experts have any tips on how to tune short reed calls? I would like to play around with mine.

I'm a completely visual learner. For me it's much easier to learn by watching someone do it than to read/then try and duplicate.

If you can find someone (I'd offer but I'm a newbie here and you don't know me from Adam) to sit down with you for 20 minutes and open up the call and reset (play with) the guts and reed. It sure makes the learning curve much flatter. I'm sure there are people here that can give you links and explain it better but take it from me it can get real frustrating when you can't get it to sound like anything other than a dieing rabbit it's nice to have a person that can get it back where it was.

Catch 22 · 12-05-2008, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by handsmellikenet

I have also found the best way to learn is with a cd and play around with your call in the car.''when you're stoped at lights'' you may get some funny looks!

Well I still can't get a decent series of clucks going. But like stated above, the truck is the best place to learn especially if there's a woman in the house.

The truck is where I learned to call ducks as poorly as I do.

wife&3kids · 12-05-2008, 05:03 PM

Try blowing a Saunders Red Zone- i have mine tuned to blow super easy.

Adjhunt · 12-05-2008, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Smith

I was just looking at a Honky Tonk yesterday in the package. I didn;t actually blow it, but I was thinking to myself that call would be really tough to blow.

My Bro has a Honky Tonk and it is really easy to blow and create great sounds.
I just got the Killa Honky Tonk awhile ago and Love it. Its an all acrilic call and is pretty easy to blow.
Been practicing everyday that I'm out on SI, because I figure I might as well call at geese where it doesn't matter to much because I can't shoot them anyways

Maybe when I start to master my calling I will get more into hunting the valley for geese.

spurcrazy · 12-05-2008, 07:01 PM

I've not heard real good things about the honky tonk. you truly do get what you pay for in goose calls. I would suggest standing in front of ALOT of calls until you find one that works for you style of blowing. Also have someone who knows what they are doing (really knows) help you fine tune your style. Short reeds can be tricky and developing alot of bad habits can be very detrimental.

Good luck to you. Just remember no calling will out play bad calling every day of the week

Goosedad · 12-06-2008, 11:32 AM

PM Sent