There is quite a few large scale production outfits that specialize in " farming" out calls for other big labels - or I like to call " ghost " makers - these are super big contracts they fulfill we are talking tens of thousands of calls - it can be mouth , box , pot call etc.... You would be surprised how well they sound , not the cabelas calls in particular , but some of the sub contracted calls in general -
They typically have a very good reputation for quality of construction and sound -but with some types of calls there is a tuning aspect that goes into it , and tuning takes time with certain friction calls , and sometimes there is only so much you can invest into a call before it gets boxed up and sent to the label - your not going to get a hour of tuning put into a call that some guy is only turning 5-10 bucks on , that's not to say it won't sound good , it's saying if your in the store play about 10 of them and pick out the best one if it meets your standards
Some of these farmed it calls sound very good , I was in bass pro shops the other day and for the heck of it I opened up the package of redhead/ basspro house brand ( ultimate reality something or the other) shops slate call , I think it was a slate over cedar , and it was a unibody call with no visible sound board it had a construction that looked very similar to a morgenson (sp) call , and man...... Did it sound VERY good , I mean real good .......19$ They also have a special crystal over carbon call that I didn't try , but might next time - but the slate was off the hook - if you go to bass pro try it , you might want to take it home
Buying them without playing them is a gamble , but if your in the store don't turn your nose up at them is my ideology , I tried several other calls that sounded like a wounded raccoon giving out its final death rattle - it's a real hit or miss buying mail order catalog
