Assuming one has the physical ability to use a diaphragm call, and the time to learn it... why would you use anything else? I now only use diaphragm calls for turkeys. Not on principle, but it does everything I need and without any hand movement. Not to mention small, light, and cheap. But, I'm a minimalist.
Am I missing something? Other than maybe sentimental reasons for another type of call?
Because variety is the spice of life.
I like to switch it up. If one call isn't getting it done sometimes another will seal the deal. Plus I believe in stimulating the economy and making great friends and talking Turkey's in the process. It's a win win.
I wish I could use one!
Just never have been able to use one to its potential. So I have 47 other calls to use lol
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I like to use a box call to locate birds, once I'm setup I use a mouth call 99 % of the time. I've had birds answer a box just about as far away as you can hear one, and on really windy days it will carry way better than a diaphragm call.
I've always carried friction calls to the woods. I just love them. On more than one occasion, I've had gobblers ignore certain calls and go crazy over another. And some of us, me included, don't sound like Dave Owens. Lol
Because sometimes a Gobbler will answer a friction call and not a mouth call. It even happens to the pro callers. Ever see the Pinhoti show we're the Gobbler would not answer a mouth call Chubs used a glass call and struck the Gobbler? It happens....a lot
My question is why us mouth call ? Mouth call's can break or mess up also. Sure carry you pack full of them. I just like other type calls pots , boxes and hen boxes .. why not experience it all in the turkey woods .. I you fill mouth calls is all you want to carry them go far it ... I'm just more versatile myself
I can yelp and click and purr ( sort of ) on a mouth call but have found I can call more consistently on a pot call .
I'm also pretty much a minimalist but I still go afield with a box, slate, glass and several mouth calls. I'm not a pro with mouth calls but I can pretty much hold my own. When I'm in a situation where truly soft, quiet calls are dictated I'll switch to the slate or glass. Very few guys can call as quiet with a mouth as opposed to slate or glass...try it yourself with a smartphone decibel app. Couple years ago I had a tom a couple hundred yards away, out in a field, and switched to my glass. I made tiny half yelps so soft you wouldn't be able to hear them at 30 yards. He loved them to death.
I use tube calls 90% of the time to strike a gobbler and finish him to the gun. I think the tubes work well because not many people use them. Yes, I carry slate, crystal and ceramic calls and long box with me, do I use them, absolutely. I also always have a mouth call in to finish if I need to, to get him to move a little closer, or to get him to move from around a tree or obstacles or to lift his head for shot.
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Mouth callers produce a wide range of pitches and notes, but there are just some series of turkey notes no single caller can reproduce. That includes blowing pieces of rubber.
Why spend $25 on a tank of gas when you can go to grocery store and buy a turkey for less??
It's all about fun and enjoyment,,sitting against a tree all day with plenty of time to kill and wait it's nice to hold this beautiful piece of art that is also a musical instrument.
Not to mention that the majority of young guys believe their a child prodigy with a mouth call so the birds hear plenty of that wet sounding talk.
Cuz trumpets are funner
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Quote from: Turkeyman on April 18, 2020, 07:09:20 AM
I'm also pretty much a minimalist but I still go afield with a box, slate, glass and several mouth calls. I'm not a pro with mouth calls but I can pretty much hold my own. When I'm in a situation where truly soft, quiet calls are dictated I'll switch to the slate or glass. Very few guys can call as quiet with a mouth as opposed to slate or glass...try it yourself with a smartphone decibel app. Couple years ago I had a tom a couple hundred yards away, out in a field, and switched to my glass. I made tiny half yelps so soft you wouldn't be able to hear them at 30 yards. He loved them to death.
I find it amazing what they can hear from a distance that you know no human could hear.
Although I use mouth calls almost exclusively myself, it is just because I am stubborn. As has been stated, regardless of how good one is with a mouth call, you just cannot replicate every single pitch and tone variation that turkeys make. There are just some subtle differences in sound that certain turkeys want to hear at times.
All of us hunt woods at times that we know there are turkeys around and yet, we cannot strike a gobbler for whatever reason. When that happens, it is time to try something different. Sometimes that is nothing more than a different mouth call,...and sometimes it means switching to a totally different sound that can only be reproduced with a friction-type call, suction-type call,...or whatever.
Again, it is the gobbler that decides what he wants to hear that turns him on, not the caller and how good he thinks he is with whatever he is using.
I find when hiking hilly areas on a run & gun its just easier to locate using a box call, plus half the fun is exreriencing different calls whether its trying different diagphrams or other styles of calls
Quote from: mcw3734 on April 17, 2020, 11:04:42 PM
Assuming one has the physical ability to use a diaphragm call, and the time to learn it... why would you use anything else?
You can answer that yourself. Along with your mouth calls, get a good pot, box and Wingbone, Jordan or trumpet. Learn to use them proficiently. Make a conscious effort to use several different calls whenever you have a bird that's not cooperating to your mouth call, or on those dead silent days. After a few years of doing that, you'll wonder why you ever asked that question, guaranteed.
this spring will be my 47th year spring gobbler hunting and I have never, not one time ever carried a mouth call in the woods. Many years ago I bought one and just couldn't use it so that was that. I know that it's a BIG advantage to use one because for many years I was able to call with my natural voice but a chemical exposure ended that so, boxes, pots and push pins are what I carry. But you know what? I might just try one again. I have more patience now that I'm older.
Quote from: mcw3734 on April 17, 2020, 11:04:42 PM
Assuming one has the physical ability to use a diaphragm call, and the time to learn it... why would you use anything else? I now only use diaphragm calls for turkeys. Not on principle, but it does everything I need and without any hand movement. Not to mention small, light, and cheap. But, I'm a minimalist.
Am I missing something? Other than maybe sentimental reasons for another type of call?
Why anything other than a plastic worm to Bass fish with?
Quote from: Terry on April 18, 2020, 08:57:47 AM
Cuz trumpets are funner
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X10
Quote from: EZ on April 18, 2020, 09:30:12 AM
You can answer that yourself. Along with your mouth calls, get a good pot, box and Wingbone, Jordan or trumpet. Learn to use them proficiently. Make a conscious effort to use several different calls whenever you have a bird that's not cooperating to your mouth call, or on those dead silent days. After a few years of doing that, you'll wonder why you ever asked that question, guaranteed.
Well stated.
I can't use them. The vibration in the roof of my mouth makes me have to sneeze
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I like em all and sometimes the bird likes a different sound.
Because a long box or box call can reach out farther. I can soft talk with a good slate, my aluminum can sound awesome from one ridge to the next. Throw in various strikers and it adds a whole different element.
I used one call and didn't hear a thing switched to another and had one gobble. It's just what the turkey wants to hear in a certain day. Can't limit yourself to one thing.
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I'm mainly a diaphragm I guy. I carry couple pot calls but they don't come out often. Mainly on super windy days when I'm trying to locate. I find if I can't strike them with my diaphragms the pot calls usually don't work either but I only have a couple. I think cadence might have a lot to do with it. When you switch between different calls, say from a mouth call to a box or box to pot your cadence will change. Maybe ever so slightly but it will change. Plus I find I'm not always going back to find calls and strikers that I left next to one of the trees I was sitting at.
Because there are times when a gobbler won't respond to a diaphragm call or will answer but will hang up. I can't tell you how many times in that situation when I pulled out a super high pitched (aluminum or glass) pot call and laid down some real high pitched cutting and had them instantly respond. I use diaphragms, pot calls, and box calls and I've seem them all work better than others on a particular day.
Because sometimes when they don't respond to a mouth call, they will run you over to come to a Box, pot, trumpet...
Do this long enough and you will see turkeys do all kinds of unexplainable stuff.
Quote from: Zeke6685 on April 18, 2020, 12:25:49 AM
I like to use a box call to locate birds, once I'm setup I use a mouth call 99 % of the time. I've had birds answer a box just about as far away as you can hear one, and on really windy days it will carry way better than a diaphragm call.
I agree. I have reduced the number of friction calls I carry to two. Gotta have some variety
Lot better with a pot or box call then mouth call. Just was never good with mouth call.
Learned on a mouth call then lynch box then slate and glass. To me a box and glass call can reach out farther. Use everything and whatever it takes. My favorite is the box.
Tom teasers mouth calls all day for me. I carry a slate call just to give myself a break.
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Not all calls have the same "ring" in the woods. A good pot call, box call or even a wingbone can sing out across the hollers better than a mouth call. It's not always about doing all the turkey sounds, sometimes it's about the distinct voice of the call that might just turn that gobblers head.
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Quote from: catman529 on April 18, 2020, 10:20:38 PM
Not all calls have the same "ring" in the woods. A good pot call, box call or even a wingbone can sing out across the hollers better than a mouth call. It's not always about doing all the turkey sounds, sometimes it's about the distinct voice of the call that might just turn that gobblers head.
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Well said!
Because other calls work...
Quote from: catman529 on April 18, 2020, 10:20:38 PM
Not all calls have the same "ring" in the woods. A good pot call, box call or even a wingbone can sing out across the hollers better than a mouth call. It's not always about doing all the turkey sounds, sometimes it's about the distinct voice of the call that might just turn that gobblers head.
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X3. Diversity is the key. Mouth calls are light, make All the sounds and bring in birds but IMO don't carry their sound, like a crystal or box. I am constantly changing calls to find that distinct sound that that gobbler will respond to THAT DAY. When you go fishing, you don't put ALL your EGGS in one basket and only carry rubber worms, in different colors, and HOPE. Have a diverse tackle box and use it.
Because I like to play with all my toys while hunting turkeys. Doesn't matter if I made them or another call maker for me it's about running different calls as it adds to the enjoyment of the whole hunt. Truth be told I stopped using a mouth call years ago. Still carry one at times but almost never use it. If I want to use a mouth call then I switch to a trumpet or cane call.
Quote from: wchadw on April 18, 2020, 11:59:11 AM
I can't use them. The vibration in the roof of my mouth makes me have to sneeze
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Have you tried trimming the edges on the call? Might help?
Try an experiment. Next time you are in a spot that you know there are turkeys but they just won't gobble. Whip out an aluminum slate call (my favorite is the old MAD Aluminator) and rip out some obnoxious yelps and cuts on that thing. You can often work them into a frenzy from a distance with aluminum or glass pot call and then switch to a mouth call when they start to close the distance. I've killed more turkeys that way.
Why not play a round of golf with just a 7 iron?
Why no build a house with a handsaw and a hammer?
Why not fish with one lure?
Why ask why?
:drool:
Country, Blue grass or Rock N' Roll! Ya gotta give em what they want to hear on that day. :toothy9:
Because turkeys are wonderfully weird critters. More than once, most if not all experienced turkey hunters have witnessed a Tom completely ignore one call and go crazy for another.
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different calls, different purposes. You can do almost every call on every type of call. Ive had birds only answer mouth calls, and ive had birds only answer a box call. its just the way it is. My goal is to come out of the woods with a sore elbow....My vest is a swiss army knife of calls....if im not turkey tired at the end of the day im doing it wrong.
Because a mouth call is the least realistic type of call in my opinion!! Very few people sound like a real hen turkey in the woods while running a mouth call and I certainly am not one of them!!
Certain heavily pressured turkeys know, I'm convinced.
The first call I learned to play was a mouth call. I can play them just fine and have had good success with them. Anymore I would just rather use a trumpet, Wingbone, or box call or pot call. I would say that 80% of my competition uses mainly mouth calls and pot calls mostly so I opt to sound different.