I have bought a number of crow calls from both this site and others who handle the recommended calls mentioned. While using/ blowing into one of them ( I do not remember which one as they all look pretty much the same) just stopped working. All the calls I have bought to date are all of $25.00 each so would expect all are of good quality. Just air comes outwhen you blow into it with no sound. Any ideas what happened. I tried pulling in apart but the mouth piece is glued in . Again newbie questions
I have bought a number of crow calls from both this site and others who handle the recommended calls mentioned. While using/ blowing into one of them ( I do not remember which one as they all look pretty much the same) just stopped working. All the calls I have bought to date are all of $25.00 each so would expect all are of good quality. Just air comes outwhen you blow into it with no sound. Any ideas what happened. I tried pulling in apart but the mouth piece is glued in . Again newbie questions
Try turning it around and blowing from the other end.
Lets start out by saying that if it is not a Gibson its not a crow call but more of a locator call for turkeys. You need two calls, a short range and a long range. Granted the long range will run like a short range you just need to learn how to control your air. Running a good crow call is like running a good duck call. Correct air is everything. If you just push air through it, well you're just pushing air. Now it will make a sound but is it the right sound. With a good crow call and i mean a good crow call and the correct air, you can get three, four and five different birds out of one call. I personally have a call that was custom made for me and can get up to six birds out of it. Personally, just like duck hunting, stop playing around with plastic molded calls and get some really good wood calls. You can ask anyone that has ever hunting with me, i have a lot of call and have given a lot away but only use two. I use my long range Gibson and my custom Gibson. Oh and my Foxpro. As far as a call sticking, it is because you are using the wrong air and are spitting into the call. With a good call you need to be able to take it apart and clean it. Along with being able to change out the reed. Now you can go as far as changing out the reeds and thicknesses to get a different tone of sound. Remember a call is a musical instrument, you need to learn how to use it and take care of it.
Plastic vs wood vs acrylic and who's tone board is another topic.
I’m new to hand calls also. It took me several days blowing my call walking from the job location to the break room before I produced a real crow sound, that was authentic. It is a 12 minute walk both ways Times 6 A day. Then it took several days to learn each call a crow says. I caught heck from co-workers because it didn’t sound anything like a crow. I think I can make 3 different crows now. Reed adjustments, hand adjustments change it also. I’m still not proficient and a quack comes out every now and again. Have fun with it and practice.
I must be saying something right to them as I called in 5 yesterday to no more than 20 yards away where 1 sat up in the tree just above me.
Another newbie question. When you are calling and you have 3 to 4 calls with you or they are just sitting together in a pile at the house how do you readily tell the maker of each. Some of them all look the same?
First off, good job on calling them in. Now lets talk about calls. I do carry more than two calls with me. I only use two and they are Gibson. The others are just in case i need a back up. As far as knowing my calls. I know each and every one of them. I know who made them and what each one can and can not do. Each one is a different color, my or may not have an extra hole in it and the tone boards are either different or seated differently. Remember these are tools of the trade and you should know how each tool works and how to take care of it. Even all the calls sitting at the house, they are the same way. I know each and every one of them. You will and should get to the point to where you know each call just by the way it feels. Grabbing a call on the lanyard should be placement on the rope first and when grabbing it without looking, you know which call you grabbed. Each call maker, whether it's custom or production has their own style and signature as to how the call is made.
If you want to go deeper in to calls, you can look at how they are made, which tone board is used and what material the barrel is made from. Once you get to the point you are starting to look at what material they are made from, you will start to look at how the sound resonates out of the calls. Does the material absorb some of the sound, does it project it or does it fall flat.
Andrew1958: Usually Darrell Gibson "tunes" his calls before sending out and the sound is just fine. But if you like a deeper, more guttural sound, do not hesitate to pull the mouth piece and slide the reed forward..with the tip almost at the tip! I like the deeper sounds.. just personal preference..
They will come regardless of the sound you produce. The human ear can differentiate the tones. Mincey is a better call. But the is personal preference. Play with your hand calls. what you like and we like is different. Same for the crows. I’m still learning and getting advice from a more educated hunter who has hunted crows For 30 years. Stop spitting in the mouth piece. Use olive oil to stop spit from freezing the reed. When it’s -20 and you call crows spit it will stop air flow in a few minutes.
Our uk crows sound harsher and less higgh pitched than the crows i hear on USA youtube videos. We dont have a huge sellection of calls available over here, but we have primos haydels lohman and others. I have a lohman i adjusted to sound as harsh as i could it seems to be close to the sounds crows here make. .
