Author Topic: New to call making... don't cheat yourself!  (Read 9652 times)

B Hoover

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New to call making... don't cheat yourself!
« on: August 23, 2015, 11:10:29 PM »
After several messages sent and received from Parker and his prompting.....  here goes.

A few years ago I wanted to make a few duck calls for myself, friends and family.  Something to play around with and kill some birds in the process.  All I needed was the right dimensions and a little time, right?  So I started reading and taking notes from the forum for 9 months.  Into the shop I went with this newfound knowledge in hope of walking out a few hours later with a good sounding call.  Sorry, no Disney ending.  In short I spent the next several months taking notes of what worked and what did not.  I am over two years into duck call making and am finally finding a sound and design that I like.  I can only hope I'm not done striving to improve.  I believe they call that "being bit by the bug".

Fast forward.  I decided that a goose flute for the pit would be a great addition... maybe a grunt tube, a short reed, a tube call, a squirrel call, a turkey pot call, etc.   You get the idea.  So back to the forum and notebook.  I spent most of this spring and summer reading through the different tutorials and forums writing down tidbits of info from other call makers.  The results of this were a grunt tube and goose flute.  This was getting fun!

On to the short reed.  During the last month I read through every post of every thread from all 29 pages of the goose section while taking notes.  Twice in case I missed something.  I didn't keep track, but I'm pretty sure it took me about twenty or thirty hours to do so.  Why?  I can tell you that the time spent reading through it all gave me a better sense of how a call operates, the history and the characteristics of a short reed.  I haven't fired up the lathe yet, but I can tell you what the barrel/insert lengths, bore dimensions, gutsert design and gut choice is already.  It wasn't fast or easy, but I would have felt robbed if someone had just opened up their notebook for me to see.

If you read through the goose section you will find that there are around a dozen of the same questions about call length, another dozen about bore dimensions and probably a half dozen concerning gutserts and gut choice.  I take my hat off to the more experienced call makers on here that graciously answer these questions.  If you notice that their answer seems vague, I believe they already know what I learned.....  a quick answer will only cheat you out of the joy of researching, learning and trying.  Thank you to all who challenge us!

....... and now back to the notebook.

Offline VECtor Calls

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Re: New to call making... don't cheat yourself!
« Reply #1 on: August 24, 2015, 01:05:11 AM »
Great writeup to share with the group, and new folks that will be showing up in the future.  Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences with a through use of the knowlege here!
Pass on the tradition. A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.

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Offline Jon @ JRwoods

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Re: New to call making... don't cheat yourself!
« Reply #2 on: August 25, 2015, 02:40:46 PM »
 :bigup:  True words.
I tell new guys to not be afraid of messing up a lot of wood for the sake of science. 

Calipers are your best friend.

Just because someone else is doing it don't assume it's right, or will work if you do it.

I was told and now I tell others, with confidence.....
"Everything effects everything."

Or was it affects?  Or maybe I've been doing this to long and I'm just a little touched now?

Ever flip your notebook back a couple years and wonder what that idiot was thinking? :rofl:

Formerly Highlooker.
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Offline Aaron at Wingerts Woodworks

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Re: New to call making... don't cheat yourself!
« Reply #3 on: September 22, 2015, 10:26:27 PM »
True words!   :bigup:

Offline JP ( liljohn ) Wilkinson

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Re: New to call making... don't cheat yourself!
« Reply #4 on: December 05, 2016, 10:54:21 PM »
I had a guy from another forum ask about making duck calls today. The answer was easy. THO Game Call Forum. And read read read & then read. And lots of practice.
That's all I knew to tell him.   :yes: :yes: :whistling: