Game Calls

[Dean Matthews]

I was looking at the Craft Supplies USA list of projects and noticed they had the parts for game calls. I personally have not used calls while hunting but I thought this would be a cool thing to make.

Does anyone know if the o-rings come with the reed kit when you get it? I was looking at the instructions on how to build the units but there is no mention on the selling or obtaining of the O-Rings. Do you just guy them separately ?

[Bobby Perry]

Yes they come with the kit
here are a couple I did. I was just playing.

[Dean Matthews]

Yes they come with the kit
here are a couple I did. I was just playing.

Cool... so the reed set is actually considered the kit?

Excellent.

My dad has this thing about offing squirrels around his house. As a joke I was going to make him a squirrel call for Christmas. =)

[Bobby Perry]

You can get just the reed set or a complete kit with pre drilled blanks. I drill my own.

[Dean Matthews]

You can get just the reed set or a complete kit with pre drilled blanks. I drill my own.

Ah...

Okay... Where did you get your kits then?

Looking at Craft Supplies they sell the pieces and parts but no whole kit. The do sell blanks but I have some paduk and purple heart laying around the shop that I was going to play with.

I suppose I can just go to the auto parts store and buy 3/4" o-rings. I was just curious how it normally worked out.

[Marvin Hasenak]

Hut Products has the kits. The reed kit has the O rings so you don't need to buy them separately, with the Hut reeds they have an instruction sheet that covers what you will need. Basically you you use a pen mandrel and rubber bushings to center the call bore on the mandrel. The set of bushings and the pen mandrel cost about $30.

I would steer clear of the duck and goose call reeds, they leave a lot to be desired. Hut's varmint call set up uses JC Products reeds which is the same as all major manufactures use, the only difference is they use a rubber grommet to hold it in place while most callmakers use metal sleeves to hold the reed.

If you want to make a duck call check with Echo Duck calls, they sell real good inserts at a reasonable price, but be aware that most duck callmakers will criticize you for not making your own toneboard, simply because you are only making a barrel not a duck call. Making your own toneboards makes you a callmaker, using ready made reed assemblies just means you can turn the call body.

[Michael Gibbons]

Bobby, Could you demonstrate those calls for us? I'm sure everyone would like to hear them.;)

[Curt Fuller]

Dean the plastic duck calls come with o rings, the metal duck calls don't use an o ring. The double reed metal setup sounds the duckiest I think. The plastic canadian goose call has a good sound too but is kind of hard to blow. And the predator calls drive our dog and cats nuts. But I've never made one of the squirrel calls. Most of the squirrels around here speak english.

Some of the exotic laminated blanks make for some pretty good looking calls...

[Dean Matthews]

Dean the plastic duck calls come with o rings, the metal duck calls don't use an o ring. The double reed metal setup sounds the duckiest I think. The plastic canadian goose call has a good sound too but is kind of hard to blow. And the predator calls drive our dog and cats nuts. But I've never made one of the squirrel calls. Most of the squirrels around here speak english.

Some of the exotic laminated blanks make for some pretty good looking calls...

Hmmm.... Before I placed my order (which is apparently being sent via carrier pigeon) I had called Craft Supply to ask about the O-Rings. I told the guy exactly which ones I was looking to buy and he told me they came with the o-rings. Now I am kinda upset about that. When/if they show up without o-rings I think I may call back and give them a piece of my mind.

I ordered two squirrel calls and one double reed duck call (both metal). The two squirrel calls are for my father and my father-in-law. They live in the city and have this thing about killing the squirrels in the yards. I figured they would just make cool "novelty" gifts for christmas.

The duck call is just for me to annoy the dog. =)

BTW... Bobby and Curt.. Nice work. They look great.

[Cody Colston]

I made a few duck calls for my hunting friends, they love them. I used the plastic reeds from CSUSA and also got a lanyard for the calls.

Here's a couple from some Walnut and Osage Orange that I had.

[Bobby Perry]

Bobby, Could you demonstrate those calls for us? I'm sure everyone would like to hear them.;)
Sure I can "QUACK QUACK"......................"QUACK QUACK" :D

[Greg Savage]

Many call makers, including myself, find "O" rings to be a pain. Slightly taper the insert and that will give you a snug fit into the barrel. If you cut the grooves for the "O" rings too shallow, the ring will be very tight and after a few times taking the call apart to tune the reed, you'll find that you are destroying the rings.

A little tutorial.

http://hometown.aol.com/dschwdturn/qew/DuckCalls/qqduckcallmaking.html

[Jeremy Freeman]

I have only made one of the duck calls from HUT and it didn't sound too good. I couldn't get it tuned either. On the other hand, the deer grunt calls sound as good or better than any that you can buy. Here is one from a red, white, and blue polyester resin blank that I cast.
http://www.penturners.org/forum/uploads/armyturner/2007112811149_call%20002.jpg

[Marvin Hasenak]

Jeremy, that is a nice looking deer grunt call, I love the colors. How brittle is that poured resin? Will it take a drop on concrete or will it shatter? Is it as hard to turn as cast acrylic?

Thanks

Marvin

[Jeremy Freeman]

Marvin,

The issue with the polyester resin is that it IS brittle. I have not done any "drop testing" to see what will happen, but I sure hope that the lanyard holds up. It is a little harder to turn than regular acrylic. You just have to make sure that you keep your tools sharp.