flute or sort reed

[HXCwaterfowler]

Which is easier to blow, a flute or short reed?
which sounds better?

[IowaMigr8tor]

Both have their advantages. I can't tell you which is easier to blow because everyone calls a little different. I use both and both sound great. Your short reed is going to reach out and grab birds a long distance away. Where as your flute is not going to carry that far. However I feel that with a group of callers both calls need to be utilized. The big difference in the flute and the shortreed is the back pressure required to use the call, the flute takes alot. I am a cautious person when it comes to purchasing calls, normally I won't buy it if I don't have a chance to try it first. There would be nothing worse that dropping a load of $$$ on a premium call and not being able to use it. It may be hard to track down a Meatcutter flute to blow, it took me a year to track one down close to me!

I give this advice to everybody that asks what call is best for me and that advice is pick up the calls in question and blow them. You have to make the decision on which is easier and which sounds better. It helps to have a seasoned caller to help you from a third party perspective, the salesman is always going to say you sound good no matter what because he will be making a sale and probably some $$ off of your purchase.

Good luck, I also suggest when you buy to buy Foiles. In my opinion they are the BEST calls out there PERIOD!

[GearDownGang]

IowaMigr8tor - Very good advice. If I were new to waterfowling I would find someone that has a few calls and try them. I am from the old school and trust me when I say switching from a flute to a short reed takes some time. Yeah you young bucks switch back and forth without any problems. :P I know the biggest problem I had was my tongue and learning where it was supposed to be for different sounds.

So far as sounding better. I'll take the short reed any day of the week. Volume is the biggest difference between the two.

[IowaMigr8tor]

Thanks man.
The only reason why I can switch between the two I believe is that I started out on the short reed. I still have to be carefull when I call on my SMH because I catch myself tryin to flip my tounge. The best solution to my problem is I almost stick my toung in the call(touching the guts almost) that way when I use my shortreed I know that my tounge is to be down. But I agree being a younger call definatly has its advantages, we have been able to learn on some of the best calls ever produced! Which is a great thing!

[Nick McArthur]

If you are a beginner to this deal, then I would definitely choose a short reed out of the shoots, whether it be a poly or an acrylic; the reason being that a short reed call is the most versatile in sounds that are made on it.

But, there are sounds on the Meat Cutter that are unique to it and cannot be duplicated on the short reed. My advice is, after the short reed is working well for you, if you are still looking for another call to master, go ahead and try out a Meat Cutter, let me tell you, you will not be disappointed with its performance either....it is a great tool to have on the lanyard.

[IowaMigr8tor]

Just put a Meatcutter on my lanyard the Friday before christmas. It has already been a success! I love its sound and there without a doubt are notes that you can make on the flute that are impossible to duplicate on the shortreed. I have been using a short reed for 5 or 6 years last year made the leap for the SMH and loved it. Purchased a SMM and then it exploded into a TS and Meatcutter. I love these calls and there is no goin wrong with them!

[HXCwaterfowler]

ok, thanks for the advice but is there a noticable difference in the difficulty of blowing them?

[IowaMigr8tor]

I find the flute easier, but it is going to be a challenge at first. Both are easy once you get it down. I would start with the short reed SMH!

[iawaterfowler88]

short reed is harder to master.....but once you have the basic clucks and moans and grawls down....you can move on to the 2 goose sounds and all the double clucks and what not....personally i like the short reed better....more versitile in my opinion....also with the short reed you can go nuts and sound like a whole flock of geese between 2 or 3 callers....if you dont believe me tape yourself and buddies calling sometime and play it back and its an awesome way to fix any problems with calling.....

[IowaMigr8tor]

Dude that guy tape'n the other day when he went to play back what he had recorded my head popped up lookin for geese. I don't know how many people were calling but it had to of been at least 3 or 4.

[Max4Gooser]

I am with GDG, I had called exclusively with a flute call for the last 22 years, and really love the sound of them, I recently picked up a New SMH and have been working with it every day, It has been difficult for me to make the transition, since I was so used to using my hands and tongue. Now that I have gotten the hang of the Short reed, I love it. I can switch back and forth between the two now, but the first note might not be pretty :wink:

My advice would be as said before, try before you buy, and definately consider the short read first, I think it would be a lot easier going from a short reed to a flute than the opposite. I will allways carry both my meat cutter and smh for now on and switch up depending on what the birds wen't to hear.

Oh and definately consider Foiles, I have esed and owned calls by all the big name manufacturers, and now after all this time the only calls you will find on my lanyards (both duck and goose) are Foiles, with the exception of my Duck Commander 6 in 1 whistle, Jeff please make some of these soon so I can get rid of the DC one :D

Max4

[iawaterfowler88]

iowamigr8tor.....i was impressed that it sounded more "flockish" with 3 different callers and all of our calls sound different and we all have a little different styles of calling than i origionally thought.....but yeah when you play em back like that you really realize how much ya'll sound like geese because when the actual hunt is going on a lot of times you basically hear only yourself and the notes your consentrating on making so that you wont mess up...and then you are reading the geese and running through how they will approach and what not and there really isnt time to try to do more than that lol.....

[IowaMigr8tor]

Yeah you have alot running through your mind in the seconds before you pull up and shoot. Also I agree that Foiles needs to get a whistle out so my lanyard will be all foiles. The whistle is the only thing on my lanyard without a silver foiles migrators band. :lol:

[kingkilla]

yea i personally sux at the short reed, and im fixen on getting a meatcutter.

[Max4Gooser]

Kingkilla, don't give up on the short reed, I have had mine for two weeks, and blowin it everyday, and reely like it, I am already starting to prefer it over the flute, can't believe how fast you can go with it. I still love my meatcutter, but I am definately becoming a short read convert, SMH in particular.

Keep trying, work with your buddies that blow short reeds, make sure it is tuned properly, so you aren't making it harder on yourself to learn.
Practice, practice, practice, you'll get the hang of it.

[IowaMigr8tor]

We will get you callin on that short reed in no time at all Kingkilla. Get rid of that Goosezilla, I think it takes more air. I have a True Tone that we could tune it a little easier(less air) to get you started. It is one of the easiest shortreeds to start on.

[Max4Gooser]

I am with Iowamigr8er, dump that Goozilla, and step up to a real short reed, buy a Meat Grinder if the SMH aint in your current budget. Those other calls out their may cause you to learn bad habbits, by being out of tune or just not up to the standards of a FM call. You will get the hang of it, especially with a better call and some good teachers.

[Killer Miller]

Flutes are generally a begginers' call of choice. They are definately easier to learn on than a short reed. I know I started on one but went to a short reed in the fall of '04. Started on an Illusion then after learning the basic sounds, I bought an all blue SMH from the Scheels in Des Moines. I love it. In my opinion, if you can learn, a short reed SMH is THE TICKET!!!

[Max4Gooser]

Flutes back in the day where the way to go. They used to be what won all of the contests, and killed all the birds. They where easy to learn, but hard to truely master. People who learn on flutes first have a hard time switching to short reeds. I know I did, Flutes make some great sounds that can not be made by short reeds, but at the same time are slower and less versatile. I now use an SMH as my primary and sometimes switch back and forth to the Meat Cutter.

I'll recommend again that you go with a short reed to start, learn it first, and you will love it.