looking for all wood goose call

[takem]

i want a all wood goose call, now what do you guys suggest? smh,hph,market hunter?
all love my smh but i just want to add another call to my lanyard that has a little different sound.

[Nick McArthur]

Wood calls are great and sound well, but require a little more care than an acrylic. Unlike acrylic, wood is susceptible to the elements and moisture, it will swell and contract as moisture builds and leaves the call.

If you are looking to add another sound and want a type of wood, I personally would go with wood/acrylic combo........not taking nothing away from a wood call, they sound great, but I like something I ain't got to worry about it at ALL.....they ain't for me.

I guess to give you some direction from my point of view, try a MH in the wood/acrylic or just go with an all acrylic MH or HPH....they are both higher in pitch than a SMH and are great calls.......hope I helped you out....any other questions, don't hesitate to ask.......

[h20fowler]

Are you suggesting a wood bell, or wood stopper?

[Nick McArthur]

Wood Barrell and Acrylic Insert

[Mark Spence]

I have several all wood calls....and I LOVE the sounds. But, like Nick said, they do require a bit more care and attention. The wood WILL swell and contract, causing your insert to become a little loose at times and so tight you can't get it out at others. Personally, I can put up with the hassle as I love the sounds out of those calls, but I can see the reasons from the other side as well.

Currently, I have all Flamed Hedge SMH, SMM, and TR...and will be adding an all flamed hedge HPH (just like in the pic).

If you are willing to take the little extra care and attention an all wood call needs, by all means, get one!!! The mellowness and hollow sounds you get out of a wood call are awesome!!!

If you are not willing to take the extra care and attention, then definitely go with a wood barrel/acrylic insert, like Nick suggested. Kind of the best of both worlds.

TO EACH HIS OWN!!!!

[h20fowler]

Ok. In speaking about "extra care" what should one be doing with wood calls that they may or may not be doing?

Other then basic cleaning and not leaving them in the truck to get the temp variences I am curious if I should be doing something else. I run a SMH Just as you described.. wood/ acrylic.

[Nick McArthur]

I don't do anything special with my wood/acrylic SMH, it is on my lanyard, and all I do is clean it and lubricate it....the barrell really doesn't have the swelling problem, that is the insert.

[Mark Spence]

You are doing well with what you are doing with your wood/acrylic calls.

With my all wood calls...each time I use them - I bring them home, into the house, take out the inserts, rinse/clean them, and let them dry out separately. Make sure you keep up on the O-ring lube...or you will run into what I did where the inserts are "stuck" and you cannot get them out. If that happens, let the call sit for a few days, and dry out, and then try to get it apart.

Just takes a little more to tear them apart and let them dry out.....especially if you hunted them in the rain or snow, or dropped your calls in the water.

It's really no big deal....what's another couple minutes???

[njhonker]

takem......I agree competely with Mark and Nick......and I too LOVE my wood calls....I have an all green diamondwood SMH, a cocobolo/acrylic SMH, a green diamondwood/acrylic SMH and an all hedge Market Hunter...and a blue green diamondwood Timber Rattler....I really like the sound of the wood calls....and it's not that much extra care....they are great to have in addition to the acrylics.....

[takem]

well not much help at all, i don't care about the extra attention a wood call needs, i am a waterfowler so most of a waterfowlers gear needs attenetion, i care about the sounds, wood calls sounds better to me and i am wondering about which wood call you guys prefer?

[Mark Spence]

I prefer the sounds of Hedge....very mellow and hollow tones. I have a hedge SMH that I love. I will shortly be ordering a hedge HPH...which I am sure will be my go to water call.

Look at it, very generally, like this....the softer the wood, the more mellow the tone. Hedge is a pretty soft wood, while cocabola is a little harder. I had a Cocabola/Smoke Acrylic TR that I loved...but once I got the all hedge TR - I sold the other. There was a noticeable change in tone between the two.

If I were you...I would get the call you feel most comfortable with, whether it is a SMH, MH, HPH, MG, etc. in the wood version. Have the call tuned a littl deeper that your existing call. The choice of wood is yours....if you are looking for a really mellow and soft call for over water or to use as a finishing call in the field...go with the all hedge.

Any of those calls in wood are going to give a little different sound. it comes down to what call you are most comfortable with.

I hope that helped????

[Nick McArthur]

As far as I know, the differences are very subtle between the woods, they are all going to give you a mellower sound than acrylic.

Like Mark said, he has all Hedge calls, thats what he likes (both appearance & sound)......I personally think the differences are pretty minimal across the board, I could be all wet on that one, don't know.

So go with what you like best......maybe someone else can give you a little more insight as to how each wood differs......this is all I know about wood.

[Mark Spence]

The harder or denser the wood the is, the more crisp and loud the sound will be (much like acrylic). While, the softer or less dense the wood is, the more mellow less volume you will have.

Do a google serach to find the densities of the woods to compare.

Like Nick said...I really like the look of the flamed hedge and the sound even more!!!!

[takem]

thanks, that is more of an answer i was looking for

[Nick McArthur]

Learn something new everyday......thanks Mark....you really know your wood!!!

[h20fowler]

this brings up a question that I have... How can I tune my call "deeper" (may be jumping the gun since I haven't got my DVD yet). And what am I going to lose, if anything, by doing that. Will it need more air, less air, etc.

[Nick McArthur]

There is some info on how to tune a call in the Ask the Pro Staff Section under the thread name "Meat Grinder Tuning". This should give an idea as to how to tune your call.

You will not be losing anything as far as performance goes, but it will take more air to run the call. I know Kelly's Western Wingshooter DVD will have a segment on how to tune a call......and am sure it will be pretty entertaining as well.....hope this helps

[h20fowler]

I will go check that article out, Thanks!

And that was the DVD I was making reference to.

I'll tell you this though. You guys are on the ball for response time! Keep up the good work! It is appreciated!

[Nick McArthur]

Thanks a lot..........for me it just happens to be a slow day at work and don't have much else to do. But, we are always glad when we can help someone out...and we try to get a reply up as soon as possible....good luck.

[Nick McArthur]

Also so check out "Call Tuning/Theory" in the Pro-Staff Section as well.

[scouttracker]

If you are a guide, A wood call is not the way to go... I have busted so many calls ,before I fingerd this out I wish someone would have told me I could have bought a house in Florida.