Tips for using a howler

[clubmkred]

Hello everyone,

Can you guys give me some tips on how to use a howler? I have one of Al's Calls Howlers and a Reese Dog Howler and can't howl for beans...

I am new to hand calls, so I have been limited to distress sounds thus far.

I can't get a good howl to save my life. My howls are very "choppy"... rough... whatever you want to call it, but it is not smooth like the sounds that I hear on all of the examples...

Can anyone give me some tips or pointers for using a howler? How hard to blow, position on the tone board, etc... I need the basics, and then some...

Thanks,

Ed

[bigben]

first off your gonna have to practice a bunch.  I know right now you think it might sound bad but your never gonna get better without practicing. 

a few tips.  Try to use your diaphram to force through the call.  I have better air control when using my diaphram compared to puffin my cheeks up and blowing hard. 

try holding the howler at different angles.  also try using your top lip rolled over your teeth on the top of the reed. 

the position on the tone board is gonna be based on how hard you blow and the type of call.  The only way to know where to place your lips/teeth on the toneboard is practice.  sorry I couldn't help out anymore but its something that you kinda fall into your own unless you can get personal instruction.

[clubmkred]

Thanks for the tips...

I tried the teeth, I tried the lips, but I didn't try the lip rolled over the teeth. Yet.

I seem to howl very well with a very small open reed call, only problem is that the sound carry is very short. It's when I get into the bigger howlers is when I can't do anything.

[FinsnFur]

Throw the howler in the truck and do your practicing while your out and about (unless you live in San Fransisco) 
That way practice endlessly without ticking off the neighbors.

[clubmkred]

Throw the howler in the truck and do your practicing while your out and about (unless you live in San Fransisco) 
That way practice endlessly without ticking off the neighbors.

Ha, that's funny. I can't practice at or near my house, because that is where I mostly hunt. Out my back door, on our family's 80 acres in the suburb of Pgh.

I have been practicing in the truck, to and from work. I have to wear ear plugs... Not only because it is loud, but because I sound terrible. LOL.

It looks like I am smoking a crack pipe, only a matter of time before I get pulled over by the cops. .

[5 SHOTS]

It looks like I am smoking a crack pipe, only a matter of time before I get pulled over by the cops. .

That could be a fun conversation to have.....

[coyotehunter_1]

Hey Ed,
Hopefully I can explain what I am trying to say with written words. It’s a lot easier to show someone in person. Anyways, here are a few more little tricks you may want to try.

With an open reed call, before you start to talk the talk, take your fingers and slightly bend the plastic reed up and away from the base of the tone board. This will do several things; it helps break in & condition the plastic reed, also this lets you inspect between the tone board and reed for artifacts (pocket lint for example).  Another very important plus, it also gives you a moment to get your mind set in coyote mode.

If the open reed call uses one of those o-ring type rubber bands (those bands that male sheep hate) you might try adjusting the band back and forth along the tone board.  Moving the band towards the tone board’s tip produces a higher pitch, moving towards the bell and you should get more of a base sound. Don’t be afraid to experiment, plastic reeds are pretty tough.

You said you can make howls with the smaller calls but they are not that loud?
I’ve always preached quality foremost, volume second. Get your calls working right, then (if you need it) you can begin to increase the volume.  You may be surprised how well and far a howl can travel, even a soft one. Remember coyotes have excellent hearing, way better than us humans.

Having problems with the larger howlers?
Saying this without actually being there and hearing you work the call… maybe you are trying a little too hard… blowing the guts out of the call, so to speak.  Again I suggest starting off slow and easy. One or two good quality howls are worth a bucket full of broken ones.   

Don't know if this will help... good luck!

Chet

[bigben]

I think chet is onto something.  you might be forceing too much air through the call.  depending on reed thickness that could be the problem.

[clubmkred]

Well, a little update here:

I decided to purchase a Crit'R Call Song Dog to experiment with. To me, it was a cheap investment. I know that it is not a custom call that you guys promote, it's pretty ugly, but nonetheless functional. It came with the extra reeds and reed blocks. I figure that I could experiment with the different reed thicknesses to find out what feels comfortable to me. I am, although, finding out that I do better with a thinner reed, in general.

The calls that I am having trouble with are the ones with the thicker reeds. I am guessing (correct me if I am wrong) that the thicker reeds produce a deeper sound? If that is the case, I will start small and work my way up...

It's a start, but showing signs of progress.


Oh, by the way, the Song Dog came with that 54 page "instruction manual". Has anyone seen it? That was the first time I have seen anything written or published on the coyote life stages. I found that particular time line very interesting. Never seen anything like that before. It says that it "provides a time-table for coyote activity in the latitudes of Colorado. Coyotes in states north and south of Colorado may go through these activities a full month earlier or later."

I wonder how it relates to coyotes here in the east?

[shaddragger]

  Good luck with the howling, clubmkred! I think I sound just like a coyote but apparently the real yotes dont!

[FinsnFur]

Oh, by the way, the Song Dog came with that 54 page "instruction manual". Has anyone seen it? That was the first time I have seen anything written or published on the coyote life stages. I found that particular time line very interesting. Never seen anything like that before. It says that it "provides a time-table for coyote activity in the latitudes of Colorado. Coyotes in states north and south of Colorado may go through these activities a full month earlier or later."

I wonder how it relates to coyotes here in the east?

Coyote activity? I've never seen this brochure manual magazine thing but I'm assuming your referring to breeding, and yes there's going to be a slight geographical difference. Just like the Bass dont spawn the same time up here as they do in Georgia. Or the Whitetails, which are different based on geographical location as well. Or....any species for that matter.

[LBLDOG]

I always was paranoid practising going down the road. People meeting you on the road might think your taking a hit off a dope pipe :)

[FinsnFur]

Lean out the window LBLdog, that'll end those assumptions.

[clubmkred]

Coyote activity? I've never seen this brochure manual magazine thing but I'm assuming your referring to breeding, and yes there's going to be a slight geographical difference. Just like the Bass dont spawn the same time up here as they do in Georgia. Or the Whitetails, which are different based on geographical location as well. Or....any species for that matter.

Well, sorta, yes, and then some. I don't want to publish that info on here, for copyright reasons. But it gives you a year long timeline (estimated dates) as to when the adults dig out den sights in prep for the litter, when first litters are born, when they first emerge from the den, learn hunting, when they vacate the dens, to when they breed again, etc.

Kinda cool. Never knew the life cycle of the coyote.

[Greenside]

I decided to purchase a Crit'R Call Song Dog to experiment with. To me, it was a cheap investment.

Club, looking for a cheap investment to help with your howling? Go to the Critr'Call web page and buy the  volume 4 instructional cd.