Hand Calls vs. E Callers...

[outlaw]

I have been investingating E-callers.  It seems like the concesous is that Fox Pro and Minaska(sp?) are the creame of the crop.  It is a lot of money, but I dont have a problem spend the money to get  a good one that will last me a long time. 

I have become very proficient with my handcallers.  Howling, distress, whatever.  I am by no means contest quality caller, but I practice every chance I get. 

Guess my question is, if a person is proficent with hand calls, is it still advantages to have an E-caller.  I know that it would be nice to set off from you to distract from yourself, and play the wind.  Are the sounds that much more realistic, to lure in more coyotes???   I hunt by myself a lot, how does that factor in.

A small portion of it for me is calling them in myself.  I have had duck and goose calls in my mouth since before I had a pacifier....  so there is some joy in hand calling for me too..  I just know as a begginer, I need any advantage I can get...

I have been looking at the Fox Pro, is an FX3 suitable, or if a person is gonna blow the load, should they step up to the 5???

I am trying to make a priority list.  I have been using my father in laws 22-250, but would like to get my own rifle.  I also need a new shotgun, been shooting the same one since middle school(It works fine, just time to step up).   Right now the way I look at it, is and E-caller would be my first priority...   Unless convinced otherwise.

[Jimmie in Ky]

In my opinion you are better off learning the ropes with hand calls.

But, with a remote e-caller you can sit back and watch how they aproach a sound. What they use (terrain wise) and how they get there. The e-caller also has a variety of sounds that you might not be able to make with th mouth calls just yet such as grey fox distress and puppy wines.

If I were going to plunk down a chunk of cash for a new toy, it would be the rifle. You can take your time and find one that fits you physically and get them fairly cheap right now since it is end of season. There is a little more room for dickering with the traders. Jimmie

[bigben]

I use them both hand calls and ecalls.  the only problem with a ecaller is that everyone that owns that particular brand of ecall also has the same sounds as you.  unless you have a way to record your own sounds onto the caller.  if one of the companys came up with a way to be able to record your sound onto the caller with either your hand calls or a sound that you can make yourself.  it would be great.  hand calls.  I do not know of one person that blows each hand call the same.  you could pass a call around the room and get all different types of sounds.  if you can sound distressed then you will call in critters.

[RShaw]

Who needs an E Caller when you got a Steve Criner?


Randy

[keekee]

A e-caller is not a must for sure,but it does come in handy. Here in the East its nice to be able to get the calling sounds away from you. It will also help some in setting up in areas that hand calling would be tough, by doing this you can set from a high point and better vision on the predators comming into the call. And it helps some in very thick cover as well. In tight cover its hard to call and be ready to shoot, and if your by yourself it could be a big help.

You can record you own sounds on your computer as well. Just a desk mic and windows media player. Then run the sounds threw gold wave and clean them up. Convert them to MP3 and install on your caller.

We have all our hand call sounds on the FX5. And I love it. I can use the e-call and still get hand call sound. We recorded our hand calls just like we would use them on stand, then set them at a 15 min sound loop. So you get 15 of diffrent sound not the same thing over and over.

Also there are some sounds that are out there that sound darn good and would be hard to duplicate with hand calls. If you hunt by yourself allot it may be something to think about.

Brent

[outlaw]

Also there are some sounds that are out there that sound darn good and would be hard to duplicate with hand calls.

That was kind of my thought.  In pheasant country I have been wanting to do a pheasant distress, and cant figure out how to do it on my hand call.  I have been trying to listen to the sound off FoxPro, and duplicating it.  The other reason is, none of the guys I hunt with can call.  So it would be nice to be able to be multiple coyotes, two rabbits, or a serinade of sorts.... combining the e-caller and myself...

Are you mainly using the distress calls, or the howls too???

[CrossJ]

Who needs an E Caller when you got a Steve Criner?

I'll second that

[BigB]

I carry enough stuff into a stand already, so I don't and won't carry in an e-caller along with everything else.  I enjoy calling with hand calls.  It is me vs them, and if one doesn't come in, then I only have myself to blame. 

my 2 cents.

Brian

[Smith]

Who needs an E Caller when you got a Steve Criner?


Randy

:roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: + 3

[outlaw]

I'm not smart enought to be the head cashier at Wal-mart, but I must be missing a inside joike ......

Thanks for the advice guys.....  think I am going to stick with my hand calls for now, and tell my one buddy he either needs to get an E-caller or learn how to call too.....

Now just tryin to figure out which new rifle I am going to buy......   

[securpro]

I also am fairly new to Predator Hunting and have tried hand calls ,they definitly need to be practiced ! I am no good at it now but will keep practicing though. I am currently using a FoxPro FX3 and love it for the versatility in heavily wooded areas and the ability to remote control a decoy is a big plus. I will be upgrading my FX3 to a FX5 after the season mainly for the remote functions,I have only had my FX3 since mid december and it has worked great and I am very pleased with the FoxPro products and sounds . I live and hunt in Ky where in my case I think that distress call produced away from me is far better than having a coyote pop out of the brush 5 feet away.  just my .02

securpro

[Jimmie in Ky]

Securpro, you don't know what your missing whne the coyote comes head on at full tilt into a shotgun blast. Or you can sucker it into 15 feet and see the look in it's eyes change to that oh crap notion. Now that is coyote hunting :biggrin:Jimmie

[keekee]

I like my hand calls! Most of my stands are hand called but there are times when the e-caller is a big help. I run threw my hand calls and howling just about every day for practice. Its a habit I picked up from Turkey calling. I'm always trying to duplicate new sounds. Sometimes when I am searching for a new sound I just blow the call, no set pattern or pitch, I just don't even think about it. I run the scale and then just dink with the call. Its a great way to pick up new sounds or diffrent little things to add to your calling.

We been working on some shotgun stuff for the next video. We have a couple on film that just about eat the e-caller before we shoot. Some that leave and then come back. Once we started playing with the e-caller I was surprised how close they would get to it before spooking. It worked out well out west in the wide open. We could crawl inside a little bush with the e-caller 10 yards away, in the wide open, the coyotes wouldn't even look at us until the shotgun went off.

Brent

[Ladobe]

No doubt there are pros and cons with both hand calls and e calls, and they could both be scrutinized until the cows come home.   But in my minds eye making the choice of which you decide to use comes down to what you want back out of the sport.   The ease of just pushing buttons ... or the extra time investment and challenge of pitting your acquired skills more one-on-one against a very worthy adversary.

Anybody can push buttons and anybody can blow a mouth call.   No doubt it is much easier to be successful quicker by just pushing buttons.    But those that want the extra challenge of mouth calls are constantly practicing and learning how to improve their sounds and discovering new ones, and that mind set tends to lead them to constantly improve their skills in all facets of predator hunting as well.   They don't want to make successfully calling predators as easy as possible - the hunt itself is more satisfying to them than the numbers killed.

There are many very skilled predator hunters out there now and some of the best still use mouth calls only.   Would be nice to see more of them take the next step and go back to the roots of the sport like some of us have.   Leave their camo and laser guided missile launchers at home and hunt more traditional.   No one can really fathom what a very satisfying challenge that is until they hone their skills to the point of trying it for themselves.

At any rate, IMHO all wannabee predator hunters should learn the basics first, including how to use their mouth calls well before they dive into the e callers.   The lessons learned will serve them well even as a button pusher.   And that can come in real handy when the batteries die.   

 

[RShaw]

No inside joke intended. I just meant that Steve is the best I have ever heard on a rabbit  call, coaxer call, or howler. Open reed or closed makes no difference.

Randy

[AWSparrows]

Guess my question is, if a person is proficent with hand calls, is it still advantages to have an E-caller.

Yes.

I mostly use my Foxpro while fox hunting but it comes in handy once in a while for coyotes.
One way I like to use it for coyotes is when I'm alone and I set it 70 yards or so up wind. I can howl and answer, or challange myself back and forth. 
works here in the PA woods.

Aaron

[outlaw]

This is what I wanted a good discussion about this.  I have been waiting for someone to pipe up and say, "you will never get the sound quality out of a hand call, that you will on an E-caller".  I guess that is just not the case.

What sounds are you mainly using on your E-callers, the distress sounds or coyote vocalizations????

The ease of just pushing buttons ... or the extra time investment and challenge of pitting your acquired skills more one-on-one against a very worthy adversary

I have alot of respect for that statement.  That really hits home with me.  As stated before, I have had a goose call in my hands practically since I was in diapers, I have always loved calling in and having a huge flock of geese locked into a decoy spread.  It would take something away for me, if all I had to do was push a button, and watch them come in. 

I just meant that Steve is the best I have ever heard on a rabbit  call, coaxer call, or howler. Open reed or closed makes no difference.

Hope I didnt disrespect someone with the inside joke comment.  I hope someone says that about me in 10-15 years...


K.. since I am prolly gonna stick with my handcallers for now, it leads to another question which maybe should be another post.  You guys are prolly gonna laugh, but right now, I am primarily using Primos calls...     I feel like I have come to a pretty good mastery of these calls..   I would like to mix it up some and add some more to my collection.  Two things involved here, first we are aquiring permission to more and more land, but it looks like this year, I may hunt the same spots 4-5 times.  I would like to have some different calls so I am not using the same ones at the same location all the time.  Second, I just love to buy calls....    So if someone has some recomendations..  let em fly, I love to buy custom calls...

Brent... that sounds just like me, obviously I am prolly not as good of a caller as you, but I have drove my wife, cat, and buddies all nuts practicing with my calls.  Every chance I get, I have them out... matter of fact I have them laying on my desk right now...

[AWSparrows]

I just love to buy calls....    So if someone has some recomendations..  let em fly, I love to buy custom calls...

There are a lot of great call makers on this site, THO, Arkyyoter, Kee Kee, Hawks Feather, to name a few.

Here is a link to the game calls forum.
http://finsandfur.net/forums/index.php?board=5.0

[outlaw]

Guess I need to open my eyes before I ask some questions... 

[Jimmie in Ky]

I guess I am a coward. I practice when there is nobody around but me and the dogs. That way I don't get kilt, just licked to death

The one call I think every one should get is the Cronk Killer jr. He only makes them upon request but they are the best small open reed I have used. Lot of sounds out of that little call. And you can play it like a musical instrument fi you wish.Jimmie