Ecall's VS Mouth/Hand call's

[pitw]

Okay so I'm not jacking some other thread I figured I'd start this one.  I have never used an ecaller and would like some input into why people do use them [brand isn't important].  I have two reason's that I use mouth call's and I'll list them for you.
1.  The easy button [as I call it] just isn't my way of doing anything.  I want to be part of the hunt and to me having some chinaman doing my calling doesn't do it for me.  I live most of my life this way,  My food doesn't come out of an easy package. My sprayer's don't have an easy button to drive themselves.  My kid's will never learn from an easy button [this is important to me].  If I was to take the easy route that many of my friend's and enemy's do I'd look like the dang blimp that hang's around sporting event's.  Just the learning what it takes to not push an easy button is an accomplishment in my opinion.  So what if I may not get as many coyote's, geese,deer or whatever, I feel good doing it my way.
2. The damb thing's are illegal here in Alberta [except for snow geese].  This one isn't as important to me as I maybe have stretched the word of the law a time or two anyway.
  Not looking for a fight just want to know why people use them.  Do people colect them like mouth call's?
Barry

[KySongDog]

  

[pitw]

 

That's it.  Wow good answer :roflmao: 

[FinsnFur]

I dont think people collect them, man you'd have to be loaded to do so.

I like to use an ecaller from time to time because I feel it's good for getting the attention drawed away from me as the caller.
I'm a strong believer that a coyote can pin point your location within 10 or 5 yards when he hears us howl or blow a distress. So an ecaller helps me to get that focus onto a different location.

I dont think ecallers are the easy way to call coyotes. General rule of thumb from anyone thats been around this for a while is that if someone cant call coyotes with a hand call then they surely arent going to with an ecaller.
The problem is, too many people think an ecaller is the ultimate answer to endless easy kills, but 9 times out of 10 it's their inexperience that leads them to this belief.

Ecallers are, in my opinion an alternative. Not a superior, failsafe.

[pitw]

Okay I can see the point of the coyote pinpointing you.  If an Ecaller freezes up do you put it down your pant's or under your arm to thaw it out?  Does an ecaller gain in price as it get's older?  Who may I ask makes the best hand made mouth call for coyote's.    [Man am I looking forward to the answer to this one{semp you're gonna have to share the corn}]

[5 SHOTS]

I agree with Jim on this. I use an e-call mostly because I don't get light headed while waiting for a coyote.....I smoke....too much.

[Bills Custom Calls]

Barry when you say the best do you mean the best looking call or the best sounding call
The best looking call might call a coyote but the best sounding call, well both will call a coyote if it is used well enough to convince the coyote to come to the call.What you consider the best call may be the worst call in someone else's
opinion.

So calls are very similar to women.The best is in the eye of the beholder

[FinsnFur]

A good Ecaller wont freeze. You seriously get what you payfor.
In such case you have a cheapy and it DOES freeze up, your done It goes back to the truck to thaw out.

Most ecallers on the market today are not going to freeze up, there's nothing to freeze on them.
I used a Foxpro FX3 a couple years ago up here in minus 8 to minus 20 degree F temps all day long. The thing I experienced was battery life being shortened from the cold.

Do they appreciate in value? Absolutely not. Actually just the opposite, they depreciate.
Kind of like a computor, you go buy the best thing since Jello brand pudding and by the time you get home it;s outdated. Ok...that might be a little extreme, but you get the point.

Who makes the best hand made mouth calls.
Easy question. 
The person that makes the best hand made mouth calls is the person that makes a call that does what you want it to do, and is easy on the eyes.
All these guys got their own techniques and for the most part, it's all jewelry with a tone board or enclosed reed. The reed makes up 90% percent of the call in my opinion.
When was the last time you got a hand call and ripped the tone board out of it or the JC reed, to get a closer look at it and was completely awestruck with it's beauty? It dont happen. The reeds are ugly they all look the same and there is no way to make them beautiful. The art comes with the body of the call.
Find someone that can tweak a reed  to make it easy to blow the sounds YOU want it to blow, and can spin a body to hold your attention as tight as it holds the reed, and you got YOUR best call maker.

[RShaw]

An ecaller is a tool just like a lot of other things used to kill coyotes. A rifle has an easy button. It is called a trigger. The sprayers around my part of the country have one too. It is called an ignition.

There is a lot of strategy involved with an ecaller. Like Jim said, a lot of people think they can buy one and be successful overnight. Aint going to happen. Actually, to really realize the full potential of an ecaller, a person should use hand calls first.
Then after having a lot of dead coyotes under your belt, you can see the advantages in certain situations.

They don't freeze up because they are digital. Should the batteries get sluggish, you can push the easy heater  button in your truck to warm them up. Also, for the most part they do not gain in price.

Best hand calls.  Critter Call peewee and standard.


Randy

[possumal]

pitw:  A lot of good replies from all the guys.  I have always used a combination of ecaller and hand calls.  I set up a little further from the ecaller than some guys do, which makes the playing field I am watching somewhat bigger. I may start off with a howl or two from my hand held howler, and then watch a few minutes.  Then I might let one of my howls go on the ecaller, making the coyotes think that coyotes are on the move in their territory. Watch again.  If no customers show up in a couple of minutes, I may go to one of my sequences which combine coyote vocalizations and prey distress, and that is very often the step that triggers a response.  I think that a hunter who is good with his setups and his ecaller is probably one who is also good with mouth calls.  Being able to get the sound away from you is the big advantage, coupled with being able to present a lot of prey distress sounds that you may not be able to make with a mouth call.

[nastygunz]

ANYBODY..........can take an e-caller out and slay crows.........id own my FX3 just for that fact....it is deadly on them.....I used handcalls for a long time..good ones too like Jack Minceys...after trying the FX3 out ive pretty much retired the handcalls......thats an advantage if your a crow hunter....of course the set up camo ammo shooting is up to you....but guaranteed if there are crows about and oyu hit DEATH CRY OR CROW FIGHT....YOU WILL HAVE INCOMING ....I also use a mix of hand and electronic for predators.....the handcalls are just plain fun to mess with and make noises!...and its the same rush you get calling in turkeys and waterfowl....which in NH anyways, you cant use electronic calls.

[KySongDog]

 

That's it.  Wow good answer :roflmao: 

Thank you.  I thought it was appropriate for the question asked.     You are more than welcome to share the corn as well. 

I knew you would get good answers from folks lots more knowledgeable than me.   But since you seem interested, here's my $.02.   An e-caller is just another tool in the box.   If it is legal to use, it might help so why not?    Getting the sound away from you is an advantage.   Playing the same sound over and over is a disadvantage.    I have hand calls too.    One is a Wally World plastic call I called a coyote with at LBL.   It was a lot cheaper than my Minaska.   

[CCP]

a person should use hand calls first.
Then after having a lot of dead coyotes under your belt, you can see the advantages in certain situations.

I agree!

I still use hand calls most of the time. When I am hunting problem coyotes that have to be gotten rid of I use hand calls only.

Crows?
I cant beat a e-caller when it comes to crows e-caller wins hands down in that department.

I have noticed  from hunting around guys that kill coyotes with e-callers but never with hand calls. They usually have a hard time with hard to call coyotes I believe the reason is they are trying to setup where they can see the caller and coyote and need a larger open area. When a hand caller is more used to working tight areas with little visibility and spends more time figuring out where the coyote is going to come from.

 

[Frogman]

I too use both hand calls and e-caller.  I am relatively new to coyote and predator hunting.  I didn't even know what a lot of the coyote vocalizations and prey sounds sounded like til I got my e-caller.  Now I can more closely reproduce those sounds with my mouth calls.  Here in WV the terrain and thickness of the foliage  makes it really difficult to see coyotes that you have called in.  Seems like the coyote has all the advantages.  I see the e-caller as a tool that gives me at least a fighting chance to get a coyote into view.  Like possumal I like putting the e-caller way out in front of me 75 - 100 yards.  I will begin the stand with the mouth call, usually prey distress of some sort, then go to the e-call with a similar sound.  The coyote will try to downwind the sound and will occasionaly do so betweeen me and the e-caller.  When the leaves are on and the foliage thick I usually hunt meadows where I can see a ways.  Now that the leaves are off the trees and visibility is better in the woods I will hunt more there.  I invested quite a chunk of change in the e-caller I have, but I have already gotten lots of use out of it.  To me it has been worth it.  I also have an old Sears Predator hand call I inherited from my step-father.  It too has been effective at calling in coyotes.  I use both hand calls and e-caller on just about every stand.  I still think I call way more predators that I never get to see.  That's why it is such a thrill to finally get one in my sights and get "fur down".

Jim

[alscalls]

I would rather count the experiences with others than remember what call I was using. I can remember Frogman and I driving for a long time and then walking to our first stand we realized the expensive e- caller was at home..... We had lunch after many sets(mouth calls only) and a great day....We even picked some blackberries...
The Walnut call I made and frogman just won in the drawing? I remember killing a doe that came to see what I was cutting with my chainsaw.........it was a dead walnut tree on my farm and I let it dry in my home for years and then made that call.
The deer horn howler I made for Mr. Sharp? Found horn, and I could walk you to the spot on the ground.
The little call I made PitW ? Was a mistake.That call started out a lot bigger and drove me nuts making it so I gave it to him and whats he do? Kills a crap load of yotes with it. I love all that comes with the hunt and there can be memories made with a plastic call with an easy button or with one made from a tree I remember.

[Frogman]

Wow Al,

I kind of thought that call looked like one of yours!  Thanks for donating it to the drawing.  Now I can be proud to add an alscalls call to my lanyard.   

Now we just need to get out so I can try it!!   

Thanks also to all those who donated items to this drawing for LORDDAL, Thanks to those who bought tickets and made donations, and Thanks to Bill for doing a great job putting it all together.  You guys are great!!   

Thanks!!

Jim

[Jimmie in Ky]

Both are simply tools to get a job done. While I work hard at making many diferent sounds with a mouth call there are some I will never be able to reproduce for what ever reason. I use the e-caller to throw sounds at problem animals that they have never heard and put them where they will do me the most good at th time. And I still use my cassete player and amplifying speaker for this. I just need a couple of sounds for the job. Jimmie

[pitw]

Wow   I got called on the phone and had to go to a skinnin'[seee'n as I know's how].  Just refreshed the thread and amazed at he good answer's to my post.  
   I Know there is no best hand call maker but Jim answered the question admirably .  I like the tree story a lot but what I think I like the most?  Is the answer's has gave me pause for reflection.   Everything I saw didn't please me [doesn't when I shave either]  I'll agree that the ecaller isn't easy now as you are telling me you carry [how many pound's] of extra equipment iinto the field and farther than I would.  I'll agree that they are a tool, no different than the hand call I use, that was so lovingly made by Al[Screw up Eh].   I find the discussion on calling set's in far different terrain most intriguing and will pursue it more.  I am positive without a doubt in the world that 99+% of the people who answered this post are better caller's than I [I may have access to more coyote's] and am willing to listen when you speak [listen, not alway's agree].  I like the part where you even invite me to partake of a meal and thank you.   I've never thought of it as a teaching tool because I pretty much had nature as a teacher and will be trying this method[I don't even push on the soundbite's now].   

Thank's guy's but just when you had me talked into calling the crimson amphibian about getting one I remembered it still don't change the fact they're illegal here. 

[bigben]

I mainly use it for daytime stands.  nightime I use a hand call.  normally a critrcall standard.  it is just easier to work a fox in at night with a hand call then it is a e call.  I use my e call for the sounds I cannot do on a hand call.  the big ones are the coon distress sounds and fox sounds.  this year has been a slow one for me but I have not been hunting as much as i usually do.  most of the area hunters are saying the fur aint there this year.  and I have to agree with them. 

[nastygunz]

Speaking of banned e-callers.........everyone should be proficient with mouth calls in case they go old school and ban e-callers where you hunt....your batteries die....it breaks...is stolen, etc....it always pays to have a backup plan