A few calls and a sweet auction....

[yotehunter74]

Ok guys I will keep it simple... first off is a very nice hard to find honey color howler with copper inlays....    great sound and perfect size .... the inlays are hand sanded to fit perfectly..    45.00  shipped



Next is a super colored closed reed tip call... the casing is 7mm08  super sound....  color like this is hard to find in a tip...   20.00 shipped



next, is a LOUD springbok howler... great sound and did I mention LOUD!!!!!!    25.00 shipped


This is the 3rd of ten numbered, signed and engraved howlers.. it is a bit hard to see in the pic but it is a yote head  howling.(need work on my pics).. very nice color horn and a reese toneboard so you know this will call yotes.
  30.00 shipped





and last but not least.... I aquired the horn from an estate auction... not sure what the metal was at the time but thinking it would be something different... well... it still has a few of the original marks in it... but after taking it to a local shop they are almost certain it is pure silver.... I have polished on it enough that if it were just plated it would have been thru by now.... some of the tarnish in the details cannot be removed without some degree of damage to the metal detailing.the horn has been fit perfectly into the silver tip...  I will run this till  Friday at 9pm eastern   this is truely one of a kind...  I will go 50.00 to keep it here...

[yotehunter74]

ok guys  the auction is over.... i guess these are toxic calls...  lol     ok  the first 50.00 gets the btm call.... prices have also been changed on the tip and the engraved call also

[Todd Rahm]

Yotehunter,

I don't think your calls are toxic, but I'll be honest with ya, and this is me thinking out loud when I first saw this post.

The horn on the first howler is awesome, but I'm not in the market for an average looking horn, unless the colorations and markings realy catch my eye. Secondly, I need to be seeing a lot of your work and hearing good feed back before I spend $45 for a howler, made by someone I don't know anything about, to include your call making abilities. I'm not saying this is you, because I can't judge what I don't know, but its my money and I'm gona make sure its invested wisely when I purchase calls.


The second call is not my cup of tea.

The third call, unless someone does something different, once ya own one sprinbok, the rest are all the same.  Unless ya have established your own tone boards and sounds for them.  Which again leans towards the "I don't know anything about ya" catagory.

The last call peaked my intrest for a short bit, until I got to the tone board. Its just a personal preference of mine, but by sticking that tone board in it ya just dropped the value of the call and your work. If you would have made this call your own by making your own tone board...........I probably would have been all over it, as would many folks I'm sure, but right now I see it as a fancy amplifier for a KO call. 

I'm not big on auctions, unless its for a great cause, or an extremely nice call. Another thing thats probably not helping, is the fact that the general population here is not to interested in seeing this becoming an auction house for every call someone turns. I don't think this is what your doing here, but I'm guessing they and I don't want to feed that dragon and get that ball rolling at all.

What ya have here are mostly guys that have a boat load of or make calls, not a whole lot of new guys, maybe a few. What this means is they won't jump at everything thrown out, just at what they want or catches there eyes. This is kinda the slow time of the year, which can be contributing, who knows, but shared my thoughts with ya, maybe some one else will too.

So your not toxic by any means, nor are your calls.
Todd

[yotehunter74]

     silly me... I guess the whole thing about selling my calls to get them out there and get better known slipped my mind        been doing this for years just been away from the boards for awhile.......... to each his own... Todd, I have re-written this about three times now not wanting to rant or get in depth with a reply......  as for the auction part  my bad.... will not happen again.       didn't really understand your first comment about the horn on the first call being awesome, but not being in the market for an average horn... is it awesome or average?  nevermind  no reply needed. just me thinking out loud.

[FinsnFur]

I dont think Todd had any motives of dismantling your intentions yotehunter74.
I kinda get the feeling you took it that way, but rest assured that Todd is one of very few people I have ever seen refrain from attack with a keyboard.

I thought your calls looked fine. Better then some and not as good as others. I didn't bid myself simply because I'm not really looking for another howler. I'm not as sensitive about the tone boards, but that doesn't take away from me not needing another howler.

I think Todd made a pretty accurate statement when he said, "What ya have here are mostly guys that have a boat load of or make calls, not a whole lot of new guys, maybe a few. What this means is they won't jump at everything thrown out, just at what they want or catches there eyes."

Dont be offended by the lack of a sale my friend. Your on a forum that seems to be breaking from the typical masses. It's like a whole new era is coming over the call makers that are lumbering about in here, in which I seek no credit for....that's just the way it unfolded.
Some calls dont sell and some cause nothing short of bickering and hard feelings over the first one to see it.   

[THO Game Calls]

Yotehunter -

It's summer.  Not much activity in the call selling arena this time of year so don't let it get you down.

silly me... I guess the whole thing about selling my calls to get them out there and get better known slipped my mind  

That's a great way to do things.   Your thinking is right on.   The only thing I would ask myself is what are howlers from the recognized call makers going for?   Do a little market research sort of.  

Last year I bought a howler from BradH.  I paid 75 bucks for that one.   It came to me with a beautiful horn, a hand made and hand tuned tone board and a poured pewter piece between the horn and tone board.  

Now Brad is a recognized call maker.   Been at it a while.  I have another of his calls and it is very good.   I felt confident that paying 75 bucks for that horn was a deal for both of us.

Now that first horn you posted, the honey colored one with the copper inlays.   You might want to take some close ups of the inlays so we can see them better and show off your craftsmanship.  The way it looks now, you have a 10 dollar horn with a 3 dollar tone board in it and you want 45 bucks for it.   As call makers it's sometimes tough to put a price on our work, but ask yourself where your howler stacks up against other howlers being sold?  Is the going rate for a howler 45 bucks?  

been doing this for years just been away from the boards for awhile...

I have to be honest with you here.  I have been doing this for a long time too - and unless you used to go by a different name, I can't remember ever seeing you on the boards except in the last 6 or 7 months.   I know you make a couple post on Custom Calls  and PM but I don't remember seeing you around before.  

I guess my point is, unless people recognize you and your work, it really doesn't matter how long you have been making calls.  To them, you are a new call maker.  Which leads us back to the point about getting your calls out there.   You really need to do that, and maybe, take a hit for a while on the price until people can see what your calls sound like and look like in person.  

I have re-written this about three times now not wanting to rant or get in depth with a reply

One thing about this board, you wont get any VHJ's here like on other boards.  (VHJ = Verbal Hand Job)   People will tell you what they think good or bad.  As Todd said, there are very few newbies here.   Most of these guys have some miles under their boots and have put some fur on the stretcher.   It's unfortunate but some boards prey on new guys who end up with boxes of crap that just doesn't work, falls apart and is way over priced.  

So to sum up:

Keep making calls

Take some close ups of your work

Take the hit on the price until folks get to know you

And what ever you do, don't give up.

Good luck.  Hope to see more of your calls


Al
THO Game Calls
www.thogamecalls.com

[yotehunter74]

Well, thanks for the posts guys... Al,   I am working on the ability to take better pics up close... my current set-up will not take a clear pic showing that much detail.   I use to be on pm under whtnite calls.... sold there for awhile... then due to loss of my job and taking a job for less money had to make certain cuts and the internet was one of the first things to go... it happens...    I have sent my calls to SLYDOG and it was him who told me to not sell them too cheap because they are worth more than that..... He taught me to make calls about 7 years ago... and I can't thank him enough for his time and patience with me.. he started all this... lol      as with Loren Reese who got me into the molded calls... and is now producing those for me.... so if there is any question as to how those or the originals they are cast from sound.... please feel free to ask him, as he also helped me set the price on those......  there are no hard feelings about anything said here... its so hard to type emotion ... and truely get the point across.