Finesse with a mouth call

[Myakka Chuck]

Hi, Scott,

I am pretty good with pot calls for most of the major turkey sounds, and reasonably proficient with diaphragm mouth calls at the louder and easier calls (clucks, putts, purrs, yelps, tree yelps) which is all you really need to kill a bird. But some of the finer, quieter, more subtle and less known sounds elude me but I would like to expand my arsenal. I know it has something to do with tongue placement but can't seem to make it work. I tend to like raspier sounding diaphragms, with usually means 3 reeds. Could that be making it more difficult to manipulate the latex? What are some of the more subtle calls and how can I do them with a mouth call?

Thanks,

Long beards, sharp spurs, and beautiful mornings to ya!

[Quinnsolo12]

To tell you the truth, IMO it is not so much tongue placement but how far forward or back the call is in your mouth... if that makes any sense. I guess that is the same thing as tongue placement, but by moving the call around and changing the way the air moves over the call, you can get those soft and quiet sounds that you are looking for. just like a box call, you have to find the sweet spot. Anything can be done with a little practice. I'd see what other members have to say about this. good luck

[scott ellis1974]

Just as a quick lesson, place your tongue on the center of the call with light pressure. Then expell a light steady stream of air. While expelling the air move your tongue from front to back and side to side until you find that clear note. You can clean up any mouth call by finding the sweet spot. When you attain the clear note you can whine, tree yelp, bubble cluck and cluck & purr. I explain all of this on my new mouth call instructional "Mouth Call Magic". You can purchase it on my website
scottellis-eliteturkeyhuntingandcalling.com You will not be disappointed. It will also help you refine all your calling including yelping, cutting and cackling.
SE

[Myakka Chuck]

Thanks, guys. I'll try that. Part of the problem is the vibration of the reed(s) on my tongue tickles me so bad I can't do it for more than a second or two. But that used to happen all the time when I first started using mouth calls. Maybe the video will help, Scott, but to be honest, I think I saw an outtake of it on a previous blog post and I didn't quite understand the instructions. But nice move with the marketing opportunity.

[scott ellis1974]

Myakka,

If the call is tickling your tongue your using the tip of it and pressing it into the reeds. You should only use your tongue as a unit. You can also move your jaw from side to side to assist in applying pressure to different sides of the reeds.

I am not sure who posted up out takes of my video. I have not coordinated that with anyone. In Mouth Call Magic I give simple instructions that are easy to understand. It is backed by 27 years of me running mouth calls and finding out what works.

SE

[Myakka Chuck]

Hey, Scott,

I think I tend to pressure the reeds on a point on my tongue about 1/3 of the way back from the tip, but I'll try the side to side jaw motion.

If I am remembering correctly, I think the video outtake was a short one posted on the T&TH newsletter basically showing what kind of advice was on your dvd and the topic at hand was somewhat related to my question here. I think it was you on the vid maybe not. you would know better than me, of course. I am an old, often sleep deprived beard chaser and sometimes I forget what Ah dun seen.

Regardless, thanks for your helpful replies.

MC