mouthcalls for dummies

[ghamlin10]

please help me out, i need a dummy guide for how to get a mouth call to work, felt like shooting myself last night triying to get it to work, then gave up, fealy depressed, THE SAME FEELING I GET WHEN I WATCH AN EPISODE OF LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRARIE................LOL

[RNC]

Primos sells a CD (think the title was Mouth Calls Made Easy) for learning how to use a mouth call. Very easy to follow and understand what they are explaining. I picked it 3 years ago when I started turkey hunting, it came with 3 calls, a case and the CD. If I remember right it was $20.

[kenturkey89]

The first thing you should know is that this happens to everyone who is just beginning to use a mouth call. I know it's not hard to be frustrated, but trust me, if you keep practicing you'll eventually get the hang of it and you'll start being able to make turkey sounds. There are some very helpful videos on youtube that I would recommend you take a look at because nearly all of them explain how to use a mouth call as if you've never used one before, so they start with the basics which is perfect for you right now. Hope this helps!

[shaman]

Brian is right:  it happens to most all of us.   It took me 3 years of trying before I got anything but a squeel out of one.  We could all talk until we're blue in the face at you.  There really is no explaining to it.  You stick it in, and hold it to the roof of your mouth and say "Chuck" or "Yawl" or some such.  Beyond that, it's moving things around until they work.
 
My one son picked it up in an evening.  The other took two years.  My buddy Supercore is still sounding like a cat being strangled after a year.

[icdedturkes]

First thing is fit, its got to be comfortable and allow for NO air to be hissing out the sides..

Next is where the air comes from and it is one thing most people never learn.. Blowing a mouth call is the wrong term, it is more of a huff..

I would pick up an instructional and than once you can make somewhat turkey sounds, throw it away and only listen to real turkeys..

[Duke0002]

I struggled like mad with the first few I bought, then I tried the smaller ones (youth size) and it made a world of difference!   

[mark hay]

Icdedturkes hit the nail on the head ,,,,HUFF,,,,,from your gut ,,,do not blow.
 Short huffing ,,,huff ,huff,huff = yelp ,yelp , yelp.
 
 How much range in sound can one get ?  Just see how much sound you can get . Try to play along with some ol' country & western song or something . By you learning just how much range you can accomplish you'll hear those turkey pitches in that mess and you'll soon figure it out .
 
 Like has been already said ,,,it usually takes a few or even several calls to find the right one .

[Cut N Run]

One of the best things you can do is just keep a call in your mouth and practice making different sounds on it.** In time you'll get it. I don't remember how long it took or how many calls I went through until I started making real-sounding calls, but when you get there, you'll know it. It's about like riding a bike, once you figure it out, it doesn't take long to come back to you.

**WARNING-- This is not a marriage enhansing activity. Keep calls in your vehicle to practice when you are driving alone and are not apt to annoy someone you love or damage another's hearing. I sometimes play a turkey sounds cd in the player in my truck and to mimic the sounds (and nobody's there to get annoyed with me).

Once you get a call that you can sound good on, get a few of the same model, because they do wear out. I buy about a dozen diaphrams every year of three different makes & models that work right for me (I also practice throughout the year). I had one particular make of diaphram that I could really talk turkey on. The manufacturer quit making it and went to an "improved" model that I never could get to sound right. Thankfully, there are many different options to try these days.

Keep after it. Not too many can pick up an instrument and play it right away. It will take practice. Good luck.

Jim

[Big10Inch]

I'm new to turkey hunting (my 4th year) and I taught myself to mouth call about this time last year. I used the Primos CD that RNC refers to and I found it was not all that tough to make passable turkey sounds in a few days. You can play the CD in the car, practice while you drive and get some really odd stares from passing cars. This exercise will help preserve your relationship.

The Primos CD includes 3 different sizes of mouth calls which is also helpful. You can figure out what size of call works best for you. I'm working on my cluck which only sounds fair and I haven't figured out the purr yet. I can yelp, cut, kee-kee and do the fly down OK. I don't profess to be an expert turkey hunter, but all of my learning experiences are recent or are works in progress, so I hope this helps.

The reason I wanted to learn to use the mouth call was to close the deal on hung up birds. In my first year of hunting, I tried to stroke a slate to encourage a bird that was out about 60 yards. He saw my movement and left in a hurry. Last year I worked 2 jakes with the mouth call for about 20 minutes. They were strutting out at 40+ yards and I only had an obstructed shot. They would lose interest and start to walk away and I would soft yelp at them and they would stop , move in a bit and strut again. It was a ton of fun. The jakes eventually broke strut and headed straight to my decoy. I bagged one of the jakes at 24 yards with a clear shot. I was going to pass up the jakes but we both worked so hard, I felt obliged to take one... and he tasted great too.

Good luck and have fun with it!
Peter

[kenturkey89]

Peter, that's funny that you mentioned getting odd looks from other drivers. Just the other day I was stopped at an intersection in the left turning lane waiting for the arrow to turn green. I had been doing some hard core cutting with some excited yelps and I finished the sequence with a few gobbles from my primos diaphragm. I just happened to look over to my right and the driver in the car didn't know what to think. I just turned back around and stepped on the gas and I had a good laugh about it[:D]. But you're right, practicing in the car is a good way to become a better caller while keeping your friends and relatives as well!