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go to diaphragm calls

Posted: April 21st, 2018, 2:12 am
by Shenderson64
Im in the market to buy some new diaphgram calls an jus wondering what all you fellas are using. Or what is yalls favorite go to call. I appreciate the info fellas!

Re: go to diaphragm calls

Posted: April 21st, 2018, 7:21 am
by Southern Sportsman
Mouth calls are an odd thing. I have friends who love woodhavens, and sound great running them, but they just dont do it for me. I think the “best” mouth call is different for each individual.

Personally, I absolutely love Tom Teasers. The “Butt Naked Hen” and the “cracked corn” are my go-tos.

Re: go to diaphragm calls

Posted: April 21st, 2018, 7:45 am
by Yule
I recently picked up a Zink, Z- Cutter and like the way it sounds. My go to is the Primos - Kevin Meacham-1. Seems like I buy a couple new calls, every year. When I find one I like, I go back and get 2 or 3 more. I hold the line at around $8 / call. Not sure what you get with the ones that cost $14, I need those extra dollars to pay for shot....

Re: go to diaphragm calls

Posted: April 21st, 2018, 12:53 pm
by Waddle Whacker
One I made. This seems to be my flavor of the week. Everybody is different. Something I like, you may not.
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There are plenty custom makers out there. Quite a few on this forum. I’d catch up with one of them and tell them what you’re looking for. They can make it. I just can’t be a Woodhaven fan. They’re really good calls, and I used to blow em, but I’m not paying $15 for a diaphragm. Partly why I started building my own.

Re: go to diaphragm calls

Posted: April 21st, 2018, 2:37 pm
by dsunday
I love Sadler McGraw's ghost 2.5 and pro combo cut.

Re: go to diaphragm calls

Posted: April 21st, 2018, 2:43 pm
by jryser
Hook’s are awesome. I killed this bird yesterday Bc of my Hook’s Executioner 2.

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Re: go to diaphragm calls

Posted: April 21st, 2018, 4:03 pm
by Gooserbat
I know a guy who builds quite a few each year. According to him one guy will love a certain call while the next not so much. Mouth calls are personal preference. I run V cuts and ghost cuts the best. I sound bad on bat wings. Everyone is different.

Second is the reed material and strech. I recommend trying several brands and not be cought up in the hype of any certain brand. There's to many great mouth call makers who are not found on the latest videos or in big box stores.

Re: go to diaphragm calls

Posted: April 21st, 2018, 10:22 pm
by Shenderson64
I appreciate the info. And i couldnt agree more with the whole call sounds good to one fella an he can make it sing, then the next poor fella cant much more then make a sound with it LoL... Ive went out an picked up couple mouth alls that my buddies use an i ended up trashin them. Again, i appreciate yall! I may give custom mouth calls a try

Re: go to diaphragm calls

Posted: April 22nd, 2018, 12:35 pm
by hobbes
For the most part, I prefer combo cuts. Im not too hung up on any one manufacturer. I've had good calls and bad calls (at least for me) from several manufacturers. The last couple years Ive ran a couple of Joe Slaton's (Motherlode Calls) combo cuts. Ive also ran Hooks that were good. Before those, I ran multiple calls off the shelf from all the mass producers. I'll still pick them up occasionally when Im out of town in late winter and stop in at Cabelas or Sportsmans. I ran a couple HS last year on occasion and had no trouble killing turkeys with them. I picked up a three pack of Knight and Hale a month or so ago because I noticed they were all combo cuts with different reeds. They are good sounding calls in my opinion.

It's rare that using a specific call is the reason you kill turkeys. The reason that I kill 99.9% of my birds with mouth calls is I use them 99.9% of the time. The same can be said for manufacturers.

Re: go to diaphragm calls

Posted: April 22nd, 2018, 2:04 pm
by howl
I have two that I have used for maybe ten years. I run only these two because they are effective and run the same while having different sounds. Having several different mouth calls and trying to remember how to run each was not a good plan for me. I found two that run the same, have different sounds and sound like actual turkeys where I most often hunt.

I have a stockpile of both in the fridge. I wouldn't tell what they are on a bet. I will tell that having used so many of the same call I have found that one in ten won't sound right. In fact, I've switched from one I wasn't quite satisfied with to a new example of the same call and immediately had better results on turkeys. This is why there's a limit to how much I'll spend for a mouth call. There're too many duds to pay a whole lot for one.

I think this is a tip: You should be able to just pop a call in your mouth and run it. If it takes soaking and oral gyrations to get a turkey out of it, then it is not a good call or at least not a good call for you in particular.

Re: go to diaphragm calls

Posted: April 22nd, 2018, 4:00 pm
by Swampchickin234
I’m a pretty big fan of combo cuts, as they fit my air travel well. Houndstooth, hooks, woodhaven etc. I love small calls like hooks and cut all of mine to those dimensions. It fits me. Like everyone said, what I run good, the next might not. What you run great, I might cannot. Find a cut you like and that fits you good and build off of that. I was given that info several years ago and it helped me stay consistent.


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Re: go to diaphragm calls

Posted: April 22nd, 2018, 4:05 pm
by guesswho
Not sure what it's calls but a batwing cut by Primos.

Re: go to diaphragm calls

Posted: May 24th, 2018, 6:50 pm
by Hooksnhorns
I run gooserbat's Hillbilly exclusively. I usually order 2 every yr. They are consistent and I can run em well. Try em.

Re: go to diaphragm calls

Posted: May 24th, 2018, 10:07 pm
by jryser
Hooksnhorns wrote:I run gooserbat's Hillbilly exclusively. I usually order 2 every yr. They are consistent and I can run em well. Try em.
Ordered one!


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Re: go to diaphragm calls

Posted: May 25th, 2018, 11:07 am
by turkeyinstrut
I have ran Pittman's Black Diamond's exclusively for 20+ years, in the mid to late 90's I talked to Preston at the NWTF Convention and was telling him about the inconsistency I had experienced in diaphragm calls even his Black Diamonds. I told him that I really liked the BD diaphragm but had to try several of them to find two that were consistent, he personally built 40 of them and shipped them to me and I am still using them to this day, I have one in particular that has to be close to 20 years old and still sounds great. I keep my diaphragms in little jelly jars that came in Hickory Farms gift sets that you could get around Christmas time, I put them in the freezer every day after returning home from hunting and that is where they are stored in the off season, you can get 5 or 6 calls in each jar and they will last for years by storing them this way. Every morning I pull the jar out of the freezer, run a little hot water over the lid to get it to screw off then fill it about 3/4 full of hot water and put it in my vest, as soon as I get to where I am going to hunt I dump the water out and the calls are thawed and the reeds won't stick together, I will fill the jar with mouth wash a couple times a week, shake the hell out of it then dump it out and this will keep the calls sanitized.

Re: go to diaphragm calls

Posted: January 5th, 2019, 11:53 pm
by savduck
Over the years I've had many. I had a little cutter call from gooserbat I loved. He gave great information as well. There are a lot of call makers out there. You just have to find what fits you.

My favorites are the ones I make for myself. Once I started making my own calls, I could tweak them for my style. I run combo and batwings

Re: go to diaphragm calls

Posted: January 24th, 2019, 3:38 pm
by ncturkey
I like combo cuts the best. Actually it is a reverse combo cut.

Re: go to diaphragm calls

Posted: January 24th, 2019, 4:04 pm
by bcturkeynut
My go to is a Legacy - Prized Possession. It has 3 reeds with one being a "W" cut.

Re: go to diaphragm calls

Posted: January 25th, 2019, 1:36 pm
by noxubeehunter
bcturkeynut that is my favorite as well. I have used that call for years. It will do it all for me. Loud, soft, great yelps, and soft talk. The Primos Will Primos-1 is a good substitute (not sure if they still make it I have a stash).

To the op, it all depends on the fit and air travel. You have to have a call that gives you a good seal and then it depends on if your air travel is center, left-of-center, or right-of-center. I like the call above because it is versatile and is generally compatible with any air travel. That's also one reason people generally recommend starting with a clean double and going from there. Pretty much anybody can use one. I have a slightly left-of-center air travel, so I generally can use anything over two reeds with a center (ghost) or an exposed second reed on the left side such (W-cuts and batwings). For instance, I can use either a combo or reverse combo (can't remember which) but not the other. I can use most ghost cuts but have only found a few split vs that work for me. The Hooks Executioner 2 being one of them.

There are a lot of quality manufacturers both custom and mass produced and all that matters is if you can make it sound like a turkey. I've got a buddy from Georgia that is a stone cold turkey killer and all he uses is a H.S. clean double from Walmart. My personal favorites are Legacy, Hooks, and Gulvas. Woodhaven makes good calls but as mentioned they're expensive (I can usually get 2 and sometimes 3 calls from another manufacturer for the price of one Woodhaven). I used to really like Primos' lineup but I don't like they're new stuff and I've had some issues with recently purchased staples from their lineup.

Re: go to diaphragm calls

Posted: February 8th, 2019, 11:28 am
by ncturkey
noxubeehunter wrote: January 25th, 2019, 1:36 pm bcturkeynut that is my favorite as well. I have used that call for years. It will do it all for me. Loud, soft, great yelps, and soft talk. The Primos Will Primos-1 is a good substitute (not sure if they still make it I have a stash).

To the op, it all depends on the fit and air travel. You have to have a call that gives you a good seal and then it depends on if your air travel is center, left-of-center, or right-of-center. I like the call above because it is versatile and is generally compatible with any air travel. That's also one reason people generally recommend starting with a clean double and going from there. Pretty much anybody can use one. I have a slightly left-of-center air travel, so I generally can use anything over two reeds with a center (ghost) or an exposed second reed on the left side such (W-cuts and batwings). For instance, I can use either a combo or reverse combo (can't remember which) but not the other. I can use most ghost cuts but have only found a few split vs that work for me. The Hooks Executioner 2 being one of them.

There are a lot of quality manufacturers both custom and mass produced and all that matters is if you can make it sound like a turkey. I've got a buddy from Georgia that is a stone cold turkey killer and all he uses is a H.S. clean double from Walmart. My personal favorites are Legacy, Hooks, and Gulvas. Woodhaven makes good calls but as mentioned they're expensive (I can usually get 2 and sometimes 3 calls from another manufacturer for the price of one Woodhaven). I used to really like Primos' lineup but I don't like they're new stuff and I've had some issues with recently purchased staples from their lineup.
I second a lot of your comments. I like Hooks Callers. I have tried many other brands over the last 20+ years. The lastest calls that I like are from Pecker Wrecker and Cramer Custom Calls. With the production calls like Woodhaven, HS Strut, Primos and Knight and Hale I have had a few favorites with each of those companies. But the have all gotten way over priced for me. So I will stick with the small time call makers for now. I forgot to mention I have tried one mouth caller from Dead End Game Calls. It sounded really good. It was a split V. As far as the cuts I like the reverse combo cut, split V, and the speciality cut callers. I mostly like two or three reed calls. They have to be stitched just right and not too tight. I like them easy to play.

Re: go to diaphragm calls

Posted: February 8th, 2019, 12:52 pm
by norINhunter
Hard to beat a yelper from Sadler McGraw. Just got some for the year from him the other day and they sound awesome.

Re: go to diaphragm calls

Posted: February 8th, 2019, 8:50 pm
by firedup
I have had trouble finding good mouth calls for years. Seems like 1 in 10 or so would work fair. Finding one that really was spot on was rare. Couple years ago I had Del Crow make some for me and they have been fantastic. Just about every one fits and runs well. Best mouth calls I have ever found. Del Crow / Savduc, same guy...and he makes a great lanyard too!

Re: go to diaphragm calls

Posted: February 10th, 2019, 6:31 pm
by ylpnfol
legacy fatal attraction [ 4 reeds, very raspy ] and prized possession ...

Re: go to diaphragm calls

Posted: March 5th, 2019, 1:45 pm
by noxubeehunter
ylpnfol wrote: February 10th, 2019, 6:31 pm legacy fatal attraction [ 4 reeds, very raspy ] and prized possession ...
Dang it ylpnfol now you got me wanting to try the fatal attraction haha. I recently got a recommendation for it on another board. Apparently legacy has also come out with an all proph version of the prized possession. Really want to try that one as well.

To the op, I've also heard nothing but good things about Houndstooth calls. Just haven't gotten around to trying them yet.