best duck/goose calls

[pnbrock]

• what do you seriouos waterfowlers think of these high dollar calls.rnt or zink worth the money or not?thanks

[Crazy_Farmer]

As my brother always tells me, I have 2 dollar hands, so I have to make up for it with $100 dollar calls hahahaha

I have 20 dollar calls and 175 dollar calls. Each has their place and use each as much as the other. A quality short reed goose call can be a worthwhile call to have.

[TheProvider]

x2, I have 3-4 zink calls on my lanyard but also a cple $20 ones aswell. Acrylic and wood. Being a great caller doesn't mean you need expensive calls and also having an expensive call doesnt make you a great caller. I think having a variety of calls is key. Just like theres days little to no calling is better than calling

[f350ps]

My view is that a call is only as good as the operator, I'd rather hear a cheap call blown well than a good call blown poorly! I come from the era of Olts that require a lot of air therefore I have a b$tch of a time with the newer calls that require very little air. And as far as a short reed, that ain't ever gonna happen with me! K

[field marshal]

My view is that a call is only as good as the operator, I'd rather hear a cheap call blown well than a good call blown poorly! I come from the era of Olts that require a lot of air therefore I have a b$tch of a time with the newer calls that require very little air. And as far as a short reed, that ain't ever gonna happen with me! K

Yup! I guess me and my old FLUTE are a couple of dinosaurs?? I also am loathe to change!!
Cheers---Field Marshal.

[popsy]

As a person that never throws anything good away, I still have my 49 cent calls from 40-50 years ago as well as my fav Olt 99's. The 49 cent jobs were from Army & Navy. Plus have another half dozen old wood ones that still sound great. The only plastic duck calls I have are for widgeon and pintail. Goose calls are all plastic.

[madrona sh]

I get the kids riled up with a goose call in the house in the morning sometimes.

Best $20 bucks I ever spent.

[Foxton Gundogs]

Tuneing is another issue start fooling with them and you can make a $20 call sound great or a $200 call sound like $hit depending on whether you kmow what u r doing or not. Personally I like Primos best bang for your buck IMO but always wanted a "good" call so maybe 1 day just because

[Cariboo Game Calls]

I guess it's all about how much money you've got to spend and whether you really believe it's that much better than something half the price. Personally I think many of the high priced acyrilic calls are highly over rated.

There are lots of choices today for sure in plastics, acrylics and wood and their are many custom call makers. Some of them just turn the barrels and install Echo inserts while others make pretty much everything from scratch.

Hunters shouldn't rule out some of the vintage calls when they are looking for something to entice birds because many of those old calls have been responsible for the demise of a lot of ducks and geese. Long before Zink, RNT came along hunters were taking their limits of birds with calls like Olts, Herter's, Green Head, Faulk's, Lohman, Mallardtone, Ken Martin and others.

Those of you that still have some of the old vintage calls in good condition might be suprised at the prices they are bringing today. For instance, the Arkansas outfitters are paying $80.00 to $100.00 for some of the early PS Olt D-2 keyhole calls and in turn are cutting them down to change the sound and are re-selling them for $150.00-$200.00 a piece.

Many of the old brands of calls that we paid 2 or 3 dollars for years ago are fetching $30,40,50,60 and more from hunters and collectors in the USA. I've sold quite a few old calls over the last year or so for 15 to 20 times the original purchase price. Recently I sold a PS Olt SB-29 Snow/Blue Goose call to a fellow in Texas for $90.00 that I bought in the 70's for about $3.50. This call was fairly rare because Olt only made a short run before discontinueing them. I have several hundred calls and I even have a Francis Muehlstein "Natural Duck Call" Patent 1932 with the original instruction sheet. This old call is in the shape of a ducks head and when you blow it the metal bill moves up and down. I bought this from a Alberta exhibitor at the Kamloops Gun Show a couple of years ago. Although it is much too rare and valuable to take to the field it makes for a great old display.

For some reason there doesn't seem to be much interest or appreciation for collecting old bird and game calls here in Canada which is a bit of a shame because these vintage items can be a lot of fun to find, buy, sell, trade and collect. They will also still do their job in the field for those of us that still carry some of them on our lanyards.

The next time you are in the market for a call don't rule out looking for a good old vintage call because if used properly it will bring in birds, and if it's looked after, it will still be worth as much or more than what you paid for it which is something that can't be said for the $150.00 Zink or RNT.

[WaderGator]

I've often wondered if a high dollar call would really be worth it. Right now I have the polycarbonate version of the zink power hen. After a summer of fussing over the tuning almost everyday it's pretty much right where I want it. Would I be 5 times as happy with the acrylic version that costs 5 times as much, I dont know. I would like to do a comparison and see though. On another note I'm pretty stoked at fitting out the man cave and part of it is going to hopefully be a collection of vintage calls I plan on starting so you might be able to get some business off me CGC!