Duck calls

I thought I would give making duck calls a try. All inserts are Arkansas style up swept double reed acrylic I have some acrylic calls and some high quality hard wood. I have been making Damascus Knives and varmint calls. I would appreciate any and all comments. The list can be found at www.mwcustomknives.com

You should change the shape of your insert.

They look almost identical to echo inserts.

People might accuse you of being a barrel stuffer.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Echo only sells poly inserts separately. His inserts are acrylic, so anyone trying to accuse him of using Echo inserts would obviously be off base. They look different enough to tell they aren't Echo anyway.

Those look great, and $40 is a steal if they sound as good they look. Love the look of the burl you used on some of them!

TTUhunter4 is offended by the lack of respect for barrel stuffers

Down Range, do you make your own tone board and tune your own calls?

Asking for TTUhunter

Nice looking barrels

I like them. Take it from someone else making calls when time allows. Some will like them, some will not like them. Some will tell you they like them when they don't. A better way to put it, make them to your liking and be happy with that. If you chase what other people like you will be chasing forever.

I learned that duck calls are governed just like anything else, marketing. You can make a call to sound just like any other call out there. There is no magic touch, no hidden abilities. The sound I like is different than the sound you and everyone else likes. I didn't put all that together until I was bound for being a duck call maker. I went to a marketing firm and the first thing he stated is "How much money you spend on marketing is directly related to how much you're going to make". He had already researched Youtube first and had a game plan of "Lets go kill a whole lot of birds on camera and we will edit in the calling later in the studio. It is all a smoke and mirror horse crap game where the truth is rarely told. It is the same reason I don't watch the outdoor commericials, I mean the outdoor channel. Something has to die by the third commercial series in the program and I have never listened to cheap arse loud crescendo of rock n roll music while shooting a deer out of a box blind.

Something was completely wrong baout all of it. I stepped of that train and make a few calls here and there. Not for the money but for the love of the art and the sport. So don't rely on what is said here to govern your path. Make your calls with love of the game and be damned the marketing end of it all.

Point being the end of the duck call that makes the sound is something a bunch of today's call sellers have no idea how to create yet they call themselves call makers. It's dishonest.

Down range may make his own though and just chooses to set them all up as double reed and use material that doesn't match his barrels.

on the inserts the red one is an echo insert I needed a red one and I did not have one and wanted to try the echo brand I have heard they make a good sounding insert so I wanted to try one, and they do sell inserts for people that don't want to go to the trouble to make them. So that's the deal on the inserts.

Thanks for the feed back

so only the red one is an Echo? You have any sound files of your tone boards?

I don't have any sound files but I can work on this week and show the difference between mine and Echo.

I would like to tell everyone I am retired and this is a hobby, I have no intent to miss lead anyone I have invested a lot of money in this hobby I don't care if I make any money, I am not in it for the money it is the joy of making something that works and keeps me out of the house. Thanks for the commits good or bad but don't criticize my for trying.

Do you have your acrylic inserts poured or are they turned?

Check this out at 38 seconds into it. Phil Robertson on a mallard hen call. Arguably the most successful duck call salesman in the world. That call he makes is nothing more special than any call a call maker makes. It is not about a status, it is about being involved and so passionate about the sport you wish to stay involved in it. You desire to remain in the sport year around so you get into making calls. Who really cares where the insert comes from? You do what you can and enjoy what you do and forget the status horse crap. I wear jorts too.

Amen

I don't care as long as everything is up front.

I think it's dishonest to sell someone a custom call and not tell the person who purchased it that they used someone else's stock insert.

Even as a hobby.

Now that would change the ball game completely, I would agree.

Wal1809 and Down Range, I posted a sequence of pics for making laminated calls in the photo section. I also will be making up a pdf for distribution with more detail if you want it, let me know. http://texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbth...ce.#Post5843282

Also Down Range if you want more duck call making info check out some of the forum on the Internet.

x2. That applies to anything you make.

Dogcatcher!

Now that is what I'm talking about. Great job and thank you for sharing your process.

As far as calls go, yes, you can buy an insert and stick into it anything and call it a duck call. It will work and someone will buy it.
But, the challenge to making a duck call is the insert. Coming up with something that is your own and your own sound.
I've made thousands of calls over the last 20 years, from hunting to comp calls. The fun is seeing how each one will tune up. They are never the same. Wal1809 was right. Making it a full time gig is near impossible. Far too much capital to make it worth wild. I went from making them one at a time to full production and now I'm back to making them by hand. It's just more fun.

As a call maker, the other half of the fun is showing others how to make a duck call. Now I'm talking about the insert. The insert is the duck call.

Down Range, If you ever want to take the next step and your in the McKinney area, stop by. We can talk calls and swap "How too" stories. This goes for anyone else.

If I can't pass on what I know, then it's just lost.