I couldn't find him in FB
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Increase in cost of turkey calls especially mouth calls
- Thread starter REN
- Start date
Wildcat#32
Well-Known Member
If you can make em for a dollar yourself as good as the red wasp i'll gladly take several of your hands for $2.00 apiece!!! give me a break!!! A Big Mac is $10 and you flush it the next day!!!
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I mean it's not a lot of science like pot calls or box calls. It's reed material (all use the same stuff) and how much stretch you put on it. Tape and frame are all the same stuff
Rakkin6
Well-Known Member
Check out Houndstooth, Hooks, and Legacy game calls. They should have what you want.
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Go ahead and spend $15 per mouth call... im sure it's worth it to you. And everybody knows turkeys can tell the difference between Woodhaven calls and the others. Sheesh. It's your money. Buy your $10 big Mac. ID rather save half of that, invest it for the next 35 years and that 10 be $100 in my retirement account
I use a trumpet 99% of the time anymore
I've tried various ones over the years and always come back to the H. S. Strut cuttn 2.5. Bought a 3-pack on camofire last year and will use a year or 2 then get more. Agree that trying new ones is half the fun but I'm too cheap to pay $15 just to find out it doesn't fit me and/or sounds crappy to me.
I only see Doug Smith on Instagram. Have a link to his site? I will be traveling to Jackson, MS tomorrow down I55. Is he anywhere along the way?
deerhunter10
Well-Known Member
Hooks used to be one of the smallest frames that ran good I've ever ran. Don't have any left and haven't bought one in several years so they could have changed.
Hymie3
Well-Known Member
The white houndstooth (vixen) is cheap and sounds very good. Killed a lot with them
A couple local of guys started making mouth calls and put them in a bait shop that's been around here for years. Great calls and not expensive. It's all I have used the last several years. The turkeys don't seem to mind my reasonably priced calls. Lol
For the person who mentioned small frames:
I used Hooks for at least 7-8 years before a friend of mine sent me some to try. His frames are just a hair bigger and I can run them just as well, if not better than the Hooks. He is also a Mississippi callmaker. Check him out. I prefer the prelude (v-cut) and the specter (Ghost cut). He is now $9 call but used to be $7. I'd still much rather support a small local callmaker than the industry.
www.crookedlettercalls.com
And I agree, it's ridiculous what folks want for a mouth call now. I remember when Woodhaven first jacked prices up to ~$10+ each and I thought that was crazy. Well then Primos started charging like $12 each for those green tape calls they'd sell in Wally World. Both companies literally just moved the needle forward in how much they can get away with charging. Thats the name of the game now though in the turkey hunting industry! $$$$$$
I used Hooks for at least 7-8 years before a friend of mine sent me some to try. His frames are just a hair bigger and I can run them just as well, if not better than the Hooks. He is also a Mississippi callmaker. Check him out. I prefer the prelude (v-cut) and the specter (Ghost cut). He is now $9 call but used to be $7. I'd still much rather support a small local callmaker than the industry.
Shop All | Crooked Letter Calls
And I agree, it's ridiculous what folks want for a mouth call now. I remember when Woodhaven first jacked prices up to ~$10+ each and I thought that was crazy. Well then Primos started charging like $12 each for those green tape calls they'd sell in Wally World. Both companies literally just moved the needle forward in how much they can get away with charging. Thats the name of the game now though in the turkey hunting industry! $$$$$$
I have always bought several mouth calls a year to find the ones that fit my needs. But once they started getting over 10 dollars i drew the line. I bought a press and started making my own, roughly 70 cents in each call. The company's that are charging 15-20 dollars a call are robbing the piss out of people buying them.
REN I defiantly recommend buying a jig, Thad Bright makes a good little jig for like 250 bucks. I had that one and now I have one of his production press that a buddy lets me use. It's a lot of fun to play with different style of cuts and tension.
REN I defiantly recommend buying a jig, Thad Bright makes a good little jig for like 250 bucks. I had that one and now I have one of his production press that a buddy lets me use. It's a lot of fun to play with different style of cuts and tension.
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megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
I've sent him a text this morning asking if he minds me giving out his phone number, haven't heard back yet. He lives in SE MS, so prob 1.5h further south than Jackson
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
I heard back from him... he is still making calls, a little swamped right now, but he said feel free to call or text him
601-673-0427 Doug Smith
Again, this is a hobby for him, he isn't trying to become the next Primos. Hes just a 60y/o turkey hunter who is still eat up with it.
And who knows, he may be charging $10 per call now. Last time I bought 6 or 7 call from him was 2 years ago, and they were $5 each.
Boll Weevil
Well-Known Member
I bet this site alone would consume whatever pipeline he wanted to produce.
Wildcat#32
Well-Known Member
oh You think inflation may have a factor….. no way….. i bet you work for pennies on the dollar too!!!
if hes not trying to be the next primos whats his objective. congratulations on working on your retirement…. again did you work for pennies!!!
WTF?
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Hey, I'm all about capitalism. If folks are stupid enough to spend $17 for a mouth call, then they are worth $17.
If they lose half their customers by overcharging, that may or may not hurt their bottom line. The free market will decide.
In the case of Woodhaven, i'm sure a good portion of the $17 is paying for advertising. THP and others like them have to get their cut.
As far as Doug's objective, it's just a hobby. There is no objective other than he enjoys making mouth calls and enjoys hearing stories of people killing birds with his calls.
