Hunting Washington Forum
Big Game Hunting => Elk Hunting => Topic started by: blacktailcrzy on January 12, 2012, 07:29:47 PM
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i am really avid about trying to learn to bugle in elk but i am having a hard time finding a mouth reed that fits my mouth right. i can produce some good bugles here and there but i am looking for something more consistency so i was wondering if i switched to a bugle with a built in call or reed or whatever they are if it would be a compromise the sound quality
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http://www.elk101.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=28&products_id=233
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have you used that bugle before ? is it worth the cash
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If you can find a mouth reed that works for you, I think you have more flexibilty in the sound you are making and you can almost play it like an instrument to make the sound you want. You can make decent sounds with the built in versions but again you need to find the right one that works best for you, unfortunately they are spendy to find the right ones. The main thing is to practice a bunch the first year you get into it, then after that it is easy. The time spent is worth it, my best hunting experiences all revolve around having called a screaming elk to within 20 yds and have him raking a tree and chuckling right in front of you....AWESOME!! Good Luck!
Mike
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More than worth it. I cannot cannot cannot use a reed to save my life. I have tried about half a dozen bugles, opting for cheaper money saving (lol) models from different companies and couldn't get a good sound. Finally, being fed up with throwing a ton of money towards what amounted to kids toys (That's what they became) I dropped the cash on this and every elk season I kick myself for not buying it first
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I am currently using a piece of latex glove from work stretched over a hole. I have used a diaphram, and some with mouth pieces. One of the best callers I know uses a piece of PVC pipe. Really it takes practice. Mouth calls are easier but they tend to all sound alike. Real sounds are better achieved through other methods. ALL MY OPINION
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And once you can get the mouth reed to work for you, just pull off the build in reed and you have a bugle tube ready for use
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Blacktailcrazy, where are you located? I might be able to meet up with you so you can hear it before buying
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pm sent
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i have seen tons of people call in elk with a skinny plastic bat so whats the plus side of having a big 3inch bugle ? i am targeting roosies so i am not trying to sound like the biggest baddest bull in the woods
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Replied
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primos small sonic dome white single reed makes really good sounds coupled with a elk nut tube. if your going to lear learn the best sounding equipment.
also reasurch what sounds to make its all about saying the right thing. try hunting high pressure elk it is a killer book for learning elk talk.
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In my opinion the "snap on" mouth piece bugles have a noticeable sound difference.
I would recommend using all winter to practice and become good with a mouth diaphragm.
Bugling Bull and Primos both offer "mini" or small frame elk calls. I also know Joel Turner can custom make diaphragms on any sized frame.
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is there a way to find out or measure my diaphram size
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Try some of Rocky's calls at bugling Bull.. the raised dome diaghram works best for me... lots of practice. If you get a chance and Rocky Jacobson is holding a seminar in your area, it would be well worth it to attend. Its not just making bull/cow sounds, its the ability to tell that bull a story....
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I don't think it was said but primos sells a three pack of mouth calls that come in different sizes. It might not hurt to try those and don't be afraid to take some scissors and trim the call so it is comfortable in your mouth. Once you get to that point, just leave it in your car and do some calling when you are driving. When I first bought mine I couldn't even get a sound out of it and then one day it just happened and the lightbulb turned on and then I figured out how to make the different sounds. As for a bugle tube, you can use a lot of different items but if you have an old vacuum cleaner, just cut a piece of the hose and those seem to work great and don't cost you anything. :tup:
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ya i can do just basic one, two, and three tone bugles but chuckles and heavy breathing are tough to grasp
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I don't think it was said but primos sells a three pack of mouth calls that come in different sizes. It might not hurt to try those and don't be afraid to take some scissors and trim the call so it is comfortable in your mouth. Once you get to that point, just leave it in your car and do some calling when you are driving. When I first bought mine I couldn't even get a sound out of it and then one day it just happened and the lightbulb turned on and then I figured out how to make the different sounds. As for a bugle tube, you can use a lot of different items but if you have an old vacuum cleaner, just cut a piece of the hose and those seem to work great and don't cost you anything. :tup:
That was literally my experience honest to god could not figure it out till I got so frustrated I tried one more time perfect sound and exactly like you said just a light bulb switched. I started off using a mouth diaphragm and was told use that for all your calling, (from a very experienced caller/hunter) so I did, I could produce very good calls with my cow calls and could not figure out to save my life how to get a good bugle from it. Bought a primos bugle that one of my other guys I hunt with has and it took a little while to produce sound with it finally got the hang of it. Pretty easy to learn, and you can use a different variety of tones once you practice more with it, with different placements, basically a long frustrating process lol. I after months of practicing finally learned how to just stick to my diaphram and grunt tube and I like it a lot more, you can get a lot more emotion into your call and the change in tones I feel sounds much better. It will not happen over night diaphrams take forever to learn with but once you get it down it’ll feel easy. producing good consistent chuckles was probably the hardest part for me
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http://www.elk101.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=28&products_id=250 (http://www.elk101.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=28&products_id=250)
blacktailcrzy,
You have got to try the Elk101 All Star diaphragm reed from Bugling Bull game calls. For a beginner and old pro they are very easy to blow and make some sweet sounds. It took the first place honors at the 2011 RMEF World Elk calling championships in the Pro's, and Men's categories!
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i just purchased that Elk101 All Star diaphragm online maybe this will be the one for me haha
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pm sent
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blacktailcrzy, please read this! You are more than likely putting the reed in the wrong area of your mouth, this is the biggest issue I come across for newer mouth reed users or those that cannot get good volume out of them!
Learning to use a mouth reed takes persistent practice, do not give up too easily, even if it seems a bit difficult at first! Make sure you're using the right tool for the job here. You want to start with a light tensioned single reed latex mouth reed or a very light tensioned 1 1/2 layered latex reed as a beginner, no double reeds here or very tight stretched latex reeds, they're not user friendly & are for more experienced callers. If using Palate Plate style calls with a metal or plastic dome the dome faces the roof of your mouth & latex can then be accessed by your tongue. You want to start with cow sounds first, soft ones at that, then you will graduate to louder & longer tones as you master the small ones. Bugles will come or stem from your cow sounds. A bugle is no more than a lengthened out cow mew where you would add more air & a bit more tension on the latex reed itself with your tongue. These bugles are reserved for AFTER you master cow sounds. You want to achieve one goal before you move on to the next one!
Do Not Over Blow! This is very common for new ones to do so, do your best to control your air output as if you were just breathing the air out past the diaphragm. Make sure you have a 100% seal where only the tag of the call is up against the roof of your mouth, not the whole call, you must dam the air up. If tag is stiff, then chew/nibble on the tag & saliva it up a bit, to soften it with your front teeth as you hold the main frame in your right hand. This will make the tag pliable & will now mold easily to your palate. The open end part of the latex reed of the call itself should be where back of top teeth on the inside meet gum line to the small ledge a bit higher up but shy of roof of mouth, you do no want it too far back or too high up in the roof of your mouth, this will help prevent gagging & tickling. It is not held with your teeth in a biting motion at all, it merely will fit snugly into place near back of top teeth near that ridge & loose tag part of reed sealed in roof of mouth, the call will be in a 20deg angle. Adjust front or back from there for best position per individual, make sure you have it sealed or you'll get a hissing sound, that shows air is getting over the top of mouth reed tag & escaping just under your pallet! Now take the tip portion of your tongue & drop it down to where it touches in the area of the inside of your bottom teeth & gum line, notice that by doing this the center part of your tongue slightly arches up, that's the point of contact to use against the latex reed, now use that middle portion of your tongue to contact mouth reed in the middle portion of the latex not the end of the latex. Some find that using the front portion back of tongue & shaping it like a bicep then using that small part of the arch in contact with the latex works best for them for some bugling such as the location bugle. To start getting a sound out of your call, say shhhh as you apply light pressure on latex with flat part or center of tongue. For more elk like sounds, now put a bit more tension on the latex & slowly increase airflow in a controlled manner. For cow sounds only light tongue pressure is needed with controlled air flow such as breathing type air. Don't push the air or force it out, avoid quick bursts of air for these starter sounds! Play with tongue tension for best sound quality, & make sure your tongue is salivated for slickness & you'll notice less tickling! Do your best to keep solid contact with tongue on reed when making sounds, this can change a bit for more nasally cow sounds, then you would slide tongue just off latex or near end of it to flutter latex & create the needed vibration of latex to get the nasal effect that a cow will use at times! For all bugles & screams you do not want your tongue slipping off front of reed, you will lose major volume there if you do! See how this info works for you! But, perfect your cow sounds first before moving on, or being concerned with bugling!
If this info helps you out to get reasonable sounds after a bit of practice & you'd like to further your progress & education, then you may like to consider a DVD we have out called "Mastering The Mouth Reed" It will go into step by step proper use of mouth reeds. In addition to this it will share with you how to make the many sounds that both cows & bulls make, & there's quite a few of them, including those difficult grunts & chuckles. Our New CD "Sounds By The Elk" will go over many of the defined sounds you'll hear & want to imitate under selective setups!
ElkNut1
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http://www.elk101.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=28&products_id=250 (http://www.elk101.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=28&products_id=250)
blacktailcrzy,
You have got to try the Elk101 All Star diaphragm reed from Bugling Bull game calls. For a beginner and old pro they are very easy to blow and make some sweet sounds. It took the first place honors at the 2011 RMEF World Elk calling championships in the Pro's, and Men's categories!
i love my new reed thanks it works grate still working on chuckling tho and also thanks elknut ! do you have any literature on chuckling ?
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Checkout elknuts website, he has one or two items that might be useful. :chuckle:
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As always, Great information from Elknut.
sidenote.....
When on the mountain I can tell with about 98% accuracy what is an elk and what is human. Elknut would CERTAINLY fall into the 2% "I've been duped" for me. If you are interested in learning something, you should get his CDs. I have called in A LOT of bulls, and I bought them, and I learned a bunch.
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will elknut be at the sportsman's show this week? or dose anyone know
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I don't think he will be there but give him a call I got more out of an hour conversation with him than several seminars. I have all his cds and videos. He is very informative and amazingly knowledgable. By far the most detailed strategies you will come across. Buy the playbook on cd also you won't be sorry and you can practice in the car. He gears his style to the diy public ground guys. His stuff is the best imo
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His stuff is the best imo
AGREED!
Part of me doesn't want to tell anyone. I really don't need any more competetion in the woods.
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Bullybull tube and a glen berry Roosevelt reed
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His stuff is the best imo
AGREED!
Part of me doesn't want to tell anyone. I really don't need any more competetion in the woods.
:chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle: Ya, I purchessed some stuff from him after early season. I hunter late season and didnt see any more Elk than I did in early season.... ;)
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my opinion is to learn how to use the diaphram!!! try all kinds until you get one that is close and practice all the time. It takes a lot of time to get where it is 2nd nature to rip a good bugle or a quick cow call. practice every morning when you are driving to work and home when your old lady cant hear you. I hunt all day with one in my mouth ready at all times, hands free. I personally like the old larry jones med bull which is red. good luck, big wood
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mini domes are easy to use , cal tek cow calls can make some good young bull sounds too.
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i was looking at elk nuts dvds and cds but is all his elk calling systems the same weather its a Rockie mountain elk or a roosie
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In my opinion the "snap on" mouth piece bugles have a noticeable sound difference.
I would recommend using all winter to practice and become good with a mouth diaphragm.
Bugling Bull and Primos both offer "mini" or small frame elk calls. I also know Joel Turner can custom make diaphragms on any sized frame.
:yeah:
I can tell immediately when elk hunting on whos using bugles with attachments... people who are good with diaphrams it hard to impossible to tell the difference from a distance
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I too had a difficult time with diaphram calls when I started. Didn't seem like any of them fit my mouth right. And ones that did sound good would tear up the roof of my mouth in a bad way after a few days in the field. Finally one night at the javalina Get-Together Jim Dougherty taught me how to bend the frames without effecting the reed. After that day they all seemed to fit my mouth correctly. I now carry around five different manufactures of calls with me on any given elk hunt. All different tones and all perform well. Sometimes it's just that one simple thing that turns on the lights and illuminates the whole game.
I do carry a few tube mounted reeds as well. Some days and some over called/scouted areas that little something different turns 'em on when nothing else will.
Good luck!
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Blacktailcrazy I am kinda missing your question. In my experience elk sounds are fairly general. I have called bulls from the bear river unit in wa to the bob marshall in montana with similar results. Elk are very similar but as different as you and I (a generalization). I dont know what area you plan to hunt but imo washington elk are a big mix of both (with exception to the OP) rocky and roosie. It even seems to differ from drainage to drainage which sub species they favor. This is just my opinion.
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Thats a good generalization Tbar.
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ya tbar that makes sens i was just thinking more along the line of how aggressive you call because it seem like rossies are in such heavy cover that the just round up the harem and move off as where i think rockie mountain elk tend to be more aggressive and i am just really talking about elk in the thick reap rod and tangled mess around a coasyal river compared to the elk in the more open ground with not as much brush.
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That is definitely an issue we deal with on a regular basis. I have literally ended up at the same jackfir as a bull without a chance of a shot ever presenting itself, that was one of the coolest memories ever(with a witness). Also dont underestimate what the eastside and rocky mountain guys are going through to find sucess. The east slope of the cascades, the high county in idaho and montana get incredibly thick. The elk seem to end up in never ending alder patches or blow downs, I guess that is a part of the challenge, its never easy. Setup is key regardless of location.
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That is definitely an issue we deal with on a regular basis. I have literally ended up at the same jackfir as a bull without a chance of a shot ever presenting itself, that was one of the coolest memories ever(with a witness). Also dont underestimate what the eastside and rocky mountain guys are going through to find sucess. The east slope of the cascades, the high county in idaho and montana get incredibly thick. The elk seem to end up in never ending alder patches or blow downs, I guess that is a part of the challenge, its never easy. Setup is key regardless of location.
I agree i think it also has as much to do with responding to what your particular bull is saying,Is he calling in your cow call,or responding i am here to to your bugle,or is he a scared satellite looking to sneak some love, or very very rarely is he the big boy who is pissed you just crossed him and he is coming... One thing i do know is the days are over when my dad would tell me he could go into a basin and let a bugle rip and here they come our bulls get to much pressure for that you have to go get em.
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Here is the big difference when calling elk in open country vs. the thick stuff. When you have a poor setup or make a calling sequence that is inappropriate for what's happening, you will SEE the bull round up his cows and run of vs. HEARING them run off.
I've let a bugle rip and had bulls come and find me. Just depends on the elk and the individual situation. Doesn't happen all the time like we see on the Primos videos.
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Man wouldn't you like to hunt that Primos ranch one time. lets see those guys hunt a little OTC public land that would make a good show. not to hijack the thread but you have to love that on your own adventure guy he gets it done.
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I use a Primos bugle tube I think.... I'll have to check it out.... It was $50..... I don't try and sound like a professinal caller or a "real" elk.... I try to sound like a bull that has some problems and might actually take one for the team.... :chuckle:
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In my humble opinion, it matters much more "what" you are saying to the elk with your calling, not how perfect you sound in doing so.
Who hasn't heard a bugle and laughed to themselves about the crappy calling elk hunter, only to walk up on a bull?
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Jls I agree with you completely. I was just giving him some general info from my limited knowledge. This conversation would lead me back to elknut and rj calls.
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Man wouldn't you like to hunt that Primos ranch one time. lets see those guys hunt a little OTC public land that would make a good show. not to hijack the thread but you have to love that on your own adventure guy he gets it done.
Point is they have a show to make...they started as you and I did a long time ago..they now have the money or the swag to get into large chunks of private...the tv industry drives them to put kills on film or you dant have a show simple as that
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Yea i get it i am not hating. i like seeing those bulls walk by slobering at 2 yards also i just wonder if they have the goods to get it done on public land? they probably do. and if i had the dough i would have a white river indian tag in my pocket in a second.
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bully bull grunt tube and a brown bugling bulls reed is easier to make all bull sounds with than any external reed bugle imo. you can buy the reed for like six bucks and the bugle tube for like twenty five or so. if you want to save some money just buy a wiffle ball bat, pretty much the same thing.
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bully bull grunt tube and a brown bugling bulls reed is easier to make all bull sounds with than any external reed bugle imo. you can buy the reed for like six bucks and the bugle tube for like twenty five or so. if you want to save some money just buy a wiffle ball bat, pretty much the same thing.
:yeah:
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Hey Blacktailcrzy, if your not too far from tenino, you can come down sometime and I may be able to help on your buglng and chuckling a bit. Might even have a good budy and prostaffer for bugling bull gamecalls stop by. Let me know.
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bucklucky i might just take you up on that offer here when it gets closer to the season if thats ok
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I heard a bull rip a bugle on Sunday. Dang I love that sound.
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did you thats nutz i saw a bull bugle in april once.
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They talk all the time, but usually half heartily. I was watching a bunch of cows and assumed no bulls....all of a sudden.....FULL TILT chuckle and everything..........It sounded like the 20th of September. Then he stepped out of a hollow of brush. A nice 6x6. VERY COOL!
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We had one by my house here that would rip anytime a train blew its horn......as long as it was not bright and sunny.
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I'm going to give away one of my secrets here. Besides using some of my own reeds and bugling bull reeds. I use turkey reed for the best bugles.
Buy a knight and hale "prosecutor" turkey call. It is hands down the best reed for bugling that I have used.
Sounds like Charlie is hosting the SW Washington elk calling championships. :tup:
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I'm going to give away one of my secrets here. Besides using some of my own reeds and bugling bull reeds. I use turkey reed for the best bugles.
Buy a knight and hale "prosecutor" turkey call. It is hands down the best reed for bugling that I have used.
Sounds like Charlie is hosting the SW Washington elk calling championships. :tup:
I have had great success doing that and not using a tube, just my hands.
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thanks jphelps i will have to try that :tup:
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No question about it the guy that masters a diphram rules, not only does he get bull sounds but great cow sounds also. I have never been happy calling elk with one, turkeys I'm fine. For me its ELK INC. bugle first choice or Berry Thunder bugle second choice. I can bugle, grunt, and chuckle with them, no problem.
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I will throw in another vote for Bugling Bull's reeds. I carry a selection of them depending on what I want to do, the Chappell series are excellent as is the Elk 101. I prefer the Palate plate design over the Dome top though. It is all presonal preference when it comes down to it though, some guys like the standard type reeds that are flat. Elknut has great stuff as does Bugling Bull, get some of the CD's and practice, practice ,practice. I listen to them so much in my truck that my kids(5 and 7 year old boys) have gotten good at voice calling since they practice with me.
Learn to cow call well also, especially for rosies in my opinion, with how short our season is sometimes they aren't in the mood to come to a bugle and besides they aren't looking to fight they are looking for Love.
One other thing is that I always have a reed in my mouth no matter is I am Bow hunting or rifle hunting. What happens though is I get to chewing on them and eventually they wear out. Carry a couple spares with ya, I know some guys say they use the same reed all for a couple years. I have had reeds get little nicks in them and the sound get off or you can't make the sound you want and it would be a bummer not to have another one with ya.
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Got me a couple of tipple packs of Primos, one mini and one regular, and, at first I couldn't get any sound, at all. Having read this thread, I understood it might not come right away, so I kept on. Less than ten minutes after I tried the first one, I started getting the sounds I wanted for cow, calf and bull bugle from all of them.
I agree about not practicing in the house. My "regime" though my grandson was playing with balloons and started getting after him, until she saw he had no balloons. :IBCOOL: All I need to do, now, is fine tune my sounds and learn to get exactly what I want, when I want it.
I will, also, be practicing on the calf sounds for bear calling.
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My problem with diaphrams is the first couple of calls are always messed up, till I get the pressures and adjustments right