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I have been involved with calling
predators since 1984 and I also manufacture all kinds
of equipment used to hunt them, but being involved
with making jackal callers and cat callers has taught
me a thing or two.
Here is also a tip that may help you
(if you own an open reeded call).
Many guys own a Critter caller in SA,
simply because it was then basically the only thing
available to buy, not because it’s the best, fact is
it is not the best but far from it, many open reeded
callers are far better. If you are able to try a few
various ones you will see what you are missing out on!
BUT let’s concentrate on the open
reeded Critter Caller.
Here is a Critter Caller I have had for
over 12 years; it has a sanded Coca Cola bottle
plastic reed. With this reed many predators have
perished. This caller is now in my showcase and is
retired.
Here
is what you must do, take the caller and pull out that
reed and throw it away, far away, now see what I say
in this article to get even better sound from a local
source.
When
I started making calls I did everything via trial and
error, I spent tons of money developing tone boards
and making errors etc, till I got a top class sound
and kept to it. Here is what I learnt.
By
taking a reed – a thick one and fitting it to my
caller I then blew on it, it appeared rough as it was
thick, I then started to ever so slightly sandpaper
the reed thinner and thinner, until after I fitted it
I could blow it and create a sweet sound at the point
that it just started to stick and not work, or get
stuck on the tone board, then I made another reed and
stopped just short of that final sand paper pull over
the reed, so it was at that “breaking
point” lets call it, then when I tried
it is was sweet sounding squeaky and just at that
point that if I gave it another sand with paper it
would stick.
So,
in other words I got the FINE LINE of the reed, at
that exact point that if I made one more move to sand
it once more it would stick, this gave me a reed a
certain thickness that is just perfect.
So,
try this, now what you do is buy a Coke plastic bottle
and cut reeds from the plastic, then sand them till
they are just that thickness before they stick on your
tone board, go one move back and try it, you will see
you now have a fantastic sounding caller and a reed
far better than that original Mylar it comes with.
I
have been manufacturing game calls in South Africa for
many years, and all my calls since 2006 have been
personally tuned with a thick reed and sandpaper.
This
caller I make up personally, the reed is sandpapered
to that fine line between just thin enough and
sticking. When I say sticking I mean when you blow the
call the reed sticks to the tone board so no sound
comes through. If you see the end of that reed it
looks spongy, that is from the sandpaper, I cut it
off with a scissors when it is ready for sale.
Calling with this type of reed producers squeaky
sounds, or the lips placed higher makes raspy sounds,
but generally this reed will work well, as predators
will hear a small animal making squeaky sounds, his
mouth will water and he will come on in thinking an
easy small meal, a nice morsel is waiting to be eaten,
so, it attracts very well, and for cats – cats LOVE
squeaky sounds, make yourself a reed for your caller,
you will see it’s a killer.
Don’t get led to believe you must play a Rooikat sound
to attract a Rooikat or a cat sound to call a cat, it
is rubbish, it does not work, cats DO NOT come or are
NOT interested in second hand sounds, you need to play
distressed squeaky sounds period.
Jackal come to second hand jackal sounds, cats do not
and if you are lucky to get one, it is because he was
real close when he heard that sound, so you will see
if you do kill with a cat sound he was very quick to
get to you because he was close by, but general
calling of cats takes over an hour, and you will never
call a cat with a cat sound after waiting an hour.
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