Why call?

[Jacob Johnson]

Earl, I agree with your post that calling is not always nessesary. I totally agree that a good spread, scouting, and concealment will kill plenty of geese any day. I have to say though, I think calling does help if you kind of know what your doing or if the birds are a acting a little goofy. But on the other hand alot of birds can get flared from bad calling. I guess in your case it could be like the saying if its not broke, dont fix it.

[don835]

Calling is not always necessary, but...if you know how to call you have a distinct advantage over Geese. There are times when the only way that you are going to finish Geese is with the call. Most guys are in denial about the need for the use of a Goose call simply because they either can't or won't spend the time to learn how. It's not that difficult...

Murph.

[Earl]

Wow. I appreciate the response to this. To be honest, I am not surprised by what you all have to say. I understand that if I am to become a more complete hunter, I better become a more complete caller. What one guy said about taking advantage of the good years, because bad years are gonna happen made be realize that the last few years have been pretty special in terms of numbers. I know I can consistantly kill geese, but there is ALWAYS room for improvement. I will still stand my ground about calling be 4th of 5th on my list of importance. Here is my issue. I know that there have been a lot of conversation in the forum about calls, and what each individual likes, but I wish that someone could just tell me "go and get this particular call," and you WILL be happy. I know that is a lot a varience in price range. I am willing to spend around $150 on something. The sporting good stores around here dont carry anything, and I dont have anyone that can give me an explanation as to this call does this, and this one does that. In other words, I will have to order one without trying it out.

[SPatrick]

Being the person that most people call if they need a goose caller, I think that calling means alot more than most people give credit. I have been on quite a few hunts where guys have been on the x the day before and killed 4 or 5 geese and not had a proficient caller. I will be out the next day and we shoot out, conditions being the same. It has nothing to do with being able to blow a contest routine, even though that helps with control of the call, it has to do with knowing the language. It has to do with understanding why birds react to certain vocalizations, and what to do when birds make a certain movement. This year was a true exception, I have a pleading moan that I use in order to bring geese around, and have only had a few times that it has not worked like a charm, I would say that it is usually 90% effective for an entire season, to at least bring geese back over the spread. However for some reason this year, my guess is abundant resources and no need to feed heavy due to weather, this vocalization worked about 45% of the time. Having the ability to call allows you so much more opportunity it is unreal. There are times in everyones season that you are not able to get on the X due to some factor beyond our control i.e. field is leased, hunting is not allowed, and numerous other reasons, but if you can get underneath the geese somehow that is part of the battle, with an above average goose caller, this allows you to run traffic on these groups and perhaps pull a few down, depending on your area of course. Hunting a river system like the Mississippi around here that public hunting is only allowed in a few specified locations due to blind allocation, You have to be able to call just to get geese to look. Obviously getting the right spot is the #1 thing in order to kill geese, I would put concealment as #2 and calling/flagging a close #3. Decoys get attention but for me are used for confidence and to direct where you want them to land. A spread that is set wrong can be overcome by good calling, trust me I have done it lol

[fisherhunter460]

...but I wish that someone could just tell me "go and get this particular call," and you WILL be happy. I know that is a lot a varience in price range. I am willing to spend around $150 on something.

There is no perfect call and they will all kill geese. And in my opinion many of the calls run very similar from one to the next. Don't spend $150 on a call. Pick one off this or the Avery forum. Usually about 20% cheaper than new calls.

Call Lynch Mob Calls. They have a try before you buy deal. I think you can request 3 calls, try them for a couple days, send them back if you don't like them and keep the one you do. Or call Bob at GK Calls, he might work something out with you.

[cashman]

...but I wish that someone could just tell me "go and get this particular call," and you WILL be happy. I know that is a lot a varience in price range. I am willing to spend around $150 on something.

There is no perfect call and they will all kill geese. And in my opinion many of the calls run very similar from one to the next. Don't spend $150 on a call. Pick one off this or the Avery forum. Usually about 20% cheaper than new calls.

Call Lynch Mob Calls. They have a try before you buy deal. I think you can request 3 calls, try them for a couple days, send them back if you don't like them and keep the one you do. Or call Bob at GK Calls, he might work something out with you.

x2, good advice there.
I think that if you're going to start blowing a goose call, something in the $50 to $80 dollar range would be great. I've found that calls that are much cheaper than that (RNT Goozilla comes to mind) are great to start on, but you'll quickly grow out of the call and want to make that next grade up purchase anyway. Usually a call in that range (GK Giant Slayer, Grounds Polycarb, BG Honker calls, etc...) are calls that even after you become proficient on a goose call, you'll have a hard time taking them off your lanyard!

[DmLGoose]

Wow. I appreciate the response to this. To be honest, I am not surprised by what you all have to say. I understand that if I am to become a more complete hunter, I better become a more complete caller. What one guy said about taking advantage of the good years, because bad years are gonna happen made be realize that the last few years have been pretty special in terms of numbers. I know I can consistantly kill geese, but there is ALWAYS room for improvement. I will still stand my ground about calling be 4th of 5th on my list of importance. Here is my issue. I know that there have been a lot of conversation in the forum about calls, and what each individual likes, but I wish that someone could just tell me "go and get this particular call," and you WILL be happy. I know that is a lot a varience in price range. I am willing to spend around $150 on something. The sporting good stores around here dont carry anything, and I dont have anyone that can give me an explanation as to this call does this, and this one does that. In other words, I will have to order one without trying it out.

if you are willing to pay $150 and have fair size geese then get a hayes punisher or if you have REALLY big geese then get the hayes crazy train.i recommend the punisher because it is such a versatile call. I know im only 15 but this is the best call i can find on the market. I went in to my first calling contest last year and beat out a bunch of 25 and 30 year olds. Hayes has AMAZING customer service to. if anything happens to your call they send you parts for free. (Reeds, wedges, inserts, the whole 9 yards.)

[DmLGoose]

Wow. I appreciate the response to this. To be honest, I am not surprised by what you all have to say. I understand that if I am to become a more complete hunter, I better become a more complete caller. What one guy said about taking advantage of the good years, because bad years are gonna happen made be realize that the last few years have been pretty special in terms of numbers. I know I can consistantly kill geese, but there is ALWAYS room for improvement. I will still stand my ground about calling be 4th of 5th on my list of importance. Here is my issue. I know that there have been a lot of conversation in the forum about calls, and what each individual likes, but I wish that someone could just tell me "go and get this particular call," and you WILL be happy. I know that is a lot a varience in price range. I am willing to spend around $150 on something. The sporting good stores around here dont carry anything, and I dont have anyone that can give me an explanation as to this call does this, and this one does that. In other words, I will have to order one without trying it out.

if you are willing to pay $150 and have fair size geese then get a hayes punisher or if you have REALLY big geese then get the hayes crazy train.i recommend the punisher because it is such a versatile call. I know im only 15 but this is the best call i can find on the market. I went in to my first calling contest last year and beat out a bunch of 25 and 30 year olds. Hayes has AMAZING customer service to. if anything happens to your call they send you parts for free. (Reeds, wedges, inserts, the whole 9 yards.)

you would also have $50 bucks left to spend on those decoys.