calling question

How many of you have noticed how much a hand call fires up the birds. Polishhammer and I think it really peaks their interest..We hand call alot more than we used to and I think it brought our succes rate up alot. It also seems like I get more satisfaction from getting better at calling. Would like to hear what others think about mixing e-caller and hand calls.

I have always had mouth calls but never really used them, after hearing your guys comments about how effective they can be, I am looking forward to mixing in the mouth calls with the e caller. My dad said back in the day he used to get them good with the hand calls.

I managed a few last season with just a hand call but had much better luck when adding it to the e-caller. It gave them something different to listen to and was able to turn quite a few around after their group had been shot at. Those birds that were on their way out of dodge and then came back to the mouth call would have been lost. It helps but I am not very good at it.

I think that when hand calls really shine is after a shot to turn the others back or to bring in nearby sentry birds to check out the decoys. I am not great at calling either but polishhammer helped me to learn to sound better. I practice when I can but my wife and dog both hate it(LOL). It can't be easy for her living with me but she's been here for 16 plus years so she tolerates a lot.

I'm writing a little article for the site.. this topic was it's motivation... I'll tell you I love hand calling... it is very gratifying to call in a crow with a mouth call... I would think the only purer way to fool the most intelligent bird in North America would be to call with your own vocal cords.... which I've tried and failed miserably at.

I learned to mouth call geese from a goose guide who was dating my cousin way back in the day. Geese are easy for me and i don't own a goose call. My voice doesn't carry as far as a hand call, but if they don't turn from flagging, I don't worry about them. Crows are a whole new ballgame, sometimes it works, most times it doesn't, like geese I just repeat how ONE bird is calling,strike up a conversation, and hope for the best. It is truly a rush when it works.

When I started crow hunting many years ago all we did was mouth call. The e-callers were not around. Over 90% of our hunts were the run-n-gun method. My take on mouth calling is quite reverse. Before e-callers you had to blow a call all day and that "takes the wind out of you", but very effective. The e-callers allowed a break and I could hunt longer before giving out of gas. Using both in unison gives you that much more of a arsenal to throw at the ole wily crow. Always mouth call first not to blow out any close birds that might be hanging around, take your first shots then turn on the caller, then just keep mixing it up between mouth and caller. But remember, one must know more than one sound to make with his mouth call, it makes a difference.

I agree with you 100%,Gary.