Anybody Use Tube Calls?

anybody else out there use tube calls for turkey hunting?

i can think of 4 toms i got headed into the kill with a tube when nothing else seemed to get their attention. each time it was an extremely windy day.

or maybe its just the fact that when i blow a tube call its likely the first time a tom has heard that call. just something different to pique their interest.

i think they make great yelps, clucks and cuts. i have a hard time toning a tube call down, though. seems like everytime i blow it, its loud.

i picked up a tube made of cherry wood a couple weeks ago and i think it sounds much better than the one i have made of some synthetic (plastic?) material.

tubes are not my go to call by any means but i always have one with me.

Great info I personally have never used a tube

great info i have tried one once …..think they ran the other way for me im a mouth call and slate guy

Which tube do you like best?

This is a good topic. I’ve used them before with limited success. Because I think I sound poorly on it, I don’t use it as much as I should. Which means I tend to practice it less.

Like Kooty said, which do you use? Any tips for getting good, consistent sounds out of them? Use it mostly for yelping? Which other vocalizations do you use the tube for?

Thanks!

Joel

well … i definitely am not an expert tube caller, but i am a turkey call junkie.

went to a turkey classic 10-12 years ago and picked up a knight & hale widowmaker in a bargain bin, then proceeded to drive my buddies nuts on the way home trying to make it sound like a turkey.

definitely the hardest call for me to learn – took me a couple years before i would risk using it in the woods during season. most instructions say to put your top lip on the call and use tongue pressure on the reed like a mouth call. i could never get that to work. i use my lower lip on the reed to regulate pressure on the reed instead.

you dont want the reed stretched too tight over the call and the gap on top of the call has to be just right – for me about 1/8 inch. just put your lower lip in the gap with the reed up and blow across your lower lip, pushing air between your lip and the reed.

to get a cluck, i kinda say “tuck” as i force air into the call. and cutts, like any other call, are just a series of clucks with varying degrees of pitch, loudness, exciteedness (is that a word?). i have practiced and used one enough by now that, i just do it, kind of like when you hit that stage where you are comfortable running a mouth call without having to think about it, if that makes any sense.

i am not pushing any brand of call, but i picked up a Top Calls “Limb Talker” tube made from cherry wood a few weeks ago. i think it sounds much “richer” than the widowmaker, which i still will carry.

i tend to use calls – whether its the morning setup or cuttin and runnin – in the same sequence. softly with a mouth or glass/crystal to begin with. if no response, kick it up a little with cutts and volume on mouth or glass/crystal, then hit a box a few times if nothing has answered by then. finally, before moving, i will hit a yelp/cutt series on a tube. occasionally, i will hit a tube first when “trollin'” to try and strike a gobble.

like i said, i dont claim to a tube call expert, but i always have one with me (dont have to worry about them not working when its raining). i think i can make pretty good yelps, clucks and cutts with a tube. and i am convinced i have gotten several toms to commit to a tube after nothing else seemed to get their attention.

Great info IW Thanks

Love it! Thanks for taking the time to put all that to a post, really appreciate it. Out with the tubes again…

Joel