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Author Topic: You Can Not Beat The Crit-R-Call Open Reed uncle buck PAKMAN Member # 341 posted May 19, 2004 07:33 PM                       I have many predator calls. Closed reed, open reed, hand, etc. When I hunt predator I always use Major Boddickers Crit-R-Call open reed pee-wee, standard, and magnum. I have to do a youth field day on Saturday. I will be using a Crit-R-Calls. You can do everything with a Crit-R-Call. -------------------- Training Our New and Future Generation In The Art Of Predator Calling www.thepredatorhunter.com Posts: 3 | From: Pennsylvania | Registered: May 2004  |  IP: Logged Rich Higgins unknown comic posted May 19, 2004 09:23 PM              Yup, Crit-R-Calls are good and versatile. However, Georgr Brint's All Call produces better canine distress, jackrabbit and fawn despair. Sceery's AP7 makes better bird trills and rodent squeals as does the AP6 which also produces excellent and realistic cat distress. ELK makes two howlers that are much better than any open reed howler. That's why I use several different calls on every stand, none of which are Crit-R-Calls. On the other hand Quinton Wagoner uses them exclusively and rumor has it that he occasionally calls a coyote in. IP: Logged Leonard HMFIC Member # 2 posted May 20, 2004 06:50 AM                       All of which suggests that.....it don't matter much. I haven't tried it, but I think I could call a coyote by scraping the inside of a can of beans with a spoon. But, for those that need reassurance, a realistic sound is comforting. Good thing there are many choices. Good hunting. LB -------------------- EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All. Don't piss me off! Posts: 32363 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged Greenside seems to know what he is talking about Member # 10 posted May 20, 2004 10:00 AM                   As far as I'm concerned, the Crit'r calls are basically the standard or benchmark that I use to judge other calls. It takes a very good call to beat any of the four Crit'r calls. Dennis Edit: BTW, I'm sure glad I got a couple of the old magnums, the new and improved magnum sucks. Talk about pitch breaks! [ May 20, 2004, 10:29 AM: Message edited by: Greenside ] Posts: 719 | From: IA | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged Tim Behle Administrator MacNeal Sector Member # 209 posted May 20, 2004 04:56 PM                       Leonard, It doesn't work. At least not around here. They may start in, but they all get scared off by the stampede of wetbacks before you can see them. -------------------- Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take an ass kickin'. Posts: 3160 | From: Five Miles East of Vic, AZ | Registered: Jun 2003  |  IP: Logged Leonard HMFIC Member # 2 posted May 20, 2004 05:20 PM                       Actually, Tim. It does work, and it has worked (accidently) for me, at least that one time. I didn't make it up. In my opinion, the critter call is okay, but it doesn't thrill me. Personal opinion. I can use it, and it works fine, fairly durable, but I can make a lot more sounds with a bite call, or a diaphragm. But, if I had it in my pocket, I could use it all day and call whatever is there, just like anything else. I only have the little one, by the way; I think it's called a Peewee? It's not head and shoulders above the rest. A decent, servicable call. You really can't go wrong with it. That's my opinion. They all work, but some are more user friendly, and some make unique sounds. If your set up is workable and you have animals in the area, you will call animals. If there is a problem with pressure, or a suspicious animal, you may have to work him into a shootable position, ie: lip squeak. Pretty simple, really. But, I don't think there is a lot of magic in any particular hand call. I hope others disagree; I'd like to hear about it. Good hunting. LB -------------------- EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All. Don't piss me off! Posts: 32363 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged Cal Taylor Knows what it's all about Member # 199 posted May 20, 2004 06:11 PM                    Everyone has an opinion, or so they say. Boddiker's stuff is fair. But I will definately have to disagree with Rich about the ELK howler. I'm not that impressed with many of the sounds that come out of those, and I can't use one very well at all. The truest coyote sounds I have personally heard are guys that can voice howl, or use a diaphram. But I'm not very good with either of those, so I stick with the open reeds and sometimes I even get a coyote called in! -------------------- Democracy is two wolves and a lamb deciding what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote. FoxPro Field Staff Member Posts: 1069 | From: Wyoming | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged Leonard HMFIC Member # 2 posted May 20, 2004 06:53 PM                       If you ask me, blowing a call sounds completely different, rather than hearing one from a distance. What I'm saying is; it depends on which side of the call you are on. I can listen to a call, blown by someone else, out of sight, and I can use the same call, and it doesn't sound the same; maybe because of the closeness, or the projection (direction) of the sound? Anyway, that's what I think. It's difficult to get a true indication of what the call sounds like, while you are the one using it....if that makes any sense? I know that I can get response that I couldn't get otherwise, by aiming the barrel of the call in the opposite direction. For example, coaxing an animal, but he won't move. Turn the call away from him and start another sequence, and he might get up and come in on the run. Good hunting. LB -------------------- EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All. Don't piss me off! Posts: 32363 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged Tim Behle Administrator MacNeal Sector Member # 209 posted May 20, 2004 08:51 PM                       No no, you misunderstood me. The Crit'r call works fine. But if you try scraping the sides of a bean can with a spoon out in the middle of no where, at least in this area. You will call in a lot more wetbacks than coyotes. Same with opening a can of beer. 30 seconds later, some friendly cowboy or migrant will wonder up. I keep a Crit'r call in the pocket of my hunting jacket, but rarely use it other than a quick makeshift howler. -------------------- Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take an ass kickin'. Posts: 3160 | From: Five Miles East of Vic, AZ | Registered: Jun 2003  |  IP: Logged Krustyklimber prefers the bunny hugger pronunciation: ky o tee Member # 72 posted May 20, 2004 08:52 PM                    You can't beat a CritR Call... I'll keep trying. Krusty [ May 20, 2004, 08:56 PM: Message edited by: Krustyklimber ] -------------------- Think about how stupid the average person is, then realize that half of them are stupider than that! Posts: 1912 | From: Deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged Rich Higgins unknown comic posted May 21, 2004 02:36 PM              Cal, I agree that a diaphragm produces true and realistic howls and barks and a skilled caller could fool me into thinking I was hearing a real coyote. I have heard only a couple of voice howlers that could probably fool me. Most sound like humans imitating a coyote. Which is certainly true of all open reeds. I have never heard anyone howl and bark on one that did not sound like someone imitating a coyote on an open reed. I have never heard a caller or a demonstrator produce a howl on any open reed that would have fooled me into thinking that I was hearing a real coyote. We fool people often with the ELK howlers including other callers, all of our neighbors, and once a Game and Fish officer who refused to believe that we were the source of the howling until we demo'ed for him. It is true that most coyotes do not seem to differentiate between realistic howls and rooster sqwawking. In fact Dr. Lehner surmised that coyotes probably respond to sirens because they perceive the siren as howling. However, I believe that realism cannot hurt and probably is an asset especially in areas that are heavily called by howlers. I do know that coyotes become habituated to sirens and stop responding to them, yet in several study results of playback research none became habituated to real howls. Similarly, many coyotes have been called by novices producing strange sounds on calls. Yet the callers that consistantly call the most coyotes are those that skillfully portray despair and distress. I'm sure that more coyotes have been called in with a JS 512 and a worn scratchy tape than with a digitally reproduced sound from a WT, but I wonder how many educated coyotes can tell the difference? Steve Craig has said that the WT gives him a decided edge. IP: Logged Cdog911 "There are some ideas so absurd only an intellectual could believe them."--George Orwell. Member # 7 posted May 21, 2004 03:58 PM                       Agreeably, the diaphragm is an ideal call since it places the reed in your mouth and allows you to use your lips, cheeks, etc., just as the coyote itself does. In fact, a diaphragm allows the caller to recereate the coyote's anatomy more realistically than any other call out there. The ELK howler uses the latex band reed, differentiating it from the contemporary open reed calls, thus making it the next best thing for guys like me that have choked and aspirated on more diaphragms than I can count. God knows I've gone back to trying them often, and I can get a good sound out of them, but I just can't get past that fear of choking to death. Also, I can range all over the board with incredible ease with the Power Howler, which I can't do with the Crittr-Call. But, going back to the original question, the Crittr-Call is a decent call, but it has its own problems. For example, no good low end. Start blowing softly and you got nothing. Increase the volume and all of a sudden, ... kapow! You got everything all at once. Too many calls are like that. Sound wise, I think they sound horrendously inaccurate. But, they call a buttload of coyotes. So do a lot of other calls. They're a good call and they deserve all the credit they get, but I think it's awfully bold to say that they can't be beat. Just my .02. -------------------- I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something; and, because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do. Posts: 5440 | From: The gun-lovin', gun-friendly wild, wild west | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged Norm Knows what it's all about Member # 240 posted May 21, 2004 04:53 PM                    Tim, you are right about the can of beans and beer:D Leonard, my wife calls mine a peewee as well. As for the call, I always have one on my neck, it make for a good puppy whine; But like Rich, I am liking the allcall more and more everytime I use it.... Similar to our choices of rifles, loads, and women, our choice of calls is a personal one... I agree Leonard, the same person on the same call will sound differently. Enjoy what works for you.. Hey Tim, we heard that Miller open... -------------------- Carpe Diem Posts: 778 | From: Phx AZ | Registered: Oct 2003  |  IP: Logged Curt2u Knows what it's all about Member # 74 posted May 21, 2004 08:35 PM                    I've found all models of the Critr-Call to be excellent performers. One of the best factory calls in my opinion. Not as pretty as some but certainly simple, reliable, and effective. As was said by Greenside, they are the standard I use to compare all other open reeds. They are do it all calls. Many excellent calls out there though. Collect them all! Posts: 236 | From: NW | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged LionHo Knows what it's all about Member # 233 posted May 24, 2004 10:03 PM                    I like the Pee Wee CritR Call because I call more bobcats and foxes with it than I do with other calls, simple as that. It's louder than a lipsqueak and more consistent, though the squeak is usually more effective if fox or bobcat are within earshot to begin with. I know that Bob Mc really likes the CritR Call Standard model for calling mountain lions. I started looking at a real-time frequency graph in Goldwave on the PC, when I was recording and making MP3s of my most effective calls and sequences. What struck me was that none of my closed reed calls produce frequencies or harmonics above about 12 to 15KHz, tops. The CritR Call Pee Wee can reach 22KHz, and is "fully populated" with harmonics that look like the real deal.(Incidentally, lipsqueaks hit >20KHz too, and the graph can look indistinguishable from a live mouse squeak.) That all said, I notice that cats and foxes (not to mention owls, martens, weasels and sorts of small-to-midlin predators I photograph) seem to respond more readily to a super high-pitched call, probably more so than your average coyote does. Or at least I find it to be true, around these parts. Ivan [ May 24, 2004, 10:12 PM: Message edited by: LionHo ] Posts: 88 | From: Ventana Wilderness, CA | Registered: Aug 2003  |  IP: Logged Leonard HMFIC Member # 2 posted May 25, 2004 04:09 PM                       That agrees with my experience, LionHo. LB -------------------- EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All. Don't piss me off! Posts: 32363 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged

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