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Author
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Topic: Is there a cheap e-call ?
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Stiknstringbow
Knows what it's all about
Member # 3571
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posted February 14, 2010 12:21 PM
Or is it one of those "you get what you pay for" deals?
I really dont have the money to spend on a good Foxpro, or anything like that, but am interested in acquiring Rainshadows CD with Cougar sounds, as I understand that handcalls wont mimic most of the cougars vocabulary....
Is there a reasonably priced (under $150.) call that would work for that purpose?
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The mountains are calling and I must go."
- John Muir
"I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order."
- John Burroughs
Posts: 35 | From: Chehalis | Registered: Feb 2010
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fgf4
unknown comic
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posted February 14, 2010 12:35 PM
I've heard many of Steve's sounds... most are actual recordings of cougars and are of high quality.
If you can't afford a remote call there are many wired calls still available. You might also pick up an older CD unit on ebay cheap.
You could also use a CD player or just load the sounds to an MP3 player. The disadvantage(or advantage depending on your common sense)would be calling the cougar directly to your location!
Nikonut
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Cdog911
"There are some ideas so absurd only an intellectual could believe them."--George Orwell.
Member # 7
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posted February 14, 2010 01:58 PM
It's tough time for everyone, and if you're not the diehard calling addict that most here are, I can see the cost prohibitive aspects of buying a good MAD Call or other wireless unit. But, if you plan on doing this for a while, it is generally well worth the expense to save your nickels and dimes until you have the ching to buy one. In better times when fur prices were generally enough to cover the cost, it was easy to bring in enough fur to more than pay for the unit the first year. Spread that out over the course of five or ten years that the unit will be in service - allowing for battery replacements and the like - and the investment begins to look more and more like a good one.
I'm a tight ass and for me, the cost was tough as a one-time hit to the budget. But, when used properly, they really do increase your effectiveness and your kill numbers, thus making more money for you.
Having said that, there are plenty of ideas floating around the net about how to make a wired unit and even a few wireless ones using this and that, either CD- or mp3-based.
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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
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Aznative
FARTS ON CLUELESS LIBERALS
Member # 506
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posted February 14, 2010 07:23 PM
If you could get you hands on one of the Johnny Stewart power pro convert a call units, you could just attach a MP3 player with a premade/mixed sound. It use to work for me.
Here is one that went for 25 bucks:
http://eastco.craigslist.org/spo/1559905248.html
It is simply a midrange horn with an amp, battery and charger. You plug into it anything you want. With the MP3 players being cheap and having huge memory, you could build a melody that could really be deadly. If you cannot find one of these, it is simply a simple mono amp with a midrange reenterant horn, a battery and a charger.
reentrant horn
http://www.fullcompass.com/product/264817.html
A small gell cell battery with charger.
A small amp. If you have a electonic friend, he might be able to help you here.
I will look into my old power pro to see if the componenent numbers are available. It is simply an on off button, a pot, and a simple amp. A very basic circuit.
Good Luck
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Never thought the devil would need a teleprompter but I could be wrong.
United State of America: RIP
Born July 4th 1776 died November 6th 2012
Posts: 1937 | From: Phoenix Az | Registered: Jan 2005
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Stiknstringbow
Knows what it's all about
Member # 3571
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posted February 15, 2010 12:25 PM
My budget is around $ 0.00 right now, but I am hoping things will change soon, I was just curious because I have a $50 Cabelas Gift card and saw some calls usually $129.99 on sale for $89.00 and was curious if one of those was worth it, or just a waste of money.
I really dont expect to go after cougars anytime soon, but am planning for next season....
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The mountains are calling and I must go."
- John Muir
"I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order."
- John Burroughs
Posts: 35 | From: Chehalis | Registered: Feb 2010
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Stiknstringbow
Knows what it's all about
Member # 3571
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posted February 15, 2010 12:27 PM
Oh and thank you for all the replies !!
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The mountains are calling and I must go."
- John Muir
"I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order."
- John Burroughs
Posts: 35 | From: Chehalis | Registered: Feb 2010
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Krustyklimber
prefers the bunny hugger pronunciation: ky o tee
Member # 72
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posted February 15, 2010 04:02 PM
Stik,
If you have a portable CD player, or you can load the sounds you wish to use onto an MP3 player, you can supplement that with a mini-amp, patch cord, and horn speaker from Radio Shack, for about $40, to build a wired e-caller.
With the addition of an Azden wireless mic set-up, available on E-bay, you can make it a wireless remote.
Krusty 
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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
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Okanagan
Budding Spin Doctor
Member # 870
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posted February 16, 2010 04:44 PM
Stik, I'd save up for a good one. Poor quality e-callers will drive you nuts in the field and mess up good stands that are hard to come by. That's the voice of experience.
Rainshadow has used most of the e-callers and has personal experience.
Meanwhile, some lower cost options:
1. A hand call with two hunters can achieve the same seperation from sound that a remote gives one hunter. For big cats, the shooter seperates himself from the caller to a place where he is likly to see the approaching cat. The caller may get a shot but is less likely to. It worked for us on cougar and lynx.
2. Use a cheap boom box. Before I got a Minaska I built a couple of remote e-callers but the simplest and most effective was a Wal-Mart boom box. Put your sound on CD or MP3 etc, set up your ambush stand, push the play button (sound volume already set) and walk to where you have already prepared to sit. Don't laugh. We called cougars and bobcats with that boom box.
3. Build one, as Krusty suggests. A bonus is that building your own will make you much sharper if you decide to buy a major brand e-caller as to what features you want, how they work, etc.
[ February 16, 2010, 04:46 PM: Message edited by: Okanagan ]
Posts: 269 | From: 49th Parrallel | Registered: Jun 2006
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Krustyklimber
prefers the bunny hugger pronunciation: ky o tee
Member # 72
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posted February 16, 2010 09:41 PM
4. Take Krusty with you. He can bring his e-caller, blows a call pretty well, and just might leave a handmade call in your truck. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
I also have no desire to shoot a bear or a cougar, unless I have to, so the job and reward of being the shooter would be all yours. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Krusty
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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
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JoeF
resides "back east"
Member # 228
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posted February 17, 2010 04:35 AM
Stik - I just can't make myself "afford" one of those $700 boxes. I'm in this stuff for the fun, have a kid about to get his doctorate, and another still in HS. Every penny counts.
Just a few thoughts to add to the above:
Don't forget just a plain old car stereo mounted in a box. I've made several, one that I used as my primary call for years. It was built in this little suitcase thing that kind looked like you were on the way to Granny's house from one side, but I killed a bunch of stuff with it. It is still by far the best crow call I've ever seen.
Keep your eye open for used old Stewart calls. 512's, 612's, etc... Check E-Bay. They are on there quite a bit.
Look at a new Stewart PM-4. They can be had for less than $200, shop for one on sale. They are a passable predator call. Suck as a crow call.
Are you handy with a soldering iron? I can dig up some links (when I have more time) to an amplifier kit or two that is mush better than the Radio Shack job.
http://www.varmintal.com/ahunt.htm#El-Cheapo
Posts: 658 | From: Midwest | Registered: Aug 2003
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