Are e-calls killing mouth calls and hand calls?

There is no doubt that many, if not the majority of new comers to our sport probably opt to start out with an ecall, thus reducing the demand for mouth calls. They do obviously offer a big shortcut to the learning curve and most newbies do not have the patience to spend learning how to do use the mouth call. That does not mean they can't realize the benefits of adding a mouth call somewhere down the road. JMO, but I don't think mouth calls will ever become completely obsolete. Heck, I've even got the attention of one or two with just a soda straw for the fun of it:D.

1742492807892.jpeg

One fact that I either missed or has not been mentioned yet, thankfully we do not have to choose between the two, as they each compliment the other. As previously mentioned, think about your mouth calls stepping up when your battery goes dead or your remote won't quite reach the call. On the other hand, what about the time the ecall saves the moment when your mouthcall reed freezes up. Not to mention the time you just might want to add a little extra squeak, bark or moan with your mouth call to a pre-recorded sequence.
I don't believe the mouth call is quite ready to be relegated to the trash bin yet. ;)
 
OKRattler said:
Really the point of this thread is not to say what's better and what ain't. My point was leading towards how the new age of predator calling could very well help destroy the past. And I think it's a dang shame.
Click to expand...
I do somewhat agree with you. What I said in my original post about living in a technology crazed/dependent world is true IMO. People cannot live without their cell phones and data packages. I use and depend on mine as well so I'm not one to talk. The first thing people do when they're interested in something is to look it up on the internet. They will get inundated with info about ecallers. When it comes to the new generation, unless they've had a mentor that used hand calls they will probably never even use one. That's not to say it will destroy the past, but I think most treat it as vintage anymore, which is a shame. Nothing like blowing a handcall and seeing a coyote racing in.

I think a lot of us grew up hunting way before "good" ecallers were available. When I started hunting we only used hand calls. I used to tune the voices to get them sounding more like I wanted. I had high pitched ones, gravelly sounding ones and a few howlers. We're talking 80's an 90's, way before the internet or cell phones were around. In a way it's kind of cool to have come up during that era - pre internet/cell phone. We've seen/lived and experienced the way we used to do it before internet, vs the way everyone does it now. I think it gives a pretty good perspective to what actually works better (some stuff definitely) and what is just different. Do I think ecallers have obsoleted handcalls? No way. But, there is no denying how effective ecallers are. A lot of good comments already about the positives and they're all true. For a solo hunter, which I did a lot of, they are WAY WAY better. It's like having a really good calling partner that lets you do all the shooting. I remember way back when, shotgun hunting an area with groves of joshua trees. Thick stuff, not a lot of visibility. We'd walk into the wind and setup usually standing inside a grove of trees. Handcalls didn't work too great because stuff would be on you before you saw them, usually running away. I made up a cassette (stewart cottontail) with 2 minutes of silence at the beginning so I could get back to my stand. Put it in my ghetto blaster and set it 20 yards in front of us. I remember thinking at the time how awesome it would be to have something remote controlled. Lol. Now look at us.
 
Another thing to think about with the good hand calls of the past. A lot of them the original call makers have either passed on so the calls aren’t made anymore or they have sold there business and are not the original anymore. There are still some old call makers out there just not a lot of them left. That being said you can still find some good Custom call makers.
 

Newpond0 said:
Seeing good thermals in action and what they can do is very very exciting and makes learning woodsmanship sound incredibly boring and tedious in comparison.
Click to expand...
This is not to start another sub-conversation. Woodsmanship is where it all STARTS!!!!!!!
 
The answer is yes.
In the predator calling space, technology has made hand calls obsolete, that’s just reality. Hand calls can’t compete with the power, ease of use, convenience and real sounds of a modern Ecaller. Not to mention the boys and their toys techy appeal.
In other spaces, not so much….only because it’s not legal ( or maybe ethical?). Hand calls are still going strong in the turkey, waterfowl and big game markets. That is where the actual money is if you are selling hand calls….it was never in predator calling, even though it may have seemed like it for some. It was mostly for fun and love for the sport. Hopefully coyotes do not ever get put on as “game” status anywhere or the Ecaller could go by the wayside. In California you cannot hunt grey fox over an Ecaller…hope it doesn’t go any further than that anywhere. I like my Ecallers.

It takes skills to run hand calls effectively and it also takes a set of skills to use an Ecaller the same way. I’m still of the opinion though that there are predator callers and then there are predator shooters. I think most guys nowdays are predator shooters, and I guess there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s all about having fun anyways. That’s all it’s ever been.
The difference is in how you get your satisfaction out of it getting them killed.
 
Last edited:
Hopefully coyotes do not ever get put on as “game” status anywhere or the Ecaller could go by the wayside. In California you cannot hunt grey fox over an Ecaller…hope it doesn’t go any further than that anywhere.

Wow!! that’s a great point I bet if that ever happened you’d lose 60-80% of todays predator hunters.😂
 
OKRattler said:
Really the point of this thread is not to say what's better and what ain't. My point was leading towards how the new age of predator calling could very well help destroy the past.
Click to expand...
I don't think it has or ever will destroy the past. Having been in the sport pre e-callers I'd say it's just a different way to do it...

OKRattler said:
They didn't do all that and produce a call so that others may have those same moments of triumph, just to be forgotten about.
Click to expand...
No, they didn't, but I also don't think they did it for only the sake or love of the sport, let's be honest here, they were out to monetize on the opportunity as well.
 
Rellis said:
I actually quit making calls a few years back because they were just not selling. Just recently started making calls again. I always have calls on me and use them quite often. Out here in Utah the coyotes are hunted nonstop and have become very call shy, the hand calls are a sound that they don't hear as often and can pull you out of a slump.
Click to expand...
That's one thing about where I live, there are very few predator hunters that actually call coyotes.
 
LONEHOWL said:
Hand calls are still going strong in the turkey, waterfowl and big game markets. That is where the actual money is if you are selling hand calls….it was never in predator calling, even though it may have seemed like it for some. It was mostly for fun and reverence for the sport. Hopefully coyotes do not ever get put on as “game” status anywhere or the Ecaller could go by the wayside. In California you cannot hunt grey fox over an Ecaller…hope it doesn’t go any further than that anywhere. I like my Ecallers.
Click to expand...
Here in Canada you've never been able to use e-callers for waterfowl, turkey or most big game. Luckily they class coyotes as varmint here.
 
RSG223 said:
Here in Canada you've never been able to use e-callers for waterfowl, turkey or most big game. Luckily they class coyotes as varmint here.
Click to expand...
I think each province has its own rules. In Newfoundland and Labrador you’re allowed to use them on big game
 
Utahcaller said:
Hopefully coyotes do not ever get put on as “game” status anywhere or the Ecaller could go by the wayside. In California you cannot hunt grey fox over an Ecaller…hope it doesn’t go any further than that anywhere.

Wow!! that’s a great point I bet if that ever happened you’d lose 60-80% of todays predator hunters.😂
Click to expand...
Yep fo sho.
 
Back in the day when I was in my early teens in the 60’s, I got hold of a P.S. Olt catalog that was full of various mouth calls. I was too poor to have anything but a mouth call. After a lot of dreaming and yearning my Mother gave me, as I recall, $1.75 of hard to come by money to purchase my first ever call, a P.S.Olt Crow Call. We didn’t have coyotes back then, so crows became the logical target. I actually became pretty good at it and regularly brought down crows with that call and with 12 ga. Iver Johnson single shot. I surprised my Dad since he didn’t think I would be very successful.

I later acquired catalogs of Johnny Stewart and Burnham Brothers that had electronic calls, record player types and I would practically foam at the mouth with desire for one but too poor to give it any real consideration. Then, one Christmas my parents got me what I consider to be my best ever Christmas present, a Burnham Brother’s electronic call. It played the 45 rpm records that were prevalent at the time (Johnny Stewart Crow & Owl Fight was my favorite). It was heavy as an anvil, bulky, but boy did it produce. I soon found out that rather than a lone crow responding to my mouth call, I was suddenly swarmed by them. The old single shot Iver Johnson struggled to keep up.

I guess my point is that there’s something special about using a mouth call, kind of classic in a sense, more natural and pure. I have since called a few bobcats with mouth calls, however I have called more crows and predators with the electronics. I am just glad we have both to choose from and to use on any given day when we feel like it. Hopefully mouth calls will not go the way of the dinosaur, and I don’t they will, though no doubt demand may not be as good as before.
 
Last edited:
I call with both. First and second time on a small property or same setup it's usually ecaller. If no response either time, mouth call the 3rd go. Many times 3rd has produced. If ecaller has worked, next visit is hand call. Weather does also dictate which is a backup. Night/day matters, at night the ecaller allows for scanning and listening.
 
I actually prefer a hand call if I'm calling at night with lights. For example I've hunted a plenty in Texas with lights at night. Sometimes we'd set the call out there just like you would during the day. If those eyes aren't pointing in your direction, they ain't gonna shine. So that's where a hand call definitely does make a difference. I've had my buddies looking at a coyote that I couldn't see several times just because it wasn't looking where I was because I was off to one side of the call or the other. If I'm hunting off of a tripod I sure ain't trying to drag more gear out into the field with me than I need to. Because I plan on having to drag a coyote back. If the sound is coming from me I sure ain't gotta worry about whether or not a critter is looking in my direction or not. If it is it's gonna have its eyes full of red light.
 
I called in a few coyotes with hand calls in the 70s and early 80s. Then I bought a Johnny Stewart cassette tape caller. That caller was a game changer. I wore out that caller and replaced it with another JS caller, and then several Foxpros. Ive not used a hand call in 40 years, but I usually carry one as a back up. My success has improved tremendously with e callers, both because over the years I’ve learned a lot about coyote calling, where/how to set up, expansion of places where I can I call, night calling and overall experience. Nothing wrong with using hand calls, but I’m staying exclusively with e calls.
 
Back
Top