[dropanchor]

From browsing the forum it looks like most of you guys blow short reeds. Is there any of you who solely blow a goose flute?

Any suggestions as to which one? I cant figure out a short reed but can blow a flute.

Thanks guys.

 

[MNhunter]

The only flutes I would recommend would either be a Tim Grounds Guides Best (Tim won all his world championships with it) or a Foiles Meat Cutter.

I would strongly recommned switching to a short reed, it takes a lot of practice but totally worth it in the end. The sounds you can make on a short reed compared to those of the ones you can make on a flute are very different. Flutes are very limited in their vocabulary, where as short reeds you can make any sound of the Canadian Goose (honks, clucks, moans, feeding growls, spit calls, cries, etc...

And once you get a short reed down pretty good it is a whole lot easier to sound like more than one goose, how bout a whole flock!

Hope this helps!
Andy

 

[cranehunter]

I also love the flutes and have purchased a Foiles Meatcutter. It is an awesome flute and I used it with great success this year. My son blows a short reed Foiles Straight Meat Honker and he loves that. I recommend the Meatcutter even though it will cost you $150. after using flutes for 20 years I just could not get the short reed call to do what I wanted. The Meatcutter sounds so crisp compared to my Long Honker and you can cluck, double cluck, greet, comeback and moan with the Meatcutter with very little practice. Foiles has a video that is worth buying that explains how to use all his calls including the Meatcutter flute. Don't let these short reed nuts make you feel inferior. Long live the flute!

 

[GooseBuster3]

If you guys just practied enough you would love the short reed calls.
Long live the Short reed. hehehe

 

[nodakoutdoors.com]

Josh Neuwiller won the 2002 Avery Goose Contest blowing a flute......he sounds AWESOME! If blown right flutes can be just as goosey...but it requires more lung power.

Here's the link to the video file from Woody at Dedduck:

http://www.dedduck.com/rm/joshvid.rm

You need realplayer.

 

[Matt Jones]

Hey, do you guys blow your short reeds the Grounds method (using your tongue to break the air) or the Foiles way (keeping your tongue down)?

 

[nodakoutdoors.com]

grounds

 

[Austin Bachmeier]

Grounds Method. and I need to get rid of the "Mother". Thing takes more air than a weather balloon.

 

[MNhunter]

I use the Foiles method....I feel it is goosier and a lot faster.

Chris....Josh won the Champion of Champions at the Avery with the Sean Mann Eastern Shoreman (Birdseye Maple Flute), which is actually basically a short reed. Even Mann himself says it has the short reed guts, blows like a short reed with just a touch of flute, but still sounds like a flute. Josh Nuewiller has gotta have pin feathers! Another file on that site is of John Bolen, he is actually blowing the Foiles Meatcutter but since then John has gone back to the short reed for comps. John told me the main reason he blows a flute a lot is because "They sounds too much like a goose not to blow em"

There are still quite a bit of excellent callers still using flutes, e.i. McCree, McGown, etc.......Even Ritchie McNight says he prefers the sound of a flute over a SR, but SR's just have that speed and versatility

Another reason to switch it because calling all day from a layout blind can be very difficult with a flute, the doors come up to high and it is a really big hassle. Don't get me wrong.....I will pull out the Grounds Guides Best when I am hunting over water.

I myself am a short reed anthusiast. I love the crack they have, that short reed sound they have, the speed, the size, and the versitility. Plus they are sooo damn fun to call geese with!

 

[Decoyer]

All the Sean Mann Call is is short reed that creates its own back pressure with the long barrel.

 

[Matt Jones]

Has anyone blown a meatcutter? Is it basically the same thing as an eastern shoreman, a short reed with a flute barrel?

 

[Decoyer]

The meatcutter is a true flute.

 

[nneuwiller]

First of all, let me introduce myself. I'm Josh Neuwiller's wife and I was browsing around on the net and came across the posts about him on this forum. (It's nice to read nice things from time to time - if any of you know anything about the goose calling contest circuit, there's a whole lotta bad mouthing!) Anyway, the Eastern Shoreman is a very unique goose call. It's definitely not a short reed call, although the guts are similar to those of an Eastern Shorty. Sean also does not consider this a "flute" call although many people have labeled it as one. Josh would never tell anyone he blows a flute call - he always says he blows an "Eastern Shoreman." I hunt a lot (although we're expecting a child this fall so won't be hunting too much this year) so I definitely know what I'm talking about when I say that the Eastern Shoreman, to me, is the goosiest sounding call on the market today. I also have a degree in biology and know quite a bit about wildlife biology. We live in Maryland, and I myself blow an Eastern Shoreman. It's really easy to learn and sounds so realistic. When we hunt, Josh usually alternates between an Eastern Shoreman and a Shorty to create different sounds depending on whats working for us that day. The Shorty can be a little intimidating to learn. Not to mention the fact that every (and I can definitely vouch for this!) Sean Mann call, whether it is the $200 Cocobola Eastern Shoreman or the $60 Express, is hand tuned by either Josh or Sean. (Trust me - I've sat in the shop with the two of them on many nights and listened for hours to the sounds of tuning goose calls.) Anyway, just thought I'd input my ideas about short reed calls, flutes, and Eastern Shoremans.

 

[GooseBuster3]

As for the shoreman I would never blow it!! Faulkner, Zink and Foiles make a much better call.

 

[Doug Panchot]

Using goosecalls to me is all relative (Ford or Chevy?)!! You use what you are used to blowing. If you have an SR-1 you are going to learn to blow it. Most of us here don't have the finances to purchase 6 different calls to see which one we like, so we buy one and learn how to play that one. I have blown the Eastern Shoreman and like what it sounds like. If anyone on this board was to buy one and learn to blow it, they would like it just as the "true" short reeds.

 

[nneuwiller]

Well, Josh did win 6 world championship titles (3 junior and 3 senior- the only person ever to do this), the Avery International, and the Avery Champion of Champions with an Eastern Shoreman. But- I know it's all about personal preference. I'm just saying the Eastern Shoreman has earned a place among World Champion caliber calls.

 

[Bartman]

Just because a man can win 6 championships with ONE call doesnt mean anything. He apparently tunes them himself, makes them, used them on all 6 championships. Just because one person can win 6 champs with this call doesnt mean any john dick or harry can. Its all about practice. If you learn to blow the call, and you practice, you will only make your calling as good as you want it to be. I will stick to my zink calls, they get the birds into range just as good as i want them to.

dropanchor, I still own a big river flute, its a farely decent call but there isnt much variation in the sounds it makes. If you want good quality honker sounds, go for a short reed. But you better do it quick, they take some time to get used to and the season is getting closer :lol:

 

[Matt Jones]

I don't know why you guys are raggin' on the Mann calls...have you ever blown a shorty??? Talk about a sweeet SR! Right up there with any SR on the market, and better than a Foiles IMO...although I do like the Foiles case a lot. I agree with nneuwiller on the shoreman, any call that can win that many championships obviously isn't a shabby call.

Speaking of SR's I've picked up a couple new one's recently. A couple weeks back I got a tiger maple/cocobola Shaman and yesterday I picked up RNT's Kelley Power's signature series SR. I really like the Shaman but am dissapointed in the Power's...for a TG call it's definitely sub-par. I can definitely see why Kelley still blows a super mag in comps.

 

[Doug Panchot]

I'm not knocking Mann calls. I do like how the E. Shoreman sounds, I just don't own one to blow. My post was pertaining to GB3's comment on how he would never blow a Eastern Shoreman. Winning 6 titles with a call is awesome. It shows that you know your call and all the variations of pitch and tone the call has to offer and utilizing those in making "goose music." Like I said before there are a lot of call out there and a guy needs to pick a call he likes and practices with the call until he has it down.

 

[Austin Bachmeier]

Jonesy thanks bro you saved me $150