Hey Adrian I agree with you on the practice. What ever you do don't let Rick Cronk here that statement about the best sounding howler


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Seeing as this thread has picked up some interest again I thought I'd show some differences between the two types of calls. First are the closed reeds which are very popular in the south where it's warm. All the calls here whether the 40yr old Olt, the $85 Sly Dog (no I absolutely did not pay that, but it's what he sells them for) the Richard Grantham or the Ron Welch they and all closed reed calls have something in common and that is that shiny little tin thing you see there among them and that is a JC Products reed. Yes they all use it. There are now a couple of different thickness available as well as a double reed.
Below are some open reed calls. The horn is a howler but the others will howl too if they are single reed. Unless you buy premade voices which are now showing up due to demand these calls are each an individual. Most call makers shape their own tone boards. As Adrian says there are lots of production open reed call on the market to choose from as well. The reed is right inside your mouth so stays pliable. Lip position and or pressure change the tone and pitch of these calls making them extremely versatile. Rabbit distress to howl to pup distress without leaving your mouth.
Just to tease one of the members here this is what an open reed custom rosewood call looks like prior to being drilled and shaped
Yet another call is the diaphragm. I use a Quakerboy turkey call to make excellent sounding howls and they also make pup distress sounds so real it makes your hair stand on end blowing one

. They need your cupped hands or a megaphone like a cow horn etc to amplify the sound.
Have fun
