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Zink calls

3K views 12 replies 7 participants last post by  pahunter22 
#1 ·
What does everyone think? SR-1, PC-1, or the Little Man? I don't do much goose hunting but I would like to have a nice call on hand for when I need it. The LM and the PC-1 are on sale for $83 and the SR-1 wood/poly is on sale for $60. Please let me know what you think is the easiest to operate and the best all around call for tone, realism, and range. Thanks all, happy hunting.
 
#3 ·
I'd go with the LM, too, as a hunting call. The PC -1 has limited volume. The SR-1 is a deeper sounding call, which uses a lot of air in comparison to many other calls. Preferring high pitched calls for hunting, the LM fits the bill better than the other two choices.
 
#4 ·
hey serg,

out west we dont get all the smaller sub-species of canadas that they do in the bread basket. majority of the canadas that are shot out here, or at least that i see and shoot are greaters. so a deeper call is what i prefer, i run the MM and SR-1 and absolutely love them
 
#5 ·
side-slippin said:
hey serg,

out west we dont get all the smaller sub-species of canadas that they do in the bread basket. majority of the canadas that are shot out here, or at least that i see and shoot are greaters. so a deeper call is what i prefer, i run the MM and SR-1 and absolutely love them
We mostly get birds in the 10 to 12 pound range as adults in this area. Those geese seem to prefer the high pitched calls to the lower pitched calls, especially if you're in a location they don't want to be in the first place. The high pitched calls seem to attract their attention better.

I was watching Scott Threinen's "Goose Society" again this morning and listening to the geese reinforced my perceptions that even big geese are very high pitched when they're excited ..... as is the usual case when they're on the ground and being approached by other geese. Other than moans, there were very, very few low pitched sounds made by the geese. That seems to be the general trend I've observed in most goose hunting videos and, more importantly, out in the fields and marshes.

I've not hunted out west, so I can't say if the big geese behave differently. I know around here some guys will say, "Use low pitched calls for the local geese. Then use high pitched calls for the migrators." My personal experience has been that high pitched calls usually work on both ..... though it's nice to have a low pitched call handy when the exceptions to the rule show up. :lol3:
 
#6 ·
You are getting screwed if you pay 83 dollars for a PC-1. They are all over the place for around 25-30 buck and around 40 with the DVD combo! Check out Mack's, Cabela's, Rogers, Bass Pro...

Since you don't hunt much. Why spend more than you have to? A PC-1 is a good beginners call. The DVD is good, but I think the Bad Grammar DVD is a little better and it tells you when to blow the call, not just how to blow it. I responded to another guy asking a similar question to you about a good call for under a 100 bucks.

I told him that a 30 dollar call blown right sounds better than a 180 call blown wrong! I don't think anyone on the forum would disagree with that. Once you get good enough, you will know when to move up in quality (price, too).
 
#7 ·
Blackfoot down said:
You are getting screwed if you pay 83 dollars for a PC-1. They are all over the place for around 25-30 buck and around 40 with the DVD combo! Check out Mack's, Cabela's, Rogers, Bass Pro...

Since you don't hunt much. Why spend more than you have to? A PC-1 is a good beginners call. The DVD is good, but I think the Bad Grammar DVD is a little better and it tells you when to blow the call, not just how to blow it. I responded to another guy asking a similar question to you about a good call for under a 100 bucks.

I told him that a 30 dollar call blown right sounds better than a 180 call blown wrong! I don't think anyone on the forum would disagree with that. Once you get good enough, you will know when to move up in quality (price, too).
I would suspect that the $83 PC-1 call is probably the acrylic version. The acrylic version is normally somewhere around $120 - $130? While the poly carbonate PC-1 is $29, with the DVD. I've read they, acrylic PC-1 vs. polycarb PC-1, use different guts. I owned an acrylic PC-1 and while it was a bit limited in volume and tonal range, it sounded better than the polycarb version. But ....... I haven't tried either since Zink came out with new guts, so I couldn't make a fair comparison between their current models. Personally, I'd skip the PC-1 model and get either a Money Maker or LM-1. I have not tried any of the 3 new models Zink has, so I don't know how they compare to either the Money Maker or the LM-1.
 
#8 ·
A buddy of mine has the NOS or Nightmare On Stage from Zink and it is a really, really nice call. I run Gander VAlley goose and duck calls and I have to admit the NOS seems to blow a lot easier than my Gander Valley calls. I still think the Gander Valley call is a better call and for $110.00 for acrylic tough to beat but the Zink is a nice call as well.
 
#9 ·
R. Toker said:
A buddy of mine has the NOS or Nightmare On Stage from Zink and it is a really, really nice call. I run Gander VAlley goose and duck calls and I have to admit the NOS seems to blow a lot easier than my Gander Valley calls. I still think the Gander Valley call is a better call and for $110.00 for acrylic tough to beat but the Zink is a nice call as well.
You might ask Gander Valley's owner to adjust your call if it's a little harder to blow than you'd like. Using a shaved reed can make it easier to run. Bending the reed tip up a little bit can make it easier to run. There are differences between the same calls which use the same guts and some adjustments can be made. For example ....... I have two GVCC Triple X's, one in acrylic and the other in hedge. Both of them have an E4 reed (wide end) installed rather than the original GVCC reed. The hedge is very easy to run, but the acrylic required more air to operate even when the reed exposure was the same. I also run an acrylic C&S Apostle, which is very easy to run with the WEBFoot Custom Calls SR03 or Edge guts, about like the hedge Triple X. I wanted the acrylic Triple X to run like the other two calls as I tended to over power the Apostle (blow too much air into it) when I ran it after using the acrylic Triple X. So, I sanded .003" off the top of the tone board starting at the tuning groove, blending into nothing at the exhaust end of the tone board. This change lowered the reed a little closer to the tone board at the mouth end of the tone board and made it easier to run.

Now all three calls (acrylic Apostle and Triple X and hedge Triple X) run close to the same in terms of the amount of air used to run them, while retaining the unique tonal qualities each design and material brings to the respective call. That makes switching back and forth between them much easier. The process took about five minutes, including time to disassemble and reassemble the call. GVCC's call maker can do the same tuning adjustments, reed shaving, tip bending, or tone board sanding, if you want it done. Tone board sanding may require a thicker wedge or the use of a shim to keep the guts tight in the insert tenon.
 
#10 ·
tripleb said:
R. Toker said:
A buddy of mine has the NOS or Nightmare On Stage from Zink and it is a really, really nice call. I run Gander VAlley goose and duck calls and I have to admit the NOS seems to blow a lot easier than my Gander Valley calls. I still think the Gander Valley call is a better call and for $110.00 for acrylic tough to beat but the Zink is a nice call as well.
You might ask Gander Valley's owner to adjust your call if it's a little harder to blow than you'd like. Using a shaved reed can make it easier to run. Bending the reed tip up a little bit can make it easier to run. There are differences between the same calls which use the same guts and some adjustments can be made. For example ....... I have two GVCC Triple X's, one in acrylic and the other in hedge. Both of them have an E4 reed (wide end) installed rather than the original GVCC reed. The hedge is very easy to run, but the acrylic required more air to operate even when the reed exposure was the same. I also run an acrylic C&S Apostle, which is very easy to run with the WEBFoot Custom Calls SR03 or Edge guts, about like the hedge Triple X. I wanted the acrylic Triple X to run like the other two calls as I tended to over power the Apostle (blow too much air into it) when I ran it after using the acrylic Triple X. So, I sanded .003" off the top of the tone board starting at the tuning groove, blending into nothing at the exhaust end of the tone board. This change lowered the reed a little closer to the tone board at the mouth end of the tone board and made it easier to run.

Now all three calls (acrylic Apostle and Triple X and hedge Triple X) run close to the same in terms of the amount of air used to run them, while retaining the unique tonal qualities each design and material brings to the respective call. That makes switching back and forth between them much easier. The process took about five minutes, including time to disassemble and reassemble the call. GVCC's call maker can do the same tuning adjustments, reed shaving, tip bending, or tone board sanding, if you want it done. Tone board sanding may require a thicker wedge or the use of a shim to keep the guts tight in the insert tenon.
I'm not saying it's hardeer to blow than I'd like. The calls run great and I have mastered them pretty well. I was only saying when I ran the NOS it didn't require as much air. However, it did not have the range my PCS or Powerhouse has either top to bottom. I can make that PCS scream honks and clucks and for finishing work get it to really growl for feed calls and lay down calls. I actually adjusted my XXX today to blow a little easier for one handed operation. AS you state above took me about 5min give or take now it breaks super easy. I just ordered a GK Giant Slayer in black delrin from the website. Looks like a good call for $70 shipped!! I'm a call addict!!!!!!
 
#11 ·
Kudos to you for having the guts to adjust your calls to your own needs. :thumbsup:

Too many people think that the way they receive a call from the maker is the way it has to be set up .... that no other changes need be, or ought to be made in the call. Call makers tune their calls the way they perceive most of their customers like them. Unfortunately, their customers run the gamut from 6'5" 250 pound ex college football players to 5'6" 130 pound old timers. The first usually have a lot of air capacity they can use to push air through a call the the others have very little air capacity to spare. A call adjusted for the middle might be locked up by the ex football player using too much air and not run at at by the old timer. You don't always have to adjust yourself to run the call, often you can adjust the call to run better for you. More people need to know that. Tuning a call for hunting purposes isn't rocket science. If you could tune a musical instrument in junior high school and replace the spark plugs in your car, you can tune a goose call.

Unfortunately, there is very little information on line to help the guy who wants to tune his own goose call. For some reason many of the real experts fail to post what they know on the subject, leaving the rest of us to acquire what we know in piecemeal way. One source of very good basic information is a sticky thread on the calling forum of the Refuge, which was prepared by Wade Walling on tuning a short reed call. That's must reading for anyone contemplating tuning their shortreed goose call. You can also find information on goose call tuning on youtube videos by calling4life and Trevor Shannahan (TrevKC2).
 
#12 ·
Truth of the matter is there are a lot of quality calls being made right now by quality people!! Higher quality materials being used and different tone boards, reeds, wedges etc. Exciting time to be a waterfowler!!!
 
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