[doane25]

i was watching zink's new 24/7 hunting dvd today and they were talking up the duck calls that they produce. i blow their short reed goose call, and think it is one of the better calls out there. do any of you guys have one, or have heard anything about their duck calls?

 

[whitefeather]

I got a short reed goose call from Fred a couple of years ago. I do NOT however like his duck call. He may have made some impovements since I last tried one, but his duckcall lacked a top end. It was too raspy on the bottom, and for me did not allow you to whine when you wanted. I found that you can control the bottom end of the call when you really stay fixated on it, but the top end, to put it nicely, was not there. I tried about 6 of the calls he had there and none of them performed well. I asked his entorage to blow them and I was not impressed with their hail calling abilities on that call. Like I said, he may have made some changes and I will have to try one again to find out for myself. If I were you I would try one at a store or at a show before ordering one through a mag. Everyone blows different and maybe it is the perfect call for you. I love his goose calls and recommend them to anyone. For me, there are alot of duck call varieties that are ALOT more user-friendly.

 

[doane25]

thanks for the response there wf. i hear what your saying about blowing a call first before you buy it. wouldn't have it any other way. the only bad thing about that is out here in the boonies there are almost no places to go and try one out. anybody else have an input?

 

[Bret]

I did have an xr-2 I thought it was just another double reed. Nothing special it was not a good fit for me.
I blew a power hen at a retailer near me and I thought the bottom end of the call was great. You are right though about ring they are just not made to do that. As a meat call it was a better fit for me. I would like to have one for a few days, cut a reed, and really be able to fool around with one.

Bret

 

[whitefeather]

I did have an xr-2 I thought it was just another double reed. Nothing special it was not a good fit for me.
I blew a power hen at a retailer near me and I thought the bottom end of the call was great. You are right though about ring they are just not made to do that. As a meat call it was a better fit for me. I would like to have one for a few days, cut a reed, and really be able to fool around with one.

Bret

I agree. It was almost intriguing enough to buy. I wanted to take it home and sit on the couch cause YOU JUST KNEW THAT YOU COULD TWEEK THIS OR ADJUST THAT TO MAKE IT WORK. I didn't want to start tweekin on Fred's call in front of him. I felt bad for him cause he wanted to show me it was a good call. Heck ..He sold me a goose call. All he had to do was blow it, and we all know how he sounds on a goose call.

 

[quackkiller]

I really like the power hen and I haven't got to blow the xr-2 yet. They are just pure duck. They aren't supposed to be a ringer, they're supposed to sound like a duck and they do. I've heard the xr-2 takes a bit more air to blow, but man it sure does sound good.

 

[whitefeather]

I really like the power hen and I haven't got to blow the xr-2 yet. They are just pure duck. They aren't supposed to be a ringer, they're supposed to sound like a duck and they do. I've heard the xr-2 takes a bit more air to blow, but man it sure does sound good.

I'll have to try one again. It has been about 2 years ago when Fred came up. IMO I thought that they sounded ducky on the low end when you really stayed with it, but I felt that I could get a better low end on an HS or a Betts or Echo. I hunt a lot of pressured areas and you can be finishing one second and then all of a sudden are havin' to get on them quickly before the other guy takes them. That is when I want a top end without having to fumble for another call. I want a call that is "multi tasked" that I can chuckle into a quack into a feed chatter into a quack and transition up the ladder and back down. The Zink calls that I blew two years ago could not do that. Like I said he may have improved his calls and now you have me ready to go to Scheels and try one. I have had the opportunity to blow one but I blew it off as a "don't like em" I will give him one more chance to impress.

 

[quackkiller]

The power hen may not be for you then. I think they are both meant to be meat calls, and they just don't get up and ring like most. He has made some changes the past few years, so you may still want to try one. For what you described, my call of choice would be a RNT daisy cutter or Buck gardner's tall timber spit tech. I really like both of these calls. They are both really good all around calls, IMO.

 

[whitefeather]

The power hen may not be for you then. I think they are both meant to be meat calls, and they just don't get up and ring like most. He has made some changes the past few years, so you may still want to try one. For what you described, my call of choice would be a RNT daisy cutter or Buck gardner's tall timber spit tech. I really like both of these calls. They are both really good all around calls, IMO.

Now you got me fired up. I need to go to the store and try a few. I will try the Zinc. I have tried both the Buck and the Daisy, I like both. They seguay very well from tryin' to sound like the hen you see sittin on the ditch and sits up flapping her wings with that whinny,"wha wha wha wha." to the whisperin' finish and the call still has enough cahones to jump back on top because they are leakin' out the side door. I really have fallin' in love with the HS call lately as well as Bernie Boyle's Mallard Maller timber call. It feels like you can do calling gymnastics on them. You seem to hit notes on the low end that are missing in some calls. I love the way you can give the call that little "curl" at the end on the low end to give it some sas or to give your call some expression. I suppose that is what you are talkin' about when you say that you love the low end of the Zinc and sounds duck. I love to sound ducky as well :smile:

 

[GreenDay870]

Fred's duck calls are not even marketed as calls that will ring, so one shouldn't specifically expect them to ring IMO......the audio clips on www.zinkcalls.com even say "if you're looking for a ringer, this aint it."

That being said.....I think they're great low to mid range meat calls.....the xr2 sounds like a DUCK in my opinion......it is also the call used to win the last live duck calling championship where the caller has to sound EXACTLY like a duck. The Power Hen is a heck of a meat-single reed call IMO.

There are so many great duck calls out there that we're blessed with options if we want to ring, or not to ring, to do both, to do insane ringing, etc.

The new Buck Gardner spit-tech's sure do sound pretty slick!

 

[frazier2209]

I would reccomend the Daisy Cutter over the Buck Gardner, because the Tall Timber lacks the top end it sounds like you need.
I own two Daisy Cutters, one wood and one acrylic, as well as one of the new Gardner Acrylics. The main differences are that the Tall Timber takes just a little more air, and it lacks the top end. You can make an acrylic DC ring, but like the Zink, the Gardner won't ring.

If you can try them, I would specifically try the DC and The Buck Gardner Double Nasty XL. It is a double reed like you have never blown before, it will ring on the top, and it sounds soooo ducky. When you're blowing it you can tell absolutely NO DIFFERENCE between a sinlge and his double, but it does have that ducky bottom end, perfect, mid-range, and the loud, agressive,, ringing top-end that you're looking for.

If you can't try them, then I would go with the DN XL first. If you don't like it Buck will take it back no questions asked. Then you could get a DC.
It's really your decision, but I think those are the best possible choices for you.

Let us know which one you go with, and how things go. :thumbsup:
-Fraz

 

[Bret]

Boy frazier I am afraid I have to respectfully disagree. Those tall timbers ring pretty easy for me, and have pretty nice tone as well from top to bottom especially the acrylics. As for the ring of a Daisy cutter I have blown some that could produce a kind of hunting style come apart type ring on top but I have yet to blow one that could all out in good tone ring on top. They do have an awesome low register ring that is all duck.That is not to say that some ring on top I do not know I have only blown a handfull. I don't think the DC is made for that porpose just like the Zincs are not. they are all about meat.

I just don't think it is fair to give out a false take on a pretty good little call like the Tall timber.

I am sorry for the thread highjack.

The guys that can blow the zinc duck calls can make them sound like a duck there is no doubt. I wish I could run one like that.

Bret