....a naked duck call reed and soundboard sounds just as good.

Do I need to learn better open reed technique?

I have used a tally-ho for years. They sound good without needing lots of air volume. Pitch is controlled by how much of the reed you have in your mouth. In mine, the reed will tend to stick if you call for long periods of time.

My favorite call.

Get a Critr-Call and never look back...

My closed reed calls sound better, but I may need to simply practice.

I use a Burnham's Mini Blaster and a Johnny Stewart PC-1

The Lohmans sounds good too, like cottontail

Not impressed with the TallyHo and have retired it. Sound is nothing special, reed seems to be quite loose, and it gums up / freezes quite easily. Not worth the trouble in my experience. Lots of people love them though, maybe I got a bad one.

Most Tally-Ho's don't work well right out of the package. They need a little work with some sandpaper and a new reed. The reed bridge needs a more pronounced curve to keep the reed from locking down against the call body. I also make a narrower reed out of .010 milar for the call. The extra work should not be necessary but the results are worth the effort in the end. I have used just about every open reed call on the market, and many custom calls, and a well tuned Tally-Ho sounds better than anything else I have used.

I know some people like'em, but that's pretty much my take on the TH.

I remember many years ago giving the TH a whirl, after another guy gave me a handful because he wasn't impressed either. Somewhere along the way I was told to try a Critr-Call which I did and the TH's are still sitting in the drawer.

I think calls are often times like rifles, knives etc. Guys have good luck with it, they rave about them.

I buy them all...


Travis

First bought a Tally-Ho back in '92 cause Jerry Blair said so. Good or bad, that's enough reason to own one right there!

Honestly though, when I go out a Crit'r Call and a JS PC-2 Mini are with me. The TH stays in the bag with about a dozen other calls I've acquired over the years.

If someone can tell me how to modify it to help, I'm all ears!

Pics would be nice too!

Anybody used an old duck call to call in a dog? I've tried the bag of retired duck calls I have and some sound pretty damn good!

I don't use the TH exclusively, but it remains a favorite in my repertoire of calls. I place more emphasis on the best calling setups then trying to be an authentic rabbit, bird, fawn, etc.

tally ho's sound like crap, they are so effective I called them the wacker.

Does anyone here really think that a perfect sound is all that important to success vs. the other 100 things you have to do right? Certain calls definitely function better/easier than others but a critter don't know one dying rabbit blues from another. Heck, I had an old Faulks adjustable closed reed that I tried for years to call with. Never saw a dang fox or yote with it and blamed that call. Should of blamed the other things I was doing 100% wrong. BTW, that call would call in every owl, hawk and crow within earshot. The calls fault? I think not.

If your duck call sounds good to you the coyote won't care. Heck, may even work better since you don't have everybody and their brother walking the country side blowing on it.

Others can probably help more but here's what I do to most open reed calls. Scrape or sand down the reed edges at least out toward the tip and maybe full length. Less often, thin and taper the full width of the reed for the last quarter its length. Keep blowing and testing every stroke or two as you work! With a thinner edge and maybe thinner last quarter of its length, the reed will start making sound with less air volume and pressure, and whimper down to quiet moans and such without "cracking" or stopping.

I worked over one tone board a bit by sanding but I don't know what I am doing on that and didn't improve anything so I leave them alone.

On the reed I mostly use a SHARP knife blade scraped and dragged at less than a right angle so it doesn't "chatter" but makes a smooth scrape. Have used super fine grit sand paper a few times also, but dont have any around now. You are only removing a miniscule amount of material to thin the edge so pick a sandpaper that is almost smooth. If you destroy the reed, they are replaceable!

Also: try inserting the call into your mouth at an angle from the corner so that the reed is going across the front of your mouth somewhat, and experiment with different positions and with pressing the reed at different tone points with lips etc. and not just front teeth. Some calls will "start" easier when angled into the mouth. I've no idea why.

I think I have it figured out. Watching Predator Quest right now and can duplicate his sounds with the Tally-Ho

Humming into the call and giving it some "voice" really sounds good.

Gonna go give it a test drive on a few stands here in a few. Will report back if I do any good.

I agree that it really doesn't matter what the pitch or tone of the call is, but there is definitely a difference in the function of certain calls. In addition, I think there are some calls which have a "live" sound and some that are lifeless pieces of plastic. As I said above most Tally-Ho's belong in the trash can right out of the package,but when tuned correctly they are function perfectly and have that "alive" sound better than anything I had used. If I buy 6 Tally-Ho's 2 will be superb calls and 4 will end up living in the landfill.

The Talley-Ho is the first one I grab.

An open reed call is a little harder to master, but the variations in sound makes them more than a little worth while.

Some can't master a diaphragm call either.....

I own ahout 25 open reed coyote calls. Only 3 were virtually useless out of the box, the Talley Ho, the Primos Hot Dog, and the Primos white mouthpiece one. Could hardly get a sound out of them.

I'll take those worthless POS Talley's offen your hands.....

Well, I have an update and it's kinda funny, if you can laugh at your own idiocy that is...


I do a lot of calling when I can and I'm really hooked on calling coyotes. I do pretty well. I use a Homemade El Cheapo caller I built and put together my own calling sequences and loaded them on the call. I also use hand calls but besides the howler, they're all closed reed calls. The Tally-Ho is my first open reed purchase. I'm pretty good with an elk diaphram, duck call and just about any call. With the Tally-Ho, I just needed a few minutes of practice while watching Predator Quest to be able to duplicate his sequences.

Well, I went out to a spot around noon that I haven't been to this year to try the new call. I worked up into the area into the wind and came over the hill where I usually make my stand. I glassed around and didn't see anything. I sat down against a cedar tree, set the rifle on the tall bipod and broke out the Tally-Ho. I got about halfway into the first sequence and saw a coyote running in at about 200 yards. I didn't even have my bipod adjusted right and the rifle was setting on my right side. I reached over to get the rifle slowly and noticed another coyote running in at 80 yards right in front of me!

The Tally-Ho scored!

The close coyote saw me moving to get into postition to shoot, stopped and started away. I put the crosshair on him and jerked the trigger only to hear "click, FIZZZZZZZZZzzzz"

I jacked the round out and tried to chamber another while giving the dog a howl to stop him. The round wouldn't chamber. Had a bullet stuck in the bore. No powder in the first round and the primer drove the bullet in enough to stick!

I sat there watching the dogs, trying to figure out how to get the stuck bullet out...

Unreal. Would have been a pretty easy double.

Hunt was over, Truck antenna too big to knock out the bullet. Came back to town and got it done.

The Tally-Ho will be back there tomorrow morning for revenge, after I weigh and shake all my ammo!

Hahahahaha!

First time I've done that before!

I always have a TH with me and like you, I first thought this call doesn't work right but quickly figured it out and started killing coyotes with it. It may have something to do with the pitch or tone but they do work.

I have some custom calls were pretty expensive and I even make my own but the cheap TH gets it done. Nothing wrong with the critr call either but given one production call, I'll take a TH.

I'm pretty sure a guy learns something new every day you chase Wiley....

I was surprised after I had my first TH a while, based on the mark on the reed, that not only do I use my lips, but my eye tooth as well for some different pressure and or sounds.

Tallyho is definitely not foolproof. Try a CowTalk elk call-it won't freeze up. You can adjust easily to change pitch.

but the rubber bands don't last too long. They seem to give out right when you need them most....

I wouldn't waste the postage sending it to you.

Click on the pic for Tally-Ho recording.




I recorded the sounds I'm getting with the Tally-Ho so far. I'm getting a little better the more I use it. Recording this and then listening to it helped me adjust my calling and improve what I thought sounded good in this sequence.

What do you guys think?

yup. it'll do....

Sounds pretty much OK to me. Sounds like you still have the original reed in it. If you want more rasp, and what I think is a more realistic "live" sound, get yourself some .010 milar from All Predator Calls and make a new reed. Your doing pretty good I think.

I was getting some pretty good raspyness toward the end of the sequence. I moved down the reed (put more in my mouth). Also adding a hum or some voice worked. I'll check into the milar too

You've got it going on pretty good, just add a little "death and dismemberment" to that thing and you'll be a happy camper when the coyotes hear it.

Tally ho's don't work, they are bad send them to me for disposal Russ