I hear about every body breaking up flocks and whistling the birds back in during fall. I’m no good on a mouth call and prefer a slate, but I can’t seem to kee-kee on a friction call. Any advice? — Tom Baker, Winona, Minn. It’s not as tough as you think. If you’re good on a friction call, you’ve already won half the battle. The first part of your yelp is the whistle. You just have to change your technique a bit to continue the whistle and prevent the call from rolling over
Some folks advocate placing the tip of your striker farther toward the outside of the call, producing a higher pitch. Don’t do this. Run the call where you’d normally yelp, cluck, cutt and purr. This advice comes straight from World Champion Sadler McGraw.
Use a glass or aluminum call. Grip the striker farther down on the tip — perhaps right at the tip. Then, increase your finger pressure so you’re pinching tightly on the striker. This reduces vibration and prevents the sound from rolling over into a yelp or getting raspy. Run the striker in straight lines, returning it to the starting point in almost the same path. This will look like a W or M on the call. Done correctly, this should produce a high, clean whistle. If the call is squeaking, you might be gripping the striker too tight. Read more….