Proper Mouth Call Care
How to store your mouth calls was one of the most common questions I received while at the NWTF Convention. Everyone has their own favorite, tried and true method, but this is how I store my calls.
The biggest misconception from turkey hunters is that they don’t need to pay attention to their mouth calls when not in use. That could not be any further from the truth. One of the most common and detrimental mistakes made is leaving mouth calls in the truck all season long. Some hunters choose to leave them there to eliminate the need to remember them in the morning in their sleep deprived state. Others just forget about their calls and let them sit on the dashboard of their truck. The heat and UV radiation will destroy a mouth call in a short amount of time. Heat and UV radiation will cause a call to lose their side tension and stretch. This will affect how the call sounds over time, and the call will be ruined. Unfortunately, I have ruined a few calls over my turkey hunting career by doing just this. It may only take a few hours while you are at work to completely ruin your favorite ghost cut mouth call.
Two of the biggest factors in having mouth calls last a long time are storing them in a cool, dark area; out of direct sunlight. The refrigerator checks both of those boxes for keeping the call in a cool area away from direct sunlight. Do yourself a favor and rinse your yelpers off with cool tap water, pat them dry with a paper towel and let to air dry before putting in the fridge overnight. I have a few buddies who swear by rinsing the call off and inserting a plastic tooth pick between the first and second reeds. This lets the call to dry in-between the layers of latex (and not stick together). This method helps to shorten the amount of time it takes to “break the call over” in the truck on the morning commute to the woods. If you do not use a tooth pick or reed separator, the call will need to be used to allow the reeds to separate. If this is not done, the call will sound dull or dead, until it finally breaks free. This is not the sound you want to make after your set-up on a willing gobbler!
Some hunters ask the question about using mouth wash on a mouth call to clean it in between uses. I have used it in the past, but would dilute to approximately a 50/50 mix of mouth wash and water before using. Two benefits of using mouth wash are that it will help to eliminate any germs on the call and remove any fowl taste from yesterday’s snack of beef jerky. If not careful, the alcohol in mouth wash may damage the latex in a mouth call. For that reason, I do not use mouth wash when cleaning my calls. A simple rinse of tap water and storing in the fridge (with plastic toothpicks) has always worked great for me.
Lastly, but certainly not least; use a good quality container to put your favorite mouth calls in while hunting. Whether it’s in a plastic snap case they come with, a lanyard or one of our new call cans; use something to keep the call protected while you are hunting.
For longer term storage the refrigerator or freezer is a must. My uncle had successfully preserved a mouth call for nearly a decade by putting it in the freezer in-between hunting seasons! Some hunters and competition callers are religious about call storage to ensure a Grand National winning call lasts a long time.
Your favorite yelpers will call in many longbeards by taking a few basic precautions with your mouth calls. Let us know if you have any other methods that work well for keeping your mouth calls fresh for many seasons!