26 replies to this topic

[BigRagu]

Hi everyone. I have belong to CPC for a hair over a year now. Gotta say I have totally pulled away from my other forums that I belong to mainly because I enjoy not only the sport of hunting, but how everyone just plain gets along here. I have never really posted, just reading and learning. Newbie I am.My question is this. I just recently recieved my 2010 Cabela's catalog, the version called "Late Season". This particular catalog shows items(a lot of) that normaly isn't shown on their large seasonal catalogs. This version seemed to cater to the varmint hunter, with 6 full pages just on e-calls. I do not know what to pick from, due to all the features each one represents or has to offer. I'm sure with you alls experiences with e-callers there are some of you that have had the"If I only knew then what I realize now" go through your mind after your 1st or maybe 2nd e-caller purchase. Reading extensively though this forum I see that most of you tend to go with Foxpro, for reasons of innovations and good warranty coverage. Bottom line, what advice would you give a newbie to look for in an e-caller, if money was not an issue. Don't get me wrong, I do not own a money tree, but I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for. Listed below are the ones advertized in Cabela's. Pros and Cons, special features, portability and power issues, etc. Also maybe advise on having to load additional calls-is this a hassle?Thank, and I look forward to everyone's expertise.FoxPro line-1. Firestorm $419.992. Scorpion X1B $349.993. Fury Predator Caller $599.994. Prairie Blaster Caller $699.99Primos line-1. Primos Power Dogg $149.99Johnny Stewart Line-1. Predator 2 attractor amp combo $149.992. Preymaster Wireless Digital Caller $199.993. Preymaster Digital Caller $99.99Edge(another brand) Expedite Mighty Predator E-Caller $99.99Western Rivers line-1. Apache Remote $299.992. Nite Stalker Remote $499.99Flextone line(these are like handheld siren types. Brand New in the Cabela's lineup. What is the low down on siren type callers?)1. Flextone Echo HD $149.992. Flextone Mimic HD $39.99Phantom line-Phantom Pro series Wire caller $149.992. Phantom Pro Series wireless $249.993. Mini Phantom Remote $129.99 with additional sound sticks at a cost of $17.99 eachI did not bother listing the other brands such as Extreme dimension; their calls average at $30.00. You get what you pay for.

[CA Desert Dog]

Don't leave out Minaska because they are nice callers too. I have the Big Country with built-in decoy and it kicks butt. You'll find a lot of dedicated Foxpro fans here but just about any caller will pull in the animals....if they are hungry.

[Brant]

You missed the FoxPro Spitfire for $200 that was on the back cover I believe. I was lucky because Cabela's was doing an instore demo of a lot of the callers one weekend last spring where you could listen for clarity and volume, etc and then try the callers and compare them side by side. There are a lot of variables to consider but many are custom to where and how you hunt. I can vouch for Foxpro customer service but have not had experience with the others. They vary significantly in some things like how far the remotes work reliably.

[BigRagu]

Yeah, I will check out the Minaska line Thanks.Can't believe I missed the Foxpro at the back! Thanks for the advice so far, everyone.

[ShooterJohn]

Hard to beat the service and quality of FoxPro callers.

[OrneryOlMofo357]

I dont think that you can beat a Foxpro. Service, and ease of use are 2 good reasons. Minaska I believe was bought out by a different company,Are they still called Minaska? I have an FX5, they dont make that Model anymore, but they are great. Good luck on your choices.

[ShooterJohn]

Minaska was bought out by Flambeau Outdoors, a division of Flambeau, Inc. They make a nice call but unfortunately there customer service is nothing like FoxPro. If you have a problem I'm sure you'll get it fixed sooner or later. But nothing like the speed that FoxPro handles things.

[jawbreaker]

I like the scorpion for it's size but the FX5 can be used without the remote. I know they don't make it any more but I'll bet one of the new model can play without the remote. My buddy bought a Minaska call about the time they were bought by Flambeau and had a heck of a time getting the call delivered and the customer servic was horrible but that was during the transition, I don't know how they are now. Anther thing to look at is the remote, the timer on the tx200 is pretty handy.

[Hutch]

I don't own a elect caller, so correct me if I'm wrong. If you buy from someone like Cabelas, your unit will come with preloaded sounds. This means you won't be able to pick the sounds you want.

[JimT.]

Stay with Foxpro. Just about anything by them with satisfy you. If you have the extra money I've been hearing from those that use the decoys that they help a great deal.

[tawnoper]

my 2 cents...They will all call critters but some are just a bit more refined then others. I'd stick with these three.Foxpro...can't go wrong.Minaska...can't go wrong.Johnny Stewart...can't go wrong. (but stick with the remote model)For me, the JS pm4 (the remote one) is the darkhorse. I've never used the remote one, but I have an older model (non remote) and it will call stuff in just fine. IMO...Johnny Stewart sounds are about the best on the market and that caller comes with 4 cards I think (4 sounds each).People get too hung up on having a hundred sounds at their fingertips...you'll never use them all. I use only a few on a whole weekend hunt and most guys I know use about the same. The whole "great service" thing gets blown out of proportion in my mind. Personally, I don't want to find out about their service...it means my expensive little toy is broken. For the price they charge for these things they should be damn near bulletproof. When was the last time you sent back your microwave oven cause it wasn't working right... or their repair service was even a consideration when you bought it?For 200 bucks I'd buy the JS...If you are spending more, Foxpro and Minaska offer some pretty nice toys.

[Kevin Burroughs]

I just recently bought a Prairie Blaster and own a Fury. Great callers, second to none. The Fury is small and portable and great sounding. The Prairie Blaster is a Fury on mega steroids. Heavy, loud and bad-ass. It has a built in motion decoy that is the bomb. The optional battery pack last all day on high volume and I can't shoot as far as the remote control works.-----------kevin----------

[dabob]

Check out the Foxpro CS-24! It is on the Foxpro web-site, in the Custom Shop section. Allpredatorcalls.com has them also.The Foxpro Firestorm looks to be a great caller. It is a cross between a FX3 and a FX5 but with a better remote.The CS-24 is only $80.00 more than the Firestorm and has more features to it.

[Rich Cronk]

Check out the Foxpro CS-24! It is on the Foxpro web-site, in the Custom Shop section. Allpredatorcalls.com has them also.The Foxpro Firestorm looks to be a great caller. It is a cross between a FX3 and a FX5 but with a better remote.The CS-24 is only $80.00 more than the Firestorm and has more features to it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I am testing a Firestorm right now, and it is a great little caller. They sent 8 of the new Foxpro batteries with it, and these batteries are the best I have tried. I feel that I must add that my CS-24 is the champion caller though. Go to www.allpredatorcalls.com to see these great calls. You will be glad that you did.

[clampdaddy]

I really like my firestorm.

[BigRagu]

Thanks for all the advice, everyone. Decided on the FP Fury. What an awsome unit! Talked w/ FP today and found out I can send my remote back to FP for the Foxbang upgrade. For those of you familiar with the Foxbang, is this a must have feature? I plan on only owning/paying for an e-caller this one time, and I might as well do all I can to upgrade and have the sense of feeling that I will never regret my purchase, or possibly have the feeling I should have gotten something I really wanted later on. I like the Foxbang and wished it came standard on the Fury, but now that I know I can upgrade, all is good. But I want your opinions 1st. For those of you predator vets, does the FB sound like a good feature? I am content with the standard factory sounds and do not plan on purchasing any more. I also need one of those Foxpro car chargers. Speaking of the car charger, if I use a Radio Shack cigarette lighter transformer/adapter to household, should the Foxpro plug in charger work OK? Reason I ask is because Foxpro has a ton of warnings on their instructions that would void all warranties due to improper electrical charging of the units batteries. If I can save $30 by just using the radio shack plug in adapter I could use the money saved towards the Foxbang, should you all reccomend this feature. Thanks!

[Rich Cronk]

Thanks for all the advice, everyone. Decided on the FP Fury. What an awsome unit! Talked w/ FP today and found out I can send my remote back to FP for the Foxbang upgrade. For those of you familiar with the Foxbang, is this a must have feature? I plan on only owning/paying for an e-caller this one time, and I might as well do all I can to upgrade and have the sense of feeling that I will never regret my purchase, or possibly have the feeling I should have gotten something I really wanted later on. I like the Foxbang and wished it came standard on the Fury, but now that I know I can upgrade, all is good. But I want your opinions 1st. For those of you predator vets, does the FB sound like a good feature? I am content with the standard factory sounds and do not plan on purchasing any more. I also need one of those Foxpro car chargers. Speaking of the car charger, if I use a Radio Shack cigarette lighter transformer/adapter to household, should the Foxpro plug in charger work OK? Reason I ask is because Foxpro has a ton of warnings on their instructions that would void all warranties due to improper electrical charging of the units batteries. If I can save $30 by just using the radio shack plug in adapter I could use the money saved towards the Foxbang, should you all reccomend this feature. Thanks!

------------------------------------------------BigRagu,You have chosen a dandy caller. Everyone is different, but I have no desire to have the FoxBang feature. I always have a coyote distress cry in one of my preset buttons anyway. The new Nickle/metal hydride batteries from FoxPro are the best I have tried. I use an after market "smart charger" myself. I also have a multimeter to check voltage of the batteries now and then. Those car chargers from FoxPro are indeed handy. I used one for a few years, but I have gone to carrying an extra set of fresh batteries instead.

[ehd]

i have had the foxpro and minaska. I liked the old 413? with the remote. plenty of loud and very durable. Ilike the minaska bandit for portability. plenty loud has killed piles of coyotes without a glitch. It fits in my calling vest ,so easy to carry.Plenty of volume,as i have seen coyotes come from a long ways. I use most my own sounds and both are easy to upload. Secret to it all is to have a coyote to call.

[Brant]

Anyone go for the gusto of the Snow-Crow Pro 2 yet? It seems like that one should really reach out there.

[Mick17]

I've got another qusetion for you guys. All I hear about is Foxpro. That's great, but I can barely afford the Spitfire caller. I saw in the latest Cabelas catalog that they are selling the Western Rivers Apache Remote caller for $199.99 (that's $100 off the normal price). My dilemma is do I spend the same amount of cash for the Western Rivers caller (which looks pretty nice) or stick with the Foxpro? The Western Rivers looks like it has 2 speakers as opposed to 1 speaker on the Spifire. I haven't had time yet to go to the store and check out the volume difference of each. Has anyone tried the Western Rivers brand and was their experience good or bad? I really don't want to spend the cash for just a name! Any advice, please.

[Braz]

Mick17, from what I understand the sounds are not very good at all on that caller.

[Mick17]

Thanks Braz---that's the kind of stuff I need to hear. The more opinions, the better.

[375ranger]

I've got another qusetion for you guys. All I hear about is Foxpro. That's great, but I can barely afford the Spitfire caller. I saw in the latest Cabelas catalog that they are selling the Western Rivers Apache Remote caller for $199.99 (that's $100 off the normal price). My dilemma is do I spend the same amount of cash for the Western Rivers caller (which looks pretty nice) or stick with the Foxpro? The Western Rivers looks like it has 2 speakers as opposed to 1 speaker on the Spifire. I haven't had time yet to go to the store and check out the volume difference of each. Has anyone tried the Western Rivers brand and was their experience good or bad? I really don't want to spend the cash for just a name! Any advice, please.

Hey Mick, after foraging around other web sites, the concensous is that Foxpro is the champ. If sound is a problem, you can always add another external speaker. Western Rivers are good, but Foxpro=best. Just buy the Spitfire so we can get ta huntin, geez.

[Mick17]

You hear that, 375ranger?? (for info he's one of my hunting partners). He just better not come out of the bushes!!

[jawbreaker]

If the spitfire is all you can afford then by all means buy that but if it were me I would hold out for a better model. I'm pretty sure the spitfire runs on 4 batteries as opposed to 8 and the remote is not as nice on that model either. As far as the amount of sounds it hold, I don't think that would matter because you typically use about 10 sounds on a regular basis and can always change them around each time you hunt if you wish. The main thing would be battery life and the functions of the remote. You can always use hand calls until you can afford the nicer call.

[Yateswell]

This youtube video shows that spitfire remote operates up to 240 yards, of course this is straight line without obstacles, let's just cut that in half for a real hunting situation, there is still plenty of distance for an e-caller. Just a FYI

[jawbreaker]

It's not the distance that the remote will work, it is a waste of time putting the caller more than 20 or 30 yards from your location FYI. I may be mistaken but the remote is similar to the one that came with the fx3 and it is no where near the quality of the remote that comes with the other callers foxpro offers. These are all my opinions and you know what they say about opinions.