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Absolutely no offense toward the OP but they stated "The problem as I hear it is the calls just don't "sound right" compared to the real thing." The reality is, that it makes NO DIFFERENCE what it sounds like to US, it's the predator's opinions that matter. I can remember calling fox back in the late 70's with a jensen speaker attached by a coil of speaker wire plugged into an old fashioned push-button cassette player. The best part is, the tapes were recorded on the same player, direct from vinyl records, you kids remember them?, complete with scratching and popping. Called lots of fox with that set-up until I graduated to a JS512.
My point is, only that so many newbies come looking for the "best sounds available" as being the most important part of some mysterious puzzle,when the reality imo is that other basics, like set-ups,approach and the perservearence to keep making new stands, are so much more important than what sound you make. While "the sound" plays a more important part in howling,when it comes to distress sounds some seem to forget that we're dealing with a small carnivore with an egg-sized brain. If he hears you, and you trigger his hunger, curiosity or territorial response, he's coming to you,plain and simple. They lack the cognitive thought process that allow them to put a huge amount of thought into what's making the sound,or whether it's real or not. Now before anyone jumps on me with the old "oh I have smart ones lock-up on me way out there while they think it over", I'd have to disagree. You may have a few now and then that have been shot at or busted other hunters before,even learned a little,but before anyone wants to award them with an inate sense of reasoning, might I suggest that cautious responses are not at all unusual among species, and even varies among individuals.It's a survival instinct within a species that has many enemies.
I'm hardly the most successful caller out there, but I'm pretty sure that a "mediochre sound" in the hands of an exceptional hunter will bring more success than the most expensive caller out there,in the hands of someone that doesn't put much thought into following the basics.
Very well said.
