best E-caller???

yotehunter74

yotehunter74

New member
Well, at long last my j. stewert preymaster has decided to only work on its own terms.... so it will take some saving and a bit of time but i am interested in knowing what everyone thinks is the best caller made and a reason why... i want something very portable, must have a remote, and I would prefer to have the ability to add, remove, alter the sounds at home... any help would be great thanks in advance.... Steve
 
Sounds like you are looking for a Foxpro FX3 or FX5.. I just ordered my FX5 and it should be here Wednesday.. I will let you know how it goes..
 
Call Minaska, Foxpro , and Allpredatorcalls.com
I believe thay all have toll free numbers . Ask them them any questions you might have and then base your decisions on what you feel is best for you and how you call.
 
thanks, I looked at them and am just not sure... I have never used the foxpro.. I also looked at a new one in a mag, but cant find it again... on the bright side I did call them and request info and thay said it would be out in the next 4-6 weeks... it was in the same price range as the fx5 my only dilema is do i want to go with something tried and true or go out on a limb and try the new one if i'm not happy i am out several hundred dollars and still needing a good caller...
 
If you want something small and portable with all the capabilities you mentioned take a look at the Minaska M1. I have one and love it. It's small enough to fit in my coveralls pocket yet has the sound volume and quality of the standard Bandit and the FX3 which I also have.
 
Lonedog is the man. He's owns and uses almost every brand of caller at one time or another - and he actually hunts. Good advice.
 
I have a Minaska Bandit with a cone speaker and an additional TOA speaker and can't say enough good things about the call. It sounds great, is easy to operate and the boys at Minaska have customer service down better than anyone out there. Go with a Bandit!
 
If you don't mind a lot of reading there are some posts at the top of this Forum by snowcamoman. He did a very well thought out testing schedule on ecallers. Very informative & I'm sure he would answer any other questions you might have. I'm going with the FX3 over the M1 Bandit personally. No particular reason either. Down the road I might spring for another ecaller & it will be a Bandit just for more diversity. There is really no "best" caller out there. But there are some top of the line units that offer everything I need & as you can see by reading this Forum both FoxPro & Minaska have excellent service records & products. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif

Just my nickel for the day. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif

Do I get 3 cents back now?? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
It's been awhile on the e-callers and things have changed quite abit. I should have a Bandit M1 shortly and can give an update on it along with the FX5 and hopefully a new WT to give some opinions on. If adding removing sounds is a deciding factor, then you're down to the Minaska or FoxPro. You probably want to stick with the M1 or FX5/FX3 since portability seems to be the main criteria and both are in a similar category sizewise. Sound selection should be another factor to consider before the big plunge. The new FoxPro Mark II sounds are absolutely the best out there... hands down and they keep adding sounds, so that's a factor to consider. Minaska also has some new recording equipment and some great sounds as well. Call both up and ask to hear some sounds before you decide. You're probably not too far from FoxPro being in Central PA Yotehunter74. You could always give them a call and see about a tour of the facilities. You could see all of the callers firsthand and get a feeling for each of them. Test out the remotes as well because some people like the FoxPro TX200 scrolling remote and others like the Minaska remote with banks of sounds. If you hunt with gloves or mittens on like me, take those with you to test out the remotes. With my full mitts on, I can operate the FoxPro TX200 remote without problems on the scroll knob. Feeling buttons with mitts on is nearly impossible, so putting rubber "buttons" on each button is necessary, which can be done on both Minaska and FoxPro remotes. I can't comment on the new WT since I don't have one, but hopefully soon will give some feedback.
 
I think the new one you mentioned is possibly the Game Tracks. And I have to admit the ad touts some impressive features. BUT I've never heard of this company, don't know if it's some product from a megga corp. that could care less about me, or if it's a small company that wont make it. I'd have figured they would have been doin' some PR on forums like PM. I would have to say stick with Minaska or Foxpro. For a premium E-caller from a company that has a great history in customer service they both fit the bill.
I personally love my FX5 from Foxpro, I don't have to remember the sound #'s. The scrolling sound names is so nice but the four presets and recall buttons really shine once you've used them a little. They definately played a role in my two kills so far this year. Good luck with the new caller!
GAJoe
 
yep that was it... i was trying to find the add or the site... but it has some impressive features... one reason I know they told me when I called that they are not online yet is that they are not have not released the caller yet.... they guy i talked to said that they are looking at a late Jan release... so hopefully we will see more from them soon
 
lonedog,
If you used the 10w TOA speaker with the M1 and a 12volt SLA battery powering the M1, would you basically have the same thing as the Big Country Bandit, just in two items (Speaker and M1)? As long as you could get the stereo feature on the M1 with the external speaker, you would have the same thing, just with the option of a smaller package if needed. You'd also be able to aim both speakers in any direction you wanted it seems rather than just in opposing directions. Just a though and way of possibly having a super versatile package.
 
I believe you are correct snowcamo man. A better solution is to do what I did. Own the M1 with a seperate 10 watt TOA and also own the Big Country Bandit. If I am going crow hunting, or it is a windy day or the calling range needs to be very long then I put the Big Country in the truck. If I am calling predators on the smaller areas I have access to and the wind is not up I take the M1 and put the 10 watt TOA in the truck just in case I might need it. I am like that I like to cover all the bases if possible. The big advantage of the M1 is it is so small and light. You can put it in your coverall pocket which I don't think you can do with the other callers. You don't sacrifice any sound quality or capability with it You have less volume than the Big Country Bandit but plenty to call most areas especially with the new cone speaker they have. I am interested to see what your test of the new WT reveals.

Lonedog
 
Thanks Lonedog, that's what I thought about the M1. My thought was that with a M1 and the external 10W TOA speaker, you could easily have the best of both worlds. That 10W Toa is really easy to put a strap around and tote on the waist when hunting. I've recently coated my TOA in urethene coating and it really cuts down on the metal to stick clatter in the woods and also with any of that ringing/tin can sounds from those metal horns. I'm going to dye my urethena and coat my moose hunting speaker as well.
 
Snowcamoman,

These rubber buttons you are talking about on the (Minaska) remote while wearing mitts...Where do you buy these, do you number them, and what do you attach them with? I'm definitely going to do this. Thanks!!!
 
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kilk14,
there are 2 ways of doing it. You can purchase those rubber "bumpers" from Lowes or Home Depot used for cabinet drawers. Or, if you're very careful, you can purchase some AquaSeal (urethane used to seal tents and waders) and put your own "dots" on the buttons. Just be super careful not to put too much on as it might run all over. I think the safer bet is probably the small bumper thingys. I imagine dots of silicone might do it as well.
 


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