Elk Grunt Tubes Side by Side Video

[flystrait]

Here is the video for the Grunt Tubes side by side. Please excuse the Gugle Tube as my son was doing the editing, and my wife was running the video. Without these two, it would make it a much larger task. This video is not sponsored or endoresed by any manufacture and is only a comparison of Grunt Tubes and not a review. YOU please be the judge. Maybe John F can embed this video?

Thanks
Craig


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5BkQPJsoYw

[msd1228]

Great vid Craig. Phelps tube crushed the competition, IMO. Obviously its a more competition oriented bugle due to its size - it looks exactly the same dimensions as my wiffle bat competition tube, but the sound was fantastic. Prototype12 and Bully Bull were on par with each other for me - Proto12 hit bigger bass, but Bully Bull sounded cleaner. Bully Bull is my tube of choice for the elk woods, although when I competition call I alternate between Bully Bull and my wiffle tube during my routine. The other calls were all a considerable distance behind the top 3 in that lineup.

[BrentLaBere]

Again, thanks for the video Craig. I watched it once through and read msd first comments and have to agree that the phelps tube sounded the best to me.

[ElkNut1]

Just listened to it, I did not hear a clear winner at all. The Primos, Bully, Phelps, Point Blank #12 all sounded the same or close enough to it that one did not out shine the other, actually at that distance all sounded very weak in tone. The best chuckles were from the wapiti outdoors bugle. I believe Craig just did a little better on them that time & it wasn't the tube itself that was better. Too, I believe the reed used compromised some of the sound quality, I felt he struggled with it.

Craig, I know you're a decent caller, I believe both distance & possibly the speakers in the video camera robbed some of the authenticity in the sound quality? Did you feel this way after listening to it? Thanks for taking the time to share this! By the way what are the lengths of some of those bugles, they look a bit long to be hauling around the elkwoods for the average hunter?

ElkNut1

[PHELPS GAME CALLS]

All of these tubes are capable of calling in elk (I'm sure of it).

Here is my take on the tubes going in with a 100% open mind:

Primos: high cost, no backpressure due to the design, hollow sounding.
Bully Bull: Good sound, good backpressure, good volume, but I hate the small opening (can be fixed with a hacksaw)
Wapiti: nice and compact, the tube didn't seem to resonate and gave a hollow tone, low volume (I agree the chuckles sounded good)
Phelps: good sound/volume (finishes the call very well), good backpressure, Large Size
Point Blank: I was surprised. Sounded good but not as much back pressure or volume. It sounded like this tube has a hard plastic end (does it?). I don't want things clanking as I move through the woods.
Proto 12: good sound/volume (finishes the call very well), good backpressure, Large Size. I'm willing to bet this tube has a more restrictive exhaust on it then mine (but I can't tell from the video).

This is assuming Craig played the call the exact same in each call. Physics tells us isn't possible due to different backpressure, resonance, materia, etc...

The large size doesn't bother me as it is light weight and is in my hand for the better part of the day.

[JohnFitzgerald]

I embedded the video for you.

I think Phelps, Prototype 12, and the BB were the best. Great sounds out of those three but if I had to choose my favorite, it would be a tie between Phelps and Prototype Type 12.

Reed work sounded great. For flystrait never using the Watermelon, I think he did very well. I'm currently working with it and I'm getting some great elk sounds. Once again, I presonally like the GCHC reeds. Here's an 11 year old boy using a reed from GCHC.

Just my dos centos!

[Glacier Country]

I don't think Craig struggled with the call at all. That is how he blows them. He likes that sound.I can blow the Watermelon and sound very different. I will put on a sound clip to illustrate what I mean. It looks like Phelps and I use the exact same tube, except I put a mouthpiece on mine. This tube has very good back pressure and will make very good sounds.I have made elk bugle tubes out of just about everything that you can blow air thru.This tube really shines.In the audio clip posted I don't have any tube tamers or anything on the tube at all not even a cover. The geometry of the tube just kicks out awesome bugles. Hope this Helps. Troy

[Glacier Country]

This is a audio clip of a 14 year old girl using a Watermelon and she almost NEVER practices.

[slim9300]

Great vid Craig. Phelps tube crushed the competition, IMO. Obviously its a more competition oriented bugle due to its size - it looks exactly the same dimensions as my wiffle bat competition tube, but the sound was fantastic. Prototype12 and Bully Bull were on par with each other for me - Proto12 hit bigger bass, but Bully Bull sounded cleaner. Bully Bull is my tube of choice for the elk woods, although when I competition call I alternate between Bully Bull and my wiffle tube during my routine. The other calls were all a considerable distance behind the top 3 in that lineup.

Other than the crushed part, I agree with the above.

[ElkNut1]

It's funny how different folks pick up things differently. (grin) When I listen to calling such as in this demonstration I close my eyes so I am not partial from one tube over another, I did it this time as well. At first I didn't realize that Craig was going from one tube to the next without further introduction of each one as he changed. With my eyes closed I didn't know each bugle was named at top of clip so was listening accordingly. I wondered why he was staying with the same sounds with a slight hesitation after a set of 3 bugles so I opened my eyes to see, that's when I noticed he was going from one to another without saying anything. (grin) Up to that point with eyes closed I could not tell that there was any real difference in his bugle of use even though he had changed to another.

There was no standout in my mind. As Jason mentions you can call elk with any of them. I ended watching this clip on several PC's & 1/2 dozen times to see if I was missing something but it was the same each time, the wapiti river bugle lacked volume in comparison to the others, other than that all were very similar. So grab your tube of choice, do well & have fun!!! (grin)

ElKNut1

[flystrait]

Thanks for the responses folks.

There are definatley alot of tone differences that are not picked up by the camera. Again I wanted to get far enough away to hear what they sound like in the woods to others and to the elk. The size and weight in my opinion is a non issue with any of these tubes. Many people including myself like to hear certian sounds and that can be different to each and everyone of us. Judge for yourself in the quality of the sound rather than just the sound made. Each person will use a reed in a different way and produce slightly different tones, but if the quality in the sound and volume is there in the tube you prefer than thats a win win situation. Each and every tube is different in this comparison as some have stated such as back pressure, size of mouth opening, and several other things. My goal was only to give you a idea of the sounds coming from each one as I was trying to replicate the exact same bugle in sequence.

I hope you found this educational.

Jason, I apologize again for the mispelling!

Craig

[huntabsarokee]

Anybody planning on doing the same type of test with a XTR bugle or did I miss it.