New Sponsor Welcome - Elk Calling Academy

[WapitiTalk1]

I'm pretty excited about introducing our sponsor. Please join me in welcoming Michael Batease and the Elk Calling Academy to Wapiti Talk! If you check out the banner (or text link) above, you'll see just what Mr. Batease and his Academy provides... pretty dang cool . Welcome to our humble elk hunting campfire Michael. Please, pull up a log and tell us a bit more about the Elk Calling Academy. RJ

[Lonnie]

I am one of Michael Batease students from the Elk Calling Academy. Great guy. I cant wait for this elk season to show the elk what I have learned. Michael is a great teacher, and very knowledgeable in the many different ways to get you talking elk. I would recommend him any day of the week. Thanks Michael.

[elkaholicid]

Thank you Rory and Lonnie. We are extremely excited to be a part of WapitiTalk.

The Elk Calling Academy was established based on the love and passion of calling in elk and wanted to provide a service that would benefit other like minded people. I mean lets face it. We can pay for piano lessons, or guitar lessons, or dance lessons, so why not pay for a service that can teach us skills that will help feed our families and also increase the fun factor.

I've been chasing these majestic animals for almost 30 years and have been fortunate enough to have worked in the hunting for the past 15 years. 12 of those 15 years have been spent working for call companies in all aspects from research and development to product demonstration and sales. I am really passionate about calling elk and love helping others advance their calling skills and elk hunting knowledge. The one thing you'll notice is that we are not brand specific when it comes to call manufacturer. We post video reviews of several call manufacturers in an unbiased approach to help you decide what call fits your calling style the best. If you still can't decide, we are here to help narrow down the choices. I've stood in front of a call display at sporting goods store and understand that it can be a bit overwhelming.

The Elk Calling Academy offers One on One private Elk Calling Lessons both in person and online along with Competition Calling Coaching and Elk Hunting Seminars. Our Facebook page has the list of services we offer and also has a Book Now tab to make it easy for you to schedule your lessons. Each lesson is tailored to the student depending on their calling level and last about an hour. But of course we are talking about elk hunting and calling so the hour mark goes by quickly and we do go a little past that mark on numerous occasions. During the lessons we also get into the aspect of how to use each of these sounds out in the field so that you have a better understanding of the elk language and how to use that language to increase your chance for success.
Cost per lesson is $30 per session which you have the option to pay for each lesson individually, or you can pay for a month at a time. There is no contract so you can start and stop at any time.

Our mission is simple. Help others become more proficient at not only recognizing elk sounds, but also how to make that sound and knowing what to do when you have a bull engaged. We look forward to chatting with each of you and can't wait for September to get here.

[Swede]

Welcome to the forum Michael. It is good to have you here. I look forward to reading some campfire contributions you make. I have often thought that hunters need to know the basics of calling before they head out with the latest bugle on the market.
I am interested in how you judge calls on an "unbiased approach" since so many of them seem to work better for one user, or even calling regime than others. Some diaphragms fit me better than others. I find some calls just make better sounds than others. That would cause a personal bias for that call, and against ones that are more flat. On bite and blow calls the same situation presents itself. I like the Berry Thunder Bugle and can't use an Abe & son's. Others loved the Abe & Son call. Anyway I will look forward to reading your take on this.

[elkaholicid]

Thank you Swede. Glad to be here. It is tough to be unbiased for sure as I certainly have my favorites just like anyone else. In my reviews I really try to keep them the same as far as discussing fit, design and then do the same pattern of calls so that I'm not showing that favoritism. I do have some video reviews over on my Facebook page and I will see what I can do get those posted over here as well so that everyone on here has access to them.
As far as external reed bugles you are right about how they work. How the external reed works is different for each person. I'm a tube junkie and have several external reed tubes that I will be taking out in the woods and blowing on so people can hear the difference in them from a distance.

[Elkduds]

Thank you for joining as a sponsor. I expect the partnership will be good for your business as well as for us members. We appreciate your support!

[elkaholicid]

Thank you elkduds. I'm looking forward to this partnership for many years to come.