Duck hunters - why is this call so expensive?

[paulney]

A few days ago Cabela's sent me their catalog in the mail, and I was flipping through it out of curiosity, when I saw this:

And it cost $160.

I had to google its name to figure out what it is - it's a goose call. It's, essentially, a whistle. A fancy acrylic whistle. Why does it cost so much?

 

[KK]

It's really a fleshlight, it gets lonely in those blinds.

 

[lxskllr]

Is it a whistle? It looks like the kind that sounds by friction, but I'm not intimately familiar with calls. It looks like it's signed, so it's probably using an artisan's proven design, hence the high price.

 

[paulney]

Is it a whistle? It looks like the kind that sounds by friction, but I'm not intimately familiar with calls. It looks like it's signed, so it's probably using an artisan's proven design, hence the high price.

It may not be a whistle - I don't know how it works. I assumed you blow into it.
It's mass marketed, not really a handcrafted thing. You can get them in all sorts of neon colors.

 

[lxskllr]

It's mass marketed, not really a handcrafted thing. You can get them in all sorts of neon colors.

Yea, but sometimes things start as a handcraft, and then get mass marketed to the artisan's specs. The artisan will still make handmade items at a significant premium. The mass produced items give the user premium performance, at a good discount.

The cost of that call looks high to me, but I'm not really a hunter. That may be a decent price for a premium item, especially if you consider how long it will last.

Edit:
Sometimes the cost is just voodoo. A maker has proven ability, but it then gets enhanced by legend, and the price inflates. The market determines worth, so if they're marked at that price, they're selling at that price.

 

[jteef]

it's the flames, dummy.

 

[Tea Bag]

I think the basic idea behind the design is if you can't call any geese in close, it doubles as a pipe and you can blaze one up with it and have a good time anyway.

 

[umbrella39]

It's a nice ZINK goose call. You get what you pay for with calls... they have several more expensive ones than that. I paid about that much for my favorite duck call from them, a nice double-reed Echo Meat Hanger.

 

[0roo0roo]

Dryad: I'll attract the enemy with my Human call: "I'm so wasted! I'm so wasted!"

 

[KB]

It's definately not a whistle. You call geese in a tone similar to their call. If you whistled at them they would just fly away.
It's expensive because it's an acryllic call. Most cheap calls are polycarbonate and are injection molded. Acryllic calls must be lathed. Acryllic gives a richer tone to the call and is used by most, if not all, goose call champions.

 

[mvbighead]

R&D. I would not agree that it is expensive due to being acrylic. There are all sorts of acrylic calls that can be had for much less than that price:

http://www.amazon.com/Haydels-Game-C.../dp/B000696B0I

http://www.google.com/products/cata...a=X&ei=d3PGTvDwA8u2tweju_yQDA&ved=0CHUQ8wIwBQ

Further, there are wooden calls that are nearly just as expensive:
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Band...t=goose+call&WTz_l=Header;Search-All+Products

What you are ultimately paying for is a patented design that is said to produce the most realistic recreation of the natural sounds of that animal.

You would essentially be buying the BMW/Jaguar of goose calls, rather than the Kia/Suzuki.

Also, $200 is hardly a high price, when you can walk into a Cabelas or Bass Pro and find some calls in excess of $500. The only reason is that these calls are said to be the best.

Personally, I am jest fine using a couple of 10-40 dollar calls. The reality of duck hunting is that ducks are either interested, or they're not. I'd be more apt to spend $200 on good quality decoys than a duck call that sounds 5-10% better than a good cheapo. My dad's favorite duck call he found in a bargain bin of a local small hunting shop for under $20. I've seen him call duck after duck after duck in with that call.

 

[slag]

Its 4g