How to Use an Open Reed Cow Call with Dieter Kaboth

Four-time world-champion elk caller Dieter Kaboth says open-reed cow calls are the ticket to bowhunting success. That’s because these calls mimic the sounds of a mature cow, which bulls want to mate with and other elk want to be around. In this video Kaboth gives you techniques and tactics—and good reason—to use these calls during archery season and rifle season.

Hi, I'm Dieter Kaboth and I've been very fortunate to win four world elk calling champions with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. I want to mention the mission of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. It's to ensure the future of elk, other wildlife, their habitat and our hunting heritage. I've been a lifetime member for going on two decades now and it's one of the best things I've ever done and they're really working hard for you, for elk and other wildlife so future generations will always be able to hear that call of the wild.

Hey, today, what I want to talk about is external cow calls. Everybody's got their favorite lure in their tackle box. To me, this right here is my bread and butter, my go-to call and I have called more elk in to harvest than any other call I've ever used. There's a reason for it. The reason for it are these open reeded calls like this. Don't be intimidated by them. These open reeded calls are mature cow sounds. They're not a calf sound. They're a mature cow sound. Now, why is that important? Because elk live in a hierarchy system. There's mature cows within a herd structure and there's calves within a herd structure. The calf calls are equally as important to make but understand that a bull wants to breed a cow, not a calf, and that bull is coming in to this mature sound.

This is how it sounds. Just about any bite and blow call on the market like this here, you pinch it with your teeth. You pinch hard to make the high note and come off of it to make the ... It goes from a high note to a low note just by pinching my teeth. But do you hear the pitch? That is a calf sound. Again, it's equally as important because now I'm making herd structure sounds. I'm making herd sounds that sound natural to elk. But to me, those open reeded calls are the most effective.

The nice thing with the Duel Game Call's dual chamber technology here is this. If I'm talking to you, it sounds pretty natural. The second I pinch my nose, it sounds like I'm talking through a pipe or something. It doesn't sound as natural. I'm going to make a cow call here so you can hear it. Sounds pretty natural, right? Let me block off one of the holes on this call like pinching my nose. Hear the difference? It's a fuller sound. I don't know if the audio on the camera can really produce that. But if you try it yourself, you'll really hear it. It sounds a lot more natural when you have those dual chambers just like I'm talking on my nasal cavity and my throat cavity at the same time.

Now, a couple of things to keep in mind when you use an external call. When you push this down, you use one of your teeth right here and push down this plastic latex or this plastic piece right here, the reed. When I say press, just lightly press down. You don't have to push, push down with your teeth or your lips. Just push down with one of your teeth very gently, find the sweet spot. Just hold it like that. Then what you're going to do is run your lips to the barrel and run out of breath. You don't have to push that much air through it. You hear that? When you hear those long drawn out calls, the elk will relax. Everything is fine within the herd structure.

When you hear a more short and choppy and abrupt, what I call a chirp, they're nervous. They're nervous of maybe about me. Maybe their predator was through there. But the bottom line is they're nervous. I bring myself to the same anxiety level that they are. But then after a little while, I'll make those chirps like that. But then after a little while, I draw them out. It might sound like this. Everything is fine. Do that for a couple of minutes before you just go running in on them and you'll find that you'll get elk, possibly a little bit closer than just blowing them out of there.

Now, we make a couple of different types of calls. This one here is a little bit softer type of a cow call. It's not quite as loud as this one with the wider reed that you'll hear. If you really want to get out there and touch them to locate them, use this call with the wider reed. The one that's tapered right here, it's a little bit softer. When they're coming in on you, you don't want to blow them out. You want to try to start to quiet down your call a little bit. Again, the external call is a great complement to your other external calls.

I'll tell you what, these external calls, elk live on a hierarchy system. They're more apt to follow a lead cow sound than they are a calf sound. That's very important to know. During the rifle season, you're calling elk in because they're afraid. There's more human encroachment around than any other time of the year. When they're hearing these cow calls, I like to set up in an area and do this routine just a couple of cow calls. What I'm doing is I'm casting that sound out trying to get an elk to bite on it just like a fishing lure to start coming in on me.

When you make these sounds, make sure you're using them in the timber. You're not going to call them across a wide open park. Make sure you're in the timbered area where the elk feel comfortable to sneak their way to you. The reason they're sneaking their way to you is because they want to be around other elk. They're afraid. They're nervous. During the rifle season, like I said, there's more human encroachment than any other time of the year. The elk are coming to you for that reason. They want to be around other elks. Like I said, my favorite lure are those open reeded calls that sound like a mature elk. Everything is fine within the herd structure but they're going to meet my .30-06 pretty soon or whatever you use.

Anyway, the folks over at North 40 Outfitters are experts. They're going to help you with any calls or any needs that you might have. Make sure you ask them about it, and if you have any questions at all, they're going to be there to help your every need and to help you be successful in the woods. Thanks for shopping at North 40 Outfitters.