Product Review: Doc Hull Short Reed “Goosey” Call
In the world of call making, Dr. D.D. Hull is a true
renaissance man. He is a doctor, hunter, caller, wood
carver, call designer and a master craftsman. He has been
a duck hunter all his life, hunter in the Platte River
and throughout Nebraska. After decades of hunting ducks,
Doc became in interested in making calls after reading an
article in the "The American Shotgunner." He learned his
early call making skills from Ray Wright of Portage,
Indiana, and has been creating custom designed calls for
almost 20 years.
Doc Hull is best known for his work in high-end custom
duck calls. He has been especially active in the area of
studying the factors that make calls stick, and designing
tone boards and red sets that eliminate the frustrating
problem with sticking reeds experienced by many hunters.
Doc’s “Suzie” duck call may very well be the world’s
first truly “stick proof” design. However, as
accomplished as he is in the design of duck calls, he
also deserves credit for having a complete line of
championship caliber goose calls. As time goes by, more
and more hunters and guides are coming to appreciate just
how deadly Doc’s goose calls are on big Canada geese.
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All of Doc Hull’s duck and goose calls are unique in
that they have a “Glodo” style barrel. Victor Glodo was a
legendary market hunter from the Northwest corner of
Tennessee. He is credited with inventing the Reelfoot-style
duck call. According to Doc Hull, the Glodo style barrel
was conceived while Glodo was helping dig a well. He
noticed that sounds from the workers digging the well
became more amplified after the walls of the well were
undercut to enlarge the bottom of the well. When Glodo
added this feature to his call design, he noticed an
increase in the resonant volume of the call.
A simple way to think of a “Glodo style” barrel is to
imagine a cone, with the tip of the cone representing the
mouthpiece of the call. Doc says the Glodo style barrel
has a smaller diameter mouthpiece and an expanded
diameter cavity in the remainder of the barrel. This
gives the call a “resonant cavity barrel” which results
in a more efficient use of the air used to blow the call.
The Glodo style barrel works so well because it harnesses
the efficiency of Bernoulli’s principle. This is a law of
fluid dynamics stating that the pressure of a fluid
varies inversely with speed, so an increase in speed
produces a decrease in pressure, and vice versa. This can
be seen by the drop in hydraulic pressure as the fluid
speeds up flowing through a constriction in a pipe. The
principle also explains the pressure differences on each
surface of an aerofoil, which gives lift to the wing of
an aircraft. Basically, by constricting the flow of a
fluid, such as air, you cause the air to speed up on the
other side of the constriction. This design allows the
goose caller maximum volume without requiring a massive
volume of air into the call.
Due to the efficiency of the design, Doc Hull’s short
reed goose calls “break” much more easily than many other
calls on the market. The unique nature of his design
allows the call to “break” easily without the “hit or
miss” process of shaving the reed used by many other call
makers. Very few goose call makers produce their own call
“guts.” Doc Hull uses Victoria Honker guts and then
manipulates the call design and reed geometry to achieve
the realistic sound that he desires. Doc personally tunes
every call before it leaves his shop to be sure every
call meets his exacting standards.
In order to get an honest “in the field test” of the Doc
Hull short reed “Goosey,” we turned our test call over to
WaterfowlReview.com contributor Randy “Anatadae” Dennis.
Randy is well known as both a goose and a duck hunter
throughout the waterfowling community in Mississippi.
Randy took the “Goosey” call to Saskatchewan, Canada for
a few weeks of goose hunting earlier this season, and his
comments are set out in the following paragraphs.
Randy says, “What I initially liked about Doc’s ‘Goosey’
is how responsive the reed is with such little air
volume, and how little hand manipulation is required to
achieve the desired sounds of a Canada goose. The
‘Goosey’ call truly lives up to its name. This is a
serious full-range call that will make every sound of a
big Canada goose.
“I used this call in Saskatchewan, this year where we
hunted a mixture of big honkers as well as the smaller
cackler geese. The ‘Goosey’ is a little higher-pitched
than other short-reed calls I’ve used. Not only did the
Goosey work extremely well on the cacklers, but it was
unbelievably effective in drawing bigger honkers from
long distances as well. I believe this was due to the
higher pitch, or 'crack'. The overall pitch is easily
varied by slightly changing your hand position and the
air velocity you put into the call.
“Most new callers aren’t really sure what to do with
their hands when they first start experimenting with
short reed goose calls. A great advantage of the ‘Goosey’
design from Doc Hull for new callers is that hand
position is not extremely critical. Little or no back
pressure is required to get the initial sound at first,
but as you become familiar with the call, it becomes
apparent that it has the range, speed and versatility
that experienced callers demand from a premium call.
“The ‘Goosey’ has a distinctively attractive appearance
that sets it apart from ‘just another acrylic call’.
There are no sharp edges on the mouthpiece allowing the
caller to maintain a good seal without bruising the lips
during extended calling duty. The barrel fits comfortably
in the hand and is tapered to provide a consistent grip.
The barrel also has double O-ring seals to prevent air
leakage. This feature also allows the caller to adjust
the length of the call for the desired back pressure and
do any fine-tuning for his own style of calling. Of
course, the reed and guts are fully adjustable and are
notched to assure perfect repositioning of the reed after
routine cleaning. This call is virtually fool-proof and
embodies the fine craftsmanship that is the signature of
Doc Hull's artistry.
“Most hunters (just starting to learn how to blow a goose
call) tend to be easily intimidated by how many sounds
come from a call in the hands of an experienced caller.
With a little instruction on the proper technique,
combined with the fact that this call from Doc is so easy
to blow, folks just starting out can easily build up the
confidence they need in themselves. And more importantly,
they will build up confidence in this fine call they have
selected. The result is rapid progress, enthusiasm, and
the assurance that with some basic calls, mastering the
skill necessary to convince those wary birds to come take
a closer look is an attainable goal. (Of course, this is
provided that you’re in the right spot, that your decoy
spread is adequate in number and realism, and that you
and your hunting companions are properly concealed).
Randy concludes, “We also just recently used this call on
resident honkers in the Mississippi Delta with great
success, so its effectiveness is not limited strictly to
cacklers and unsuspecting early migrators. Choosing a
call can be frustrating, but I can assure you…..whether
you are a beginner or a seasoned goose hunter, this is a
highly versatile call, extremely easy to use, that will
help you become more proficient at getting those birds to
finish.”
Doc Hull makes four types of goose calls. In addition to
the “Goosey” short reed, Doc makes a long reed call with
a one piece sound board, a long 9" to 10" flute that is
very easy to blow and makes all the sounds of a flock of
geese, and a short flute “derringer” call that can be
tuned to sound exactly like a snow goose. At this time he
does not make a specklebelly call, but please stay tuned.
Doc Calls are available directly from Dr. D.D. Hull, 5848
Otoe Street, Lincoln, NE 68506, or online at DocCalls.
Doc can be reached via telephone at (402) 489-2580. His
wood goose calls start at $90.00, with a personalized
inscription for $9.95 extra. Acrylic goose call prices
are $135.00. Shipping and handling on all calls is $6.00.
Doc Hull also has available calls made from exotic woods
that include African Black Wood, Brazilian Rose Wood,
Mediterranean Olive Wood, Mexican King Wood, Snake Wood
and many others. You simply will not find better customer
service than Doc Hull provides to buyers of his calls.
Doctor Hull has created a real winner with his short reed
“Goosey” call. Beginners to salty seasoned honker hunters
will find something to love about this call. This is an
utterly realistic call that is both easy to use and
striking in appearance. You will not look like every
other guy in the goose pit with this call! Be sure to
give Doc a call, because you will really enjoy talking
calls with him.
He is very generous with his time, and truly loves his
work. Be sure to tell him you read about his fine calls
here at our site, WaterfowlReview.com. This website and
its owner wish to thank Randy Dennis for his significant
contributions to this review, and Doctor D.D. Hull for
his continued courtesy in answering questions regarding
the technical aspects of call making for our readers!
Updated:
December 08, 2005
