Best grunt tube?

[JohnFitzgerald]

I admit, my son and I are spoiled. We both got custom GCHC grunt tubes. Sorry Troy.....not sure if you want that known! The best bugle I\'ve ever used and I\'ve owned every bugle known to man.

What grunt tube do you use/own?

 

[Swede]

For years I used sections of vacuum cleaner hose. I covered it with some camo and added a string. It worked fine. Since then I have used a couple of Elknut\'s grunt tubes. They have better resonance, and I like them for that.

 

[BTL]

Bully Bull Extreme with 3 sound dampeners.
I may be adding tape to it because of the feedback I have gotten from some of the sounds. Hallow or plastic sounds. It may just be soundcloud....

 

[otcWill]

I use one thats about 20 years old and quite a few of my puppies have chewed on. Its MAGIC! :lol: My dog will come chew yours for piece of sausage and a back rub

 

[BTL]

I use one thats about 20 years old and quite a few of my puppies have chewed on. Its MAGIC! :lol: My dog will come chew yours for piece of sausage and a back rub

Deal

 

[elkmtngear]

I carry the \"Little Chuckler\"...since I\'m not going to try to sound \"big and threatening\" unless I\'m right in a bull\'s face.

It\'s a smaller tube than some, but bulky enough for me to carry...I\'m a \"minimalist\"

 

[Swede]

I carry the \"Little Chuckler\"...since I\'m not going to try to sound \"big and threatening\"

I like the Little Chuckler and Chuckler EL for the same reasons. I tried the Larry D. Jones grunt tube. In fact that is where I got the idea for the vacuum cleaner hose. They looked and sounded the same. I have used the Abe & Sons bugle and a couple others. The Little Chuckler/Chuckler EL have been the best as far as I am concerned.

 

[Stringunner]

Up until three years ago, all I packed was the abe and son grunt tube. Used it since I was an 8 year old kid, nearly 20 years. The last three years I have used the elknut chucklar el. I think it sounds great. Took a bit getting use to in relation to packing around, its a lot bigger than the abe and son, but many of the bugle tubes today are that size.

 

[timberland]

Last year I used a wiffle ball bat after looking at elknuts videos. Seemed to work just fine. Little camo and gorilla tape to tune it a little.

 

[cnelk]

Not sure if there is a \'best\' grunt tube.
What is \'best\' being compared to? Your ear\'s or the elk\'s?
What makes a call become the \'best\'?

Im not one to drink someones \'kool-aid\' [I have, and its usually bitter]
I do know that I can recognize certain bugle tubes [primos for one] but its usually when the hunter bugles too much.
Just like I can recognize a Hoochie Mama, but both of those calls have called in lots of animals.

 

[flystrait]

The best grunt tube is one that is able to produce the characteristics below.

1) A tube that allows enough back pressure to help the reed break over
2) A thicker wall helping to eliminate the plastic sound
3) Big enough chamber to allow for depth of sound
4) Allows the most volume possible

Those are the main things I have found after trying and making close to 100 different types over a 3 year period.

It\'s funny how most people are using a bat style tube and they don\'t even know it. The chuckler is a kids baseball bat cut down that has a thinner wall. Most all manufactures use this model when designing their casting molds the only real difference is their company name molded in it.

 

[Stringunner]

It\'s funny that you say that fly strait, when I purchased and received my chuckler, after giving it a good look, i noticed that it was indeed just a kids plastic bat. If you look down the end, you can see the baseball player insignia. Regardless it sounds better than my Abe and son...at least to my ear. Now the elk on the other hand may or may not think so. :roll:

 

[Glacier Country]

I have made literally 100\'s of different tubes using different types of tubes and thicknesses of materials. We have tried and tested side by side almost every different Bugle tube sold on the market that we could get our hands on... I make and use this one...
1st pic is my wife\'s 2013 bull.
2nd Pick is my 2013 Bull. This is the same type of tube I made for John and his son and many other guys.

 

[Glacier Country]

In the 1st picture if you look close you can see me cradling a prototype tube I used to call in that bull.
In the other photo\'s check out the tubes these guys are using... GCHC.

 

[Swede]

I have not given enough research to this subject to come to any conclusions yet. I liked the little Chuckler as it sounded more real than my vacuum cleaner hose. I liked it better than my Abe and Sons one, and some others. Craig, it sounds like you could get what you describe from a Malwart plastic bat. Troy it looks like you used a Malwart bat and just covered it with camo. What am I missing here? I see Elknut has come out with the new and improved 2015 Chuckler. I wonder what kind of research went into that??? Maybe he offered some variety of bugles and polled 500+ bull elk to see what they preferred. LOL
OK guys, you have caught my attention, Please explain.

 

[Stringunner]

Swede has brought up a good point. What is the difference in materials/craftsmanship/etc. that make any one of these \"baseball bat shaped\" grunt tubes different from each other. The new improved chuckler, the ones posted in the pics above, and the bully tube all look the same from the outside. So what makes them sound superior to one another without regard to who is using it? In short why would a guy purchase one over the other?

 

[flystrait]

The biggest differences are the type of plastic used in manufacturing, the size of the little end and the size of the big end. Simply put some of the best tubes are purchased from Walmart. The \"Big Bat\" brand seems to have all these characteristics I look for in a good tube. And yes being a proficient caller helps as well.

 

[Swede]

Thanks Craig for the response. If I may ask, how large should the hole on the big end be? I haven\'t checked out a plastic bat before, but suspect the small end is set by the bat manufacturer, as I assume the bat is hollow all the way through. I might just make myself a new grunt tube. I only have about 6 now since I have given some away.

 

[JohnFitzgerald]

I like the smaller intakes because it\'s harder to get back pressure with the larger ones.

 

[Guest]

I like the smaller intakes because it\'s harder to get back pressure with the larger ones.

John what are you using to measure back pressure on the smaller to bigger tubes ? You really have me curious ! Also how do you know if there is any back pressure ? What does back pressure do if anything ? I know for a fact that a properly made reed does all the note changes so back pressure has nothing to do with note changes or as some call it (Breaking over a reed).

Can you please clear this all up for all of us wondering ?

Thanks

Trav