British wildfowlers
looking for a goose call to help them decoy greylag or pinkfooted
geese have, until now, been faced with a problem. Most of the calls
on the market were designed for Canada geese and, while some such as
the Olt 800 would work well for greylag, they were difficult to use
when pinkfeet were the quarry. Some fowlers used the L22 call for
pinks but, again, this was a bit of a compromise.
As most of my goose
shooting involves the pinkfooted goose, a good pinkfoot call was a
must. In recent years I have been using a variety of snow goose
calls that I bought in the USA. Although the call pattern is
different, the frequency range and timbre of a snow goose's voice is
very similar to that of a pinkfoot. Indeed when you compare the
anatomy of the two species, they are remarkably similar. Same size,
same body and head shape, similar bills, etc. It was little surprise
that the snow goose call was so successful with pinks in the UK.
But now an even better
solution is available. Arising from discussions on the Internet's
wildfowling forum, my attention was drawn to a new call being
custom-produced by Eddie Nixon of Cumbria. The claim was that this
call could be blown to imitate the voice of both the greylag and the
pinkfooted goose. I was initially sceptical, as the voices of those
species are very different but contributor after contributor sang
the praises of this call. Eventually I decided that I had to
investigate the claims for myself and obtained a call from Eddie.
Well - I am astounded.
The first thing that strikes you when you pick up the call is the
sheer quality of the precision engineering. The call is very well
made and looks as if it should last for many seasons. The second
feature is the helpful instruction sheet that gives easily followed
directions for producing the requisite sounds for each of the
species. This has clearly been written by someone who has first hand
experience of sitting out in a hide with the geese circling over his
decoys.
For pinks, the call
produces pinkfoot's attention call and the feeding grumble. A change
of hand cupping and a different intonation and the equivalent calls
of the greylag are easily produced.
This is a goose call
that is going to become the standard for British wildfowlers and the
good news is that it is not expensive. The current price is £21
inclusive of UK post and packing and it is available only from:
Nixon Engineering Ltd
Site 7 Peterfield Road
Kingstown Industrial Estate
Carlisle
CA3 0EY
|