A grunt call is standard equipment for the deer hunter. That’s why most every serious deer hunter out there has at least one of these whitetail tools in his or her pack. But how much would you be willing to spend on a grunt call? Like a lot of things, the cost of grunt calls has continued to climb over the years as some call companies started offering options they feel are worth the extra coin.
A friend recently messaged me asking if I had seen the price on the new Phelps grunt call. I did a little digging and found the flagship call wearing a price tag of $75. That’s a pretty spendy grunt call. But digging a little deeper, I found a call that rings up even higher than that with the Woodhaven Classic, a deer grunt call with a price of $79.99. I quickly began to wonder what I’ve been missing by not owning one of these high-end calls. Were they truly that much better to warrant such a lofty price tag? What did they have that the $20 grunt call doesn’t?
I quickly added these two calls to my collection to get a first hand look at what all the fuss was about and why they are so expensive. And after further review, I’ll say they do offer some of the best quality deer sounds you’ll find anywhere. They are truly built better than many of the other call options out there. But the question still remains. How much would you spend on a grunt call? Have these call manufacturers priced these calls beyond the reach of the average deer hunter?
On the flip side, consider the cost of calls for other species. The same guy that’ll complain about a $75 deer call will spend $175 on his favorite duck call. When you look at it like that, $75 ain’t too shabby if you’re getting the best of the best in a call. Take a closer look – and listen – to these calls, and other popular calls on the market, in the video below to help you better answer the question, how much would you spend on a grunt call?
H.S. Buck Bark
This call produces quality deep-sounding grunts that can be blown soft or loud. It’s built with injection molded rubber and ABS construction. It’s got a unique skull design on top that includes a snort wheeze tube. The call features a new HS internal system that produces a very realistic range of buck grunts, growls, and clicks. The call is very easy to run with little practice, allowing you to adequately mimic the sounds of a rutty buck down to the single note.
Price – $18.99
Phelps Beta Pro
This call was inspired by the waterfowl industry with machined acrylics, including the guts. From the barrel to the tone board, all the way down to the mylar reed, this call was built with the best components for a very realistic sound and prevention of locking up with condensation on cold weather hunts. This call truly delivers some of the most realistic sounds of any call out there, but it comes at a price. It’s not the cheap call you’ll find at your local sporting goods store. In fact, this call is only available online at the Phelps Game Calls website. It’s a premium call that delivers smooth and solid grunts, growls, and clicks. It can be blown really soft, or super loud.
Price – $74.99
Woodhaven Classic Deer Grunt
The Classic is another call that offers high-end deer sounds thanks to its quality components and construction. If you like the look, sound, and nostalgia of a wood barrel call, this one is sure to please with its beautiful, laminated wood barrel. The call blows soft and sublte, requiring very little air pressure to produce some of the most life-like grunt and click sounds you’ll find anywhere. It has an adjustable tone band on the reed that allows you to change the sound options from a deep, mature buck sound, to younger buck sounds, and even the bleats of a doe and young deer.
Price – $79.99
Woodhaven Intimidator
The Classic grunt call from Woodhaven mentioned above is the most expensive call on our list. There will be plenty of hunters that want to see a grunt call with a more budget friendly price tag. For those hunters, Woodhaven offers their Intimidator grunt call and snort wheeze. It’s an easy-blowing call requiring very little air pressure to produce some very realistic sounds of the whitetail vocabulary. The call blows nice and soft, or super loud, to produce a variety of grunt sounds, growls, and clicks. Best yet, it’s priced under twenty bucks.
Price – $19.99
True Talker OG
The HS True Talker grunt call was one of the most popular calls you’d find hanging around the neck of the deer hunter 20 years ago. Hunters watched them work for the prostaffers of the popular Primetime Bucks video series and had to have one in their arsenal as well. Nowadays, the True Talker OG features the materials and design of the original. It has the soft rubber exterior and rubber sleeve over the bellow/grunt tube allowing for the manipulation of volume, tone and direction of the call sound. It produces all the sounds of mature bucks, young bucks, doe bleat and fawn bleats. It’s still one of the best sounding grunt calls out there.
Price – $17.99
Primos Rut Roar
The Rut Roar call allows you to put plenty of volume into the call to get really loud with your grunts, growls, and clicks. The call also has a built-in snort wheeze tube to play on a dominant bucks territorial instincts.
The call has a unique arm strap that allows you to wear the call on your arm for hands-free use, without a lanyard around your neck. This also allows you to blow the call while at full draw, or with your hands on your rifle. Best yet, the call is value priced well under twenty bucks and is found at most popular sporting goods stores.
Price – $16.99
Primos Power Buck & Doe
This is one call that’s been in my pack for as long as any of them. It’s another classic call among deer hunters. In fact, it just might be the #1 deer call ever sold. Countless hunters have this call in their arsenal. It sounds incredible, makes multiple sounds, and is priced well below most other calls on the market. It accurately produces the deep throaty grunts of a buck as well as the clicks and growls. It has a unique dual-reed assembly that allows for inhale-exhale use to create multiple sounds quick and easy. Heck, it’s even got a built in compass! And as previously mentioned, the price is hard to beat.
Price – $16.99
Flextone Extractor
Some hunters carry multiple grunt calls to deliver different sounds. This one call pretty much does it all. It’s built with a freeze-proof, soft-bodied call that creates a wide range of deer sounds, from social grunts and growls, to doe and fawn bleats. And it has a snort wheeze tube to boot.
How does it do it?
The unique X-Glide sound selection system allows you to move the slider up or down on the call to produce the wide range of sounds. The call is built on Flextone’s reputation for rubber soft-body designs that resemble the soft tissue around a deer’s vocal box.
Price – $22.99
So what do you think? What’s your favorite call from our list? And how much would you spend on a grunt call?
Comment below, and let us know what you think.
