It appears that gobble calls are the latest sensation in the turkey-hunting world this year. I've had the opportunity to get three of the most popular new gobble calls in my hands. I'll compare these calls side by side and rate some key characteristics based on a scale of 1-5 (1=low rating; 5=high rating).

The Haint
Down-N-Dirty Outdoors was the first to strike the gobble call scene this spring with The Haint. It's a beautiful walnut-barreled call driven by a single reed. It's supposed to be super easy to run with "free air," rather than air forced from your diaphragm. Well, after a few hours of practice I'm getting closer to sounding like a fired-up longbeard, but I need some more quality time with it. A few of my turkey-hunting buddies were able to blow it with relative ease, while a few others are struggling a bit along with me.

My Rating:
Ease of use: 3
Sound quality once perfected: 4
Bang for your buck: 3
Retail price: $54.99
Total rating: 10

Here's how it's supposed to sound:

Hale Fire
Not long after The Haint hit the scene, Knight & Hale fired back with the Hale Fire. Like the Haint, it's a single-reed barrel call, but it's plastic and can be taken apart for quick and easy cleaning. Unlike The Haint, the Hale Fire is made to be blown with your diaphragm, much life a duck feeder call. I was able to get decent gobble sounds from the Hale Fire right out of the gate—probably because I'm accustomed to using my diaphragm to blow barrel calls. 

My Rating:
Ease of use: 4
Sound quality once perfected: 3
Bang for your buck: 4
Retail price: $19.99
Total rating: 11

Here's how it's supposed to sound:

Thunder Gobble
To bring another player to the gobble-call game, Flextone introduced the Thunder Gobble. The design is much different than The Haint or Hale Fire in that it's more of a tube-style turkey call, and contains two latex reeds. This call is extremely easy to use, even for beginner callers.

My Rating:
Ease of use: 5
Sound quality once perfected: 2
Bang for your buck: 3
Retail price: $15.99
Total rating: 10

Here's how it's supposed to work:

Take what you will from this, but all of these calls, if used properly in the right place at the right time, can help you locate or lure-in a longbeard. Nothing beats a real thundering gobble but, with some practice, it's worth adding at least one gobble call to your turkey vest.