Mouth call cuts explained: double, batwing, V, ghost and combo, and which one to start with

Diaphragms come labeled batwing, split-V, ghost, combo and cutter, and for someone who has never called in a bird, that wall of labels is the hardest part of choosing turkey calls. You only need a few ideas to pick your first one.

We haven't blown or heard any of these calls. Every description of a cut on this page is the maker's or the National Wild Turkey Federation's, quoted and linked, and the four calls compared here are scored on published specs using our published scoring rubric.

The short version

What a reed cut actually is

A mouth call (diaphragm) is simple. The NWTF's Steve Hickoff describes it this way: “Latex or prophylactic reeds are stretched on a metal or plastic frame and then taped to make a mouth call.” You press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue and push air across the reeds (the full technique is in our step-by-step, linked below).

A cut is a notch or shape cut into the latex, usually in the top reed. Zink's own pages show it plainly: the X-Lady has “a heavy latex upper reed with a split-V cut” stretched over two thin reeds, and the Z-Cutter has “three prophylactic reeds with a cut carved out of one side.” Makers use the cut, along with the number and thickness of the reeds, to set how raspy and how loud a call is, and the NWTF's Ryan Fair ranks the common cuts from least to most aggressive.

Two words trip up beginners. A double reed means two layers of latex (the Quaker Boy Beginner's Double is “two medium reeds”). A double cut is a cut style. The Z-Yelper happens to be both: Zink lists two .003 in reeds “with a simple double cut.”

Every cut, side by side

Here is how the NWTF and the makers describe each cut, with the call in our registry that represents it. Ryan Fair's NWTF article runs five cuts from least to most aggressive (double, W, split-V, batwing, cutter), and the table follows his order. Ghost and combo aren't in his list, so they sit at the end.

Double cut and no cut: where every beginner should start

Both NWTF writers we read point new callers to the simplest calls. Ryan Fair calls the double cut “the least aggressive of all the cuts,” which “makes it the easiest of all the calls to blow air over,” and says it is best for “softer calls like tree yelps and kee-kee runs.” Steve Hickoff goes one step simpler: “start with a single- or double-reed option, and stay away from latex cuts.”

Both land on the same kind of call: two reeds, little or no cut, thin latex. The Z-Pak's Z-Yelper is the double-cut version. The Quaker Boy Beginner's Double and Primos True Double are two-reed calls whose makers don't name a cut. No currently sold single-reed call made our registry. Our best mouth calls for beginners roundup ranks all of them.

Batwing cut

Fair calls the batwing “a great all-around call to master” that “offers plenty of rasp for your yelps” with “the ability to make most all other sounds like a cluck and kee-kee run.” He ranks it more aggressive than the split-V, so the reeds under it decide how hard it is to run. The Zink Wicked Lady keeps it on a double reed, which makes it a sensible second call. Zink lists “high-pitched yelps, cutts and clucks, as well as soft purrs” and calls it “user-friendly by design.” (Zink's description says “two-reed” and “three-reed” in consecutive lines; its spec list and Triple Pak page say double.)

V, split-V and V-notch cuts

“V” covers a family of cuts, and this is where cut names stop meaning the same thing from maker to maker. Fair describes the split-V as offering “the perfect level of rasp for most hunting scenarios,” with “the ability to yelp easily at longer distances.” Three V-type calls in our registry show the range:

• WoodHaven Ninja V (V cut, three reeds, medium latex, loose stretch): WoodHaven calls it “very raspy” and “great for loud and proud calling,” with “strong cutting and yelping.”
• Zink X-Lady (split-V, triple reed, in the Triple Pak): a heavy upper reed over two thin ones, for “raspy cutts and cackles,” per Zink.
• Zink Z-Combo (V-notch, double reed, in the Z-Pak): “two reeds and a V-notch on top,” which Zink says is “especially perfect for soft calling including yelps, clucks and purrs.”

Same letter, opposite ends of the rasp scale. The difference is the reeds under the cut: two reeds on the soft Z-Combo, three on the raspy Ninja V and X-Lady. Read the reed count before the cut name.

Ghost cut

Ghost cuts are the soft-and-sweet side of the cut family. Hickoff writes that “versatile ghost cuts hold sweet, plain yelps and the kee-kees of young fall turkeys.” Phelps says its Casper is “named for the ghost cut” and calls it “an easy to use call that makes for amazing young hen sounds, easy kee-kee runs and quality high pitched hen yelps.” WoodHaven's Ninja Ghost is three reeds with a lighter side stretch that WoodHaven says “adds ease of use,” and it lists medium-rasp yelps, kee-kees, whines, purrs and tree yelps.

Hickoff lists the ghost cut among the calls to try once a single or double reed is working for you. Casper is in the Phelps pack compared here; the Ninja Ghost is sold singly.

Combo cut

“Combo” is the least defined cut name on this page. None of the NWTF articles we read describes its shape, and Zink labels one of its own calls two ways: its Triple Pak page calls the Lucky Lady a “combo cut triple reed,” while the Lucky Lady's own page calls it a “V-notch cut triple reed.” So treat combo as a maker's label, not a standard.

What Phelps does publish is useful. Its Rippin' Red is a combo cut built from .004 red latex over a double layer of .004 natural latex, and Phelps says it makes “those raspy yelps of an old hen, as well as, those high-pitched kee kee runs of a lost turkey,” plus cutting, clucks, purrs and whines. Three layers of latex make it a step-up call.

Cutter

Cutters sit at the far end. Fair calls cutter calls “the most difficult call to master” and “the loudest and most raspy of all the calls on this list.” Hickoff agrees on the sound: “Cutters run loud with sharp rasp and cut through wind.” The Z-Cutter in Zink's Z-Pak is a “cutter-style triple reed” for “aggressive cutting and yelping.” Zink calls it easy to use, but the NWTF's general rule that fewer reeds are easier points to learning on the pack's two doubles first.

Reeds, latex and stretch matter as much as the cut

The cut gets the marketing, but the NWTF articles spend just as long on the reeds. Their rules of thumb:

• Reed count: Fair writes that mouth calls “can contain anywhere from one to four reeds” and “the fewer number of reeds in the call, the easier it is to use.”
• Latex thickness (Hickoff): “Thinner reeds require less air to run. As a result, the pitch is higher. Thicker reeds demand more calling air. The tone is lower and deeper.”
• Volume (Hickoff): “Fewer, thinner reeds offer softer clucks and yelps. Choose calls with more and thicker reeds for louder calling.”
• Stretch (Hickoff): “The tighter the stretch the higher the pitch. A looser stretch affords a lower pitch.”

So read the reed count and latex specs first; they say more about difficulty than the cut name does.

Best cut for purring, cutting and kee-kees

If you already know the sound you want, here is what the sources say. (What each sound means to a turkey is covered in our guide to turkey calls and what they mean.)

• Kee-kees and tree yelps: Fair puts these with the double cut; Hickoff puts kee-kees with ghost cuts; Fair says a batwing can make them too.
• Cutting: the raspier cuts. Zink pitches the Z-Cutter for “aggressive cutting,” WoodHaven the Ninja V for “strong cutting,” and Hickoff says cutters “cut through wind.”
• Purring: it is more technique than cut. In the NWTF's article on purring with a diaphragm, caller Billy Yargus describes gargling with a cutter and, as an alternative, using “a v-cut or a bat-wing call” and fluttering his tongue. The technique itself is in our step-by-step on how to use a mouth call.

The four calls compared

Each row is the maker's published wording; each value links to its source. A dash means the maker doesn't publish it.

The Z-Pak (7.4), Wicked Lady (7.3) and Phelps pack (7.2) sit within 0.2 of each other, so pick among them by cut. The Ninja V's 6.1 reflects the hardest learning curve our bands allow (three reeds, no ease claim), not sound quality, which we can't judge. For the NWTF's full cut-by-cut rundown, read Mouth Call Sounds And Types.

Which one to buy

• Zink Z-Pak: your first diaphragm. Two of its three calls are double reeds, including the double-cut Z-Yelper.
• Zink Wicked Lady: you can yelp on a double and want a batwing's rasp without moving to three reeds.
• Phelps Hunter's Select 3 Pack: you want to try a combo and a ghost cut side by side, and you're fine that none of its calls is published as a double reed.
• WoodHaven Ninja V: you want loud, raspy yelping and cutting, and you accept that WoodHaven publishes no warranty and takes no returns.
• None of them yet: you have never called at all. Box and push-button calls score far easier to learn on our rubric; our beginner's guide to calling a turkey lays out the order to learn them in.