Everything you need to know about the Clearwater Series: For Slayer, the product is personal
By Danielle Higley
As thousands of elk calls made their way into the packs and pockets of experienced outdoorsmen and women, Joe McCarthy, product innovation lead at Slayer Calls, was feeling a mixture of emotions. Chief among them was excitement—he knew the products could stand on their own. They were built, after all, on the feedback of hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of hunters, all gathered over the past year at archery events and 3D shoots.
But there was apprehension, too. The general hunting population is full of personal bias. Might these biases sway the results?
Someone who preferred cow calling, for instance, might not appreciate a reed like the Selway—a full-bodied, medium pressure call designed to create deep grunts and bugles. Someone with a big, barrel chest might find the Isabella—an unexpected favorite of Joe’s—too soft; especially compared to the Lochsa, with its ultra-thick latex, capable of taking any amount of air pressure.
In the end, he could only sit back and wait for the comments to roll in. Which they did. Hundreds of emails and phone calls; thrilling stories of successful backwoods hunts; recaps of how each call was used; and detailed notes on the feel, durability and performance of each reed. As the 2023 elk hunting season came to a close, Joe breathed a sigh of relief. The results were in. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. He and his team could start production in earnest. The Clearwater frame and series was ready to launch.
Introducing the Clearwater frame and series
The Clearwater Series, developed by Slayer Calls’ Bill Ayer, Cody McCarthy and, of course, Joe McCarthy, contains seven elk reeds and features a revolutionary new frame, designed to fit more comfortably in the hunter’s mouth while also producing a more consistent sound and better results.
As for the reeds, they’re named after the industries and topography of Idaho’s Clearwater region, home to some of the best hunting in the United States. From low to high pressure, they are
The calls are unique. Not just because they pay homage to a beautiful part of the country, but because their frame is so different from anything else on the market.
To start, the Clearwater frame’s structural ridge is inverted on the bottom side, making each reed fit more naturally against the roof of the mouth. Its length is also different — longer than usual, allowing the latex to stretch all the way back.
Another difference is the material. Clearwater calls use heavier aluminum, so frames don’t bend or flex as much when in use. “On top of that, we went and scored a bunch of chevrons into the side of the frame to actually give it some more grip,” says Joe. “Latex is not a solid object; it’s obviously stretchable and rubbery. So stamping it into those chevron grooves actually gives us a better grip.”
As a result, the latex of each diaphragm stays put, producing a more consistent sound. That means that unlike other calls, Clearwater replacement reeds all perform the same. Callers don’t have to waste time breaking in a new reed or getting used to the small, yet significant nuances that typically come with replacements. What’s more, those replacements are fewer and farther between.
“One problem that’s been going on for a long time with calls is longevity,” Joe explains. “When you put a reed in your mouth and push air across it or your tongue into it, you stretch that latex and can actually pull it out of its frame. It’s common to wear out a call in just one or two days.”
Joe’s experienced the issue time and time again. But his son, Cody McCarthy, who serves as Slayer’s coach and head of product innovation, even more so. As a pro bugler, Cody’s ruthless with his elk reeds, sometimes burning through 30 of them in two weeks.
“Our thought process, then, became focused on building a frame that would last an entire season,” Joe says. It’s an endeavor that’s been largely successful.
Slayer pushes the envelope on “good enough”
Going back to the beginning of their development journey in 2022, Joe, Cody and Bill obviously had some big goals. They wanted their new elk call series to stand out — not just in quality of sound, but in durability and comfort as well. They also knew that to be successful and create something truly unique, they’d need to think outside the box.
They started with a frame they already had on hand. “We kept working on the product, knowing that at some point we were going to need to actually build our own frame from scratch,” says Joe. “To do that, we knew we’d have to build a press for making that frame.”
The idea of designing their own press and frame was exciting. “Everybody has their own frame, but they’re pretty much all the same, just tweaked a little bit here and there,” says Joe.
There’s a reason for that. Ever since the first elk diaphragm came on the market in the eighties, the consensus among call-makers seems to be that the product works well enough. Some have chosen to widen the frame, but overall there’s been little variation over the past four decades.
That’s why it’s so significant that Joe and his team had more in mind than a few small “tweaks.” They intended to revolutionize the call, breaking away from the traditional design and taking a leap of faith based on instinct alone.
“There’s basically one guy making the presses that everybody uses,” Joe says. “When he saw our frame, he was like, ‘Hey, this part is screwed up. You’ve got the things on the wrong side.’ We told him that’s the way it was supposed to be, and he was like, ‘Well, nobody’s done that before.’”
The resulting frame proved even better than the team had anticipated. “When we inverted that ridge on the bottom side of the frame, we created sort of a valley on the bottom. That means instead of having a reed that pushes down into your mouth, it’s pushing up, which ultimately gives you a little more space and fits better in most people’s mouths.”
Joe laughs. “It’d be nice to to say we did that on purpose, but it was actually more of a side effect. It’s turned out to be a pretty big thing, though, because a lot of people talk about the feel and fit of our calls and the fact they feel and fit better because of the way they cave up into the mouth. It’s a more natural feeling versus just straight across.”
For the Slayer team, it’s clear proof that instinct and experience shouldn’t be ignored.
The personal inspiration behind the Clearwater Series
Without a doubt, the Clearwater region stands out as someplace special to elk hunters. It’s the setting for many stories and articles featuring monster bulls and savvy cows. So it’s no wonder the Slayer team chose to use it thematically in the naming of their newest elk call series. But there’s more to the decision than that. For the McCarthy men, it’s also a place that’s deeply personal.
“The Clearwater is my family’s home,” explains Joe. “My great grandfather on my dad’s side was an original timber cruiser. He was sent from Wisconsin to Idaho to see if Idaho had trees.”
Joe’s grandmother was born on the North Fork of the Clearwater in 1900, just ten years after Idaho officially became a state. “That was actually back before there were even elk in Idaho,” Joe says. “At the time, Idaho had mostly old-growth white pine timber. But that all burned in 1910 and caused the forest to start over. That had a big impact on elk migrating into Idaho.”
Joe’s grandfather, too, was born in the early years of Idaho’s statehood. Only, his family wasn’t in logging; instead, they were miners. “They were among the original people that came out to mine and actually started a mining company out of Wallace, Idaho,” Joe explains.
As for Joe and his son, the Clearwater region served as a sort of classroom for Cody’s education in elk calling. “When Cody was a baby, I’d put him in a backpack and we’d go hunting. That was before he could even walk. He’d be playing in the dirt, listening to me bugle — listening to elk.”
The culture of their town was deeply rooted in hunting and still is, to this day. “Opening day of deer season or elk season is really a holiday. Schools might as well let out because nobody’s going to be there. They’re all hunting. It’s the way everybody lives,” Joe explains. “Elk season isn’t a season. Sure, there’s a season where you can actually shoot them, but people in the Clearwater region are actually hunting elk year-round. They’re going camping. Fishing. All the while, scouting out places to elk hunt.”
As he, Bill and Cody made the finishing touches to their Clearwater reeds, Joe knew that all of these pieces — the Clearwater’s mining and logging history, its landscape, and the region’s unique culture of generational hunters — needed to play front and center.
“I look at my life, and it’s based on the people who settled this state — the people whose hard work allowed me and my family to live on the Clearwater and eventually build elk calls there,” Joe says.
“We have this reed called the Logger, and that’s because logging has done more for elk than probably anything. I mean, the way they manage the forest by cutting down old trees and planting new ones — that new growth is what the animals in our forests thrive on. Our young populations of elk grow because loggers are out there managing forests.”
Likewise, Joe is grateful to the miners and their families who settled Idaho in the mid-1800s as part of the gold rush.
“It’s my family heritage,” he says. “So the Clearwater means a lot to me.”
There’s something special about the Clearwater Series
In the end, all of us at Slayer Calls agree that Joe, Cody and Bill have a lot to be proud of when it comes to the Clearwater frame and series. It’s a standout product—in durability, comfort, sound, and overall quality. But it’s also a representation of everything Slayer stands for.
“The Clearwater Series pays tribute to that heritage of hunting where it really isn’t just a 10-day vacation,” says Joe. “It’s a way of life.”
All the reeds in the Clearwater Series are available for individual purchase or as part of pre-constructed multipacks, perfect for trying multiple calls at one time. If you’re unsure which call will work best for you, we recommend the Altitude Series, which contains all seven Clearwater elk reeds. Pair it with the ArchAngel bugle tube for ultimate success in the field.
