Any of you guys know what a dumb bull is? I have never made one but I remember my grandpa telling about them. This is all I could find online about them.


“A little past the turn of the century, Ben was living out of Bremond where I went one summer to assist him with some dog training. While we were shootin’ the breeze one night, he observed that ‘the time was ripe for a Booger scare.‘ So he set about making a Dumb Bull. A Dumb Bull is a man-made voice of a Booger, which Ben considered essential. I tried to do exactly like Ben. After some searching, I found a small hollow juniper tree, cut off about a three-foot length and stretched over it, drum-like, a piece of fresh or green cowhide. To make sure it was right, I fastened it with a solid row of tacks. After it had completely dried, then I made a small hole in the center of the hide and ran a cord about half the size of a writin’ pencil through the hole, down the hollow, and extendin’ about two feet more. On the string was tied a small, strong stick to keep it from pullin’ through the cowhide. Then I worked a heavy coat of rosin into the string. Ben called the contrivance his lion and when he would hold the string tight with one hand and grip the cord in the other hand, the resultant sawing noise - shrill or coarse - would sound like a real Booger. With a little practice on the string and the stick and the cord, I could produce a sonorous roar that would make the Ringling Brothers’ lion sound like a ***** cat.

“The fear generated by the offensive sound soon spread among the habitants, people and livestock. On one occasion, an old Polander was driving a gentle old horse to a single buggy. He thought he heard a noise, which he did. My lion just murmured a light “meow”; the driver stopped his horse. Then the lion belted out a pretty good bellow and the gentle old horse gave one powerful lunge forward and broke the shafts loose from the buggy, took off for the tail and undercut, and was not seen for a week.

“Occasionally, during the next several years, I would resurrect the Booger. Once a little old crazy locoed mule fell into a ravine about ten feet keep and killed itself. So, via the pocket knife, I made a few jabs in one shoulder where the Booger had held on with his claws and cut the mule’s throat with his claws on the other foot. This convinced the country boys that the Booger had caught and killed him for sure. The Booger did not eat any flesh - just drank the mule’s blood and left.

“It was this last touch which proved too much. The people in the neighborhood were literally scared to death. Their children had to walk to school down country roads, so dozens of families kept their kids at home or else moved out, lock, stock, and barrel.

“I could plainly see the handwritin’ on the wall. The Booger had to go. Now he remains in name only. When you get a thing like that rollin’, there’s just no place to stop halfway; it keeps getting bigger and bigger ’til quittin’ is the only way out. I hung the Dumb Bull forever on a nail behind the door, reluctantly cut the old lion’s throat, and buried him - facin’ (leaning slightly as the gun had leaned fifty years before) East.”

 

A Dumb-Bull is just about exactly as described...
My favorite uncle (now long departed), made one out of an old nail keg with both ends knocked out. He had stretched a piece of wet hide across one end and bound it tightly with leather strings and tacks(just as described).
After it dried and was drum tight, he poked a hole in the center and had a piece of old shiney linen ribbon/cord that he tied a big button onto the end and threaded it through the hole so the cord was inside the keg. He rubbed beeswax instead of rosin on the cord, and with a dampened hand could reach inside and pull on that cord making the most ungodly sounds you could ever imagine in your worst nightmares!
The bigger the nail keg, the deeper the sound(and louder!)
As a kid, I made a tiny version out of a 3 pound coffee can, the plastic lid, and a smooth piece of beeswaxed cord. Even for its diminuitive size, it would scare the hell out of anyone you walked up behind..(run quick! )

If you have any brave "campers" (scouts, in-laws, etc) a dumb-bull will keep 'em ALL wide-awake all night when tent camping in the woods... Just don't get caught or this is what'll happen to your EDIT!

I'll have to get started on a new one soon... I have 3 daughters in Girl Scouts and the mom is their leader...
I bet a 6 gallon plastic pickle bucket with the bottom cut out will work jes' fine for a 21'st Century version

K.

 

Yall've gotta get me a pic of this thing. I could have so much fun with it.

 

Oh it IS fun...(wicked laughing smilie goes here)
My 3lb coffee can version eventually got me in trouble.. Imagine that...
The tighter you can make the drum head, the better it works and sounds...
I expect powdered rosin would work well too instead of beeswax... Just gotta use a dry hand..

K.

 

Some trivia: Did you know that the worlds oldest musical instrument is the Australian Didgeridoo. It is a wind instrument, but it could probably be used to make sounds very similar to what some of you 'angels' want to 'drum' up. A little bit of research on the internet will tell you how to make and play one.

 

I am interested in this......thing, tell me more, and be more precise, on what your doing and what to use, I too want to make something like this decribes.

 

Me too, might make a neat doorbell for the cabin...

 

OK:
Picture a drum... a simple, tall, homemade drum (a wood or plastic cylinder abt 2 to 2-1/2 feet long x abt 1ft dia)with a rawhide drumhead stretched tightly across the top. Now picture this tall yet somewhat narrow drum with an open bottom. Poke a small hole in the center of this drumhead and procure a 2 - 3 foot long (abt as long as the drum body is)piece of thick twine or smoothly woven cord or such. Take said cord and tie it onto something like a LARGE coat button or other such smooth flat object to keep the cord knot from pulling thru the hole you poked in the leather drum head. Poke the free end of the cord into the hole from the TOP side of the drumhead. Then reach inside and pull the slack until the button rests against the outside surface of the drumhead.
Procure some beeswax OR rosin and coat the hell out of the cord that is now hanging loosely inside the drum. BTW, it should start making noise in the process of coating the cord.
(Rosin or beeswax causes a gripping/slipping friction effect just like the action of a violin bow on a Violin's strings...)

Beeswax works well in cool/very wet environments (like a dismal swampy fishing trip, or a rainy tent campsite ) but not hot weather since it gets slick like...wax. Rosin works in drier conditions(like at the deerlease with your "buddies" around the campfire)...

To "play" your Dumb-bull, hold the body under one arm and with your other hand reach inside the open bottom and firmly grip the rosined cord close to the drumhead and PULL evenly, modulating the growl and tone with finger pressure and pulling speed...

You're on your own now...
I am not responsible for divorces, heart attacks, diarrhea accidents, misguided male moose mating attempts, or your being permanently banned from the campground or deer lease...

Good luck...
K.

 

By the way Aaron, what initially made you inquire about a dumb-bull?

K.

 

Was coming back from Dallas Wednesday with a guy I work with and we were bs ing. Just came to mind for some reason. He had never heard of one. I looked it up that night and found that article on the web. I have heard stories about them all my life. Just wondering who else knew about them. A Texas thang maybe?? Seem like you and I are the only ones that have heard of them? You talking about the deer camps and such also brings to mind "snipe hunting". Now I have took people snipe hunting more than once!