Duck Calling Advise Needed

[Bushwacker]

I have been hunting ducks for 10 years and my dad has been hunting for 40 years and neither of us has a clue how to properly call ducks. Is there any good CD's, tapes, or videos that anybody can suggest. Finally got down the goose flute, but not really any idea of the correct way to use a double reed duck, single reed duck, or short reed goose calls. Any advise would be great.
Thanks

[dkhntr]

Most hunting stores will carry cassette tapes. These tapes will teach you the Basics, Hail Call, greeting call, feed chuckle, hook call and lonesome hen.

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Lawn sprinklers save your grass...
Fire sprinklers save your A$$

[ATM]

I was new to calling last year. I picked up a buck gardner single reed and double reed call which came with a tape. I spent the month before the season practicing in my truck while stuck in rush hour, a year later i am pretty confident with both, I think getting a tape and lots of practice is the key good luck. Adam

[northwoodsman]

my suggestion would be go out some where
and practice.. with no one around,
or try your library or the internet search engines.. goodluck

[honker23]

My biggest tip would be learn to use your diaphragm when calling and keep your cheeks in and not poofed out. Also it helps to make more of a grunt into the call vs just blowing.

Then just go out and listen to ducks and do what they do! good luck

[Farley]

Don't overcall either. I just try to get thier attention with my call. If those ducks are locked in on your dekes just let them come in. If they are just flyin' circles around the blind and don't want to land, I just give them a soft little quack every once in a while.

[CrankinEyes]

Try Lohman's tape.
I like the Sure Shot call.
Biggest thing is not to blow......grunt.
A couple of key words are WICK for your quack and TUCKA TUCKA for your feeder.
Take a deep breath and breath the word WICK into the call.
Once you have this down move on to the hail and so forth.
Call soft on clear days. When there close a couple low grunting quacks (WICKS) will suck them in.

[big_fish_guy]

call to get attention. It is my experience that if they are coming, working the decoys, ect... DON'T CALL!!! the only time I call is when they are going away, and that's just something to do because most of the time it won't work. Also, calling really only seems to work on the singles and doubles. I never call a flock.
My honest opinion is that unless you are really, really good, don't bother while there are birds working your area. More times then not, you'll spook them away.

[This message has been edited by big_fish_guy (edited 09-10-2003).]

[honker23]

I can't believe what I'm hearing...don't call if they are coming, only call when going away, only call to singles and pairs etc..., I am a firm believer in calling at ALL ducks. I wouldn't leave the house without my calls.
I understand that all situations are different. Small potholes and sloughs you don't need to call as much because they are used to landing there. But I hunt on lake and calling is essential. I also call until they hit the water. The right callat the right time will turn the 50 yd shot into a 25 yd shot. Just my thoughts on this one.

[Farley]

Honker, you call untill they hit the water??? You must get a lot of easy shots then once they land, huh? Naw, I'm just razzin ya! I'm not confident enough in my calling ability to keep calling untill that point, so I just try to get their attention and let my spinning wing bring them in.

[big_fish_guy]

honker, notice I said if your good. I assume you are good at calling then, which is great. I on the other hand suck at it. And I see what happens to the other hunting party on the other end of our lake when they call. It turns the birds all right, right towards us. so that's why I am not a big advocate of calling, I see so many others screw up by doing it that I guess I am not confident enough to do it. Now geese on the other hand, I love calling those lone hermans in. maybe I just need to practice the duck call more... nah.

[honker23]

Yeah water slapping em' is fun. Just kidding, I do like to get the one dumb hen to land and this gets the rest of the flock to come right in. I do like the spinning dekes, but in my experience you really only notice it if you are the odd ball. Meaning if you are the only one with the spinner or the only one without, you will notice a dramatic difference. Where I hunt everyone has two or three, then it goes back to your spot and calling.

[huntnfish]

The purpose of calling at ducks and geese is to get their attention. I have seen many people call constantly at ducks, only to scare them off. Obviously, there are situations that you have to do things a little different. These are only the things that I have experienced.

[Guest]

One other calling item--It's been my experience that when you're calling any Duck over water, don't use the feeding cackle.

I've noticed that Ducks do this call when leaving water to feed in the fields as a way of telling other Ducks "I'm going to eat".

Thoughts?

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Chells

[Lowe]

Chells, you have a point, but how about if you are hunting in rice? I would think a feeding chuckle would work fine then?

I rarely hear the feeding chuckle where I hunt, in fact the two most common sounds I hear are the hail call in the evening when they're settling down for the night and the alarmed cluck/quack when they land around my canoe after shooting hours while I'm picking up decoys .

As a member of the admittingly poor class of callers, I use my calls only to get attention, then rely on my location and decoy spread to do the rest.

[Guest]

Lowe,

Yeah, that would make perfect sense. I haven't hunted around any Rice areas in years, however.

Last year I was hunting the last day of the season out past Morris, MN. and we had huge numbers of big Mallards looking for a spot to land in the water we were hunting. These Ducks looked like they had over-grown bills as we watched them circle our Dekes.

I knocked down a huge Drake and went to pick it up due to my curiosity; it had about a pound of mud caked all over its bill with whole Corn kernels stuck in the mud!

I don't know how these Ducks could keep their heads up much less take off and fly, especially with the wind that day--it was quite a sight.

Well, my point is that these Ducks only came into our spread if we were totally silent--they were obviously educated and mature birds. The Drakes probably weighed over 4lbs. and must have been Canadian Mallards, much larger than the ones we usually see in MN.

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Chells

[honker23]

The feeder call point is well taken, as I have heard this call mainly field hunting.
Most of the ducks on the water stick to hail/high ball/quacks. But that's not to say I've never heard chuckles out on the water.
The other thing I want to make clear is that I dont call call call at these ducks, to me calling is more about reading the ducks and knowing what call to make at what time. Some ducks react well to quiet feeders and quacks, but some times the need to be "convinced" a little more.
By the way, 4lbs, thats a VERY heavy duck, one that I've never seen. Must have been HUGE.

[HunterLee]

in my expirence the most important thing to watch for is how they are responding. some days some things work and others they dont. read the ducks and if they are coming in usually few quacks until they are bout ready to land is the key. happy hunting

[Farley]

Heeeeeeeerrrrreee ducky, ducky, ducky. That's my favorite call.

[This message has been edited by Farley (edited 09-17-2003).]

[Bushwacker]

Thanks for all the great information! Since asking the original question I have spent a few hours in my deer stand that has a small pond about 150 yards from it. It is really amazing how much mallards call. Some nights it is almost constant with the twat,twat,twat,twat,twat----twat,twat,twat,twat,twat---- is almost constant for ten minutes at a time. I have always had a call around my neck when hunting in the past, but I aways seem to flare the ducks when I start calling. Ten days and I can try the "call at their tails" method. I think that might be the secret for me.

[IM4DUX]

I agree with some previous comments. First off, if you aren't that good limit your calling. It will do more bad than good. Learn to call in your truck not your duck boat. You can experiment in your blind, but get down the basics before you get in the blind.

I also use the word "Hoot" for producing a quack. The #1 thing to good calling is learning to control your air flow. You have to breathe from your gut. If you puff your cheeks, you cannot control your air. As you get more skilled you can learn to use your tongue to control the air flow. You can use your tongue to cut off "notes" and produce the right type of rhythm to your calling.

[Bear_arm]

Remember: Its all in the grunt. A good raspy "quack" will land more birds in your dekes than a nasty screaming highball over which you have no control. Master the single quack and then move to the other calls which are no more than a series of individual quacks that change tone and inflection.