What ducks calls are you blowing?

[HalloweenBuck]

Just curious what everyone is using for duck calls these days?

[SledNeck]

RNT original 

and the always reliable DR-85

mix in a few customs and Drake calls

[fishuhalik]

I'm gonna get burned at the stake for this, but I absolutely love my Foiles Raisin Cane

[Neighbor_guy]

Is there a none category???

I will use a whistle from time to time to turn a flock around, but for the most part I sit quiet and let the decoys do the work. 

I often find that you can always tell the new hunters in the marsh because they are calling like mad. I have learned that being quiet usually works better than calling. 

[Duffman]

I've always just used a diver duck call, a couple *purrs* here and there to get a little attention. My mallard calling would make most other hunters cringe.

[HalloweenBuck]

I haven't duck hunted in many years and took my 12 year old son out for his first time last year.  I just called and let him shoot.  It's fun to watch them actually respond to your calling.  I'll be taking him again this year to see if he can bag a nice woodie.  

I now have on my lanyard a Carlson (dealer version), retired my Big Guy's Best with a Zink's ATM, put together a poly end Southern Game with a no name wooden barrel and somehow the Hunters Specialties still is hanging there.

Retired now are: Ken Martin (Olive Branch), Big Guys Best, Paul Englund along with some other cheaper ones. 

[BoxMN]

My best call is the one i leave in the truck

Actually, in NoDak when just mallards or mainly brown ducks, I do call and can say it even works sometimes  But I don't call much or long.

We did get some Buck Gardner calls engraved for our WMA chapter, and I use them. One of our guys started the MN Duck and Goose Callers (assoc. now gone after many years) and he says they are pretty decent calls for reasonable price. Acrylic, but not sure of model. One mallard and one honker call.

I'm kinda partial to my old Big River Long Honker call. Easy to blow for anybody.

[Kettle]

Rarely do I call.  If they are making a bunch of noise I will.  I'm still a fan of my old Olt calls that were passed down to me, really raspy

 

Kettle

[SledNeck]

23 hours ago, Neighbor_guy said:

Is there a none category???

I will use a whistle from time to time to turn a flock around, but for the most part I sit quiet and let the decoys do the work. 

I often find that you can always tell the new hunters in the marsh because they are calling like mad. I have learned that being quiet usually works better than calling. 

 

There is a time to call and time to not call. What makes a good duck hunter is realizing this. 95% of all the ducks Ive killed in my life have come in with calling (not counting jump shooting) I couldnt even tell u how many flocks flying far and away that we've turned with calling. The thing Ive noticed with this part of Minnesota vs hunting down south is that most people here are very poor callers and do more harm than good. Most of it is common sense. If youre blowing it in their face when they are breaking into the decoys then you are very likely to flare them. If you have the call angled up toward reasonably close ducks as opposed to having it angled down (to have the sound coming up off the water) then that is a also a huge mistake. For me the best/most fun part of duck hunting is working ducks with a call.

 

[fishuhalik]

^what sled said. My dad never uses a call. Kills lotsa ducks and always said calling is a waste of time and money. Until I showed him how effective a good caller can be. He bought a Foiles about a week later. If you think you're good on your call but think calls are over rated and can't consistently turn birds, I got bad news for you. You aren't a good caller

[Wanderer]

Tonight I took a drive over to a marsh I've been keeping an eye on.  I practiced my short reed goose call all the way over.  I stood at the edge of the marsh for the sunset and called a couple times to see if I could get a goose response between the quacks of mallards and "toweets" of the woodies.

Well, when the geese showed up, I felt like a fool.  My calling sounded hideous compared to the real thing.  Plus I knew I needed to learn more notes but I didn't know I needed to learn that much!

I practiced the new stuff all the way home but I feel more confused about what to do now than I did 90 minutes beforehand.

[Bryce]

Procastionation kept me from getting this beauty ordered... and the image from the site is blurry. Trying something new. Acrylic infused wood call.  Should be a good combo and trust me on it's looks. Like to keep a combination of doubles for the early season and singles for late. Doubles a little more forgiving for being out of practice and a bit softer talking. Singles for really reaching out and grabbing their attention. Committed Custom, GK Call Girl, some sweet little green acrylic that I won on another site that is slowly wearing out. Gotta figure out the builder somehow. Couple more stuffed in my bag that I'm sure includes one RNT single that just bellars but is very touchy to squealing. 

Goose call is old school Englund Pit Boss. Not the greatest sounding but I'm comfortable with it. Got a nice looking, nice sounding GK that I just haven't taken the time to blow long series on.

[Wanderer]

So, for Y'all that are blowing RNT and Zink calls, how do you decide what to get?

I'm in the mood to pick one really good goose call and one really good mallard call.  I looked at the $100 plus calls in the boxes at the C store but am leary of just pulling something off the hook based on a model name.

Any suggestions for someone who mainly hunts in MN only for waterfowl?

A good woodie call should be considered too.

I'm still using some old Haydell calls, and Canada Hammer, Quack Head, etc.. 

Thanks

[fishuhalik]

Honestly, they're all pretty good and will get the job done as long as you do your part. 

Except for the Duck Dynasty calls. So overrated

[SledNeck]

I have an old DC drake call that is deadly

[Bryce]

Was tough to choose but think it turned out pretty sharp.

[Bryce]

Showed up today and sounds as good as it looks. Cloth storage bag, 2 extra cork wedges, 2 extra O-rings, 6 assorted reeds to play with the tuning. Good experience with my first custom call.

[Wanderer]

I looked up those calls on line.  I like the way they categorize them, describe the intended use and provide audio of each call.

I'll probably order a couple in the near future.

Thanks for posting, Bryce.  Enjoy your call!

[SledNeck]

At the Mack's Prairie Wings store in Stuttgart they have probably the biggest display of duck calls in the world (RNT is next door) and you can try all of them out. Its pretty cool, but it can be REALLY annoying in there. 

[Bryce]

Just found out that I get to work it on nodak birds Thursday -Monday.  Rest of the season will be spent on the shelf waiting my return from the hospital. Not a very good 2016 outlook.