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I am starting to learn to blow a duck call. As a female I do not have the lung strength that a man has to blow a call. I think I could wait until the ducks get closer, but I am not sure that will work. My husband always blows the call when he first sees the ducks. As a female how am I to keep up with the "guys" when it comes to attracting the ducks flying over?
-Tyra May-
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Tyra,
There are many great female callers out there, did you know that there has been a female world calling contest for many years? Your best bet is to go to a good sporting store that is in a waterfowl hunting are and carries a lot of different calls, try them on the spot until you find one you can use, or call one of many of the different custom makers and let him tune one for you that requires a little less air. Once you get the right call then with practice you can whale at em as loud as anyone. Good luck and if you have any problems let me know.
Good hunting and calling.
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I started duck hunting last year and calling for woodies is easy but mallards are tougher. I spent some time over the summer in flooded timber and on lakes listening to mallards, and lots of hunters have told me not to call mallards until you see them. My observations of ducks in the summer showed that mallards make some kind of constant chatter. A lot of times at daybreak the mallards don't see the decoys and by the time I see them, they are not turning back, so are making quacks and feed sounds when no ducks are present seen a good or bad thing, or do I just need to start hunting alone to figure this one out? Thanks
-Randy Reinhart-
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Listening to real ducks is a good thing, in fact it's the best way to learn realistic duck calling. Concerning the timber, by all means call almost constantly very quiet chatters clucks and soft lonesome hen quacks. Once you have them in sight then your normal timber calling always watching the ducks will get them to come in.
Keep listening to the real thing and practice, practice, practice.
Good hunting and calling.
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When, if ever, can a mallard drake quack be effective? I have heard them call from a drake and it's easy to duplicate, I'm just not sure if they do it while on the water.
-Dave Meyer-
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Dave, Mallard drake calls can and should be used along with hen calls especially on calm days, windy days they probably cannot hear it. Mallard drakes do call while on the water and flying and this ads realism to your situation.
Good calling and good hunting!
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Peter, I always hear from the old timers that people today call too much. If I’m hunting on public ground it sounds as if people are putting the call in their mouth and not stopping until they go home. I followed the advise of the old timers and seem to have had good luck with that. What’s your take on it. Is there a time when people call way to much.
-Aaron Brown-
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Aaron, you are correct in listening to the old timers, you can indeed call to much, and consider if you are not sounding exactly like a mallard hen you compound the problem.
On very calm, no wind days, the ducks can hear very well and should be finessed, don’t call in their face let them come over, call at their tails or sides, watch them though they may try to land outside on you, a good quick call should lift them up and into your spread. You just have to kind of feel your way with them and watch their reaction to different calls. I like quiet woods type call, no high pitch.
Good luck and good calling.
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If one hears a circling hen mallard give a series of 'quacks', should the caller try to duplicate the cadence and pitch of these 'quacks' to better lure in the circling ducks? In other words, should you try to match her calling?
-James B. Witherington-
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Thanks for your question, if you have a duck working like that and quacking you should also quack, cluck, and very short greeting calls i.e.. cack-cack-cack cack. Remember we at Delta encourage trying to harvest drakes when we can so hopefully that hen will have a boyfriend along with her. |
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With your knowledge of the art of calling duck, do you believe that the wooden calls produce a better sound when trying to get duck over decoys or are the mostly big dollar acrylic calls better?
-Rick Schmidt-
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Rick thanks for the question, I’m taking this one because I have several questions over wood versus acrylics.
I believe that wooden calls do sound more realistic than acrylics. In particular the softer woods such as bodoch, walnut, cedar, and others. The problem with these call is that they are fairly high maintenance while hunting. The softer woods shrink and swell with changing weather and a once great sounding call can begin to get higher pitched or start sticking or any number of other problems. Now on open lakes and rivers the acrylics are good because they are usually loud and can get the ducks attention, but in smaller areas and in the timber I would rather use wood.
One helpful suggestion is wood barrel and plastic end piece, that wood barrel softens the tone a little. Acrylic is great in that there is almost no maintenance or tone change etc. but wood is still my preference for realism.
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I have an old Herter's duck calls. I go to the golf course near my home and listen to the mallards call, hens that is, and try to imitate their sound to the fullest. When I go hunting and use my calls the sound I get is exactly what I have heard the real mccoys do. Other duck hunters use the other calls and they don't sound even close to what I have heard from the real mccoys.
My question would be is, Why do the other calls seem to not sound like the real thing to me? I know I have good pitch and the like. Could you give me some insight on this subject or phenomena.
- Ken Rothert -
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Ken you are on the correct path, unfortunately through contest calling and the theory that loud high pitched calling on open water to get their attention, duck callers have in some ways lost their way, strangely goose calling contests have stuck to real sounds that geese make and those guys can make them all. I do see a move now to move duck calling back to being more realistic, there are new calls on the market that boast sounding like a duck. I look at the ads and if the call maker talks about real sounds and winning " meat calling contest" then that is a call I would be interested in for hunting.
Keep doing what you are doing, that is the way that I learned and still to this day. I listen to real ducks or live duck tapes to practice, to me the perfect duck call and caller can not be distinguished at 100 yards in a marsh from live ducks. You can't really go wrong that way.
Good luck and good hunting.
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Peter,
What can be done to eliminate pitch change from a call? Call being used one day to the next changes tones. Breaking call open and drying off moisture has tendency to change tone. Even air drying, still changes tone.
Any advice?
Mason Druhan
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Mason you are having a age old problem that fortunately has a modern day cure, unfortunately the cure costs money.
In the past most all calls were made of wood that will always shrink and swell with weather conditions and moisture from you mouth, no real cure for that. The real cure comes with today’s new materials plastics and acrylics. They do not shrink and swell with use. I would recommend you try to find the current call you have today in the new materials or research various call makers to find a new call made of these materials, preferably one that also says it will not stick when wet.
I hope this solves your problem and good hunting!
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Peter, whether you choose this question or not, could you please give me an answer.
In the early Canada goose season, when calling, is it better to give them less or call hard?
I do know you have to experiment and give them what they want, but 1.) I don’t want to get them used to hearing a call this early and 2.) I have noticed they are not as vocal in the early season. Any help would be appreciated.”
Derek Dutton
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Derek,
I have always believed in calling geese very aggressively, even in the early season. Geese communicate with each other a lot almost continually, so to add realism to your set-up, there must be goose talk. Of course, you need to have practiced a lot and be able to make the various goose sounds. Just think of it this way, if you walk near a flock of geese on the water or in a field, what happens? They get very quiet and then fly away. Quiet to me with geese is just like an alarm call, or at least it makes them suspicious.
I hope this answers your question. Good luck and good calling! Peter
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I love to hunt Canada Geese here in Northwest Georgia. I have always used a Long Honker Goose call by Big River. Recently I purchased a Mother Goose call from Primos. It is very short and is a clucker. I have never used a clucker, or heard one blown correctly. When I call with it I sound like an old bike horn.
Any tips would be great.
Thanks, Marc Roberts
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Marc, the short reed goose call is in my opinion the best overall to use for hunting. It is however hard to use and requires some good instruction. I would suggest that if there is someone you know that is really good go to them, if not purchase a video or CD on instruction. I would guess that Will Primos has a tape with your call, if not then look at some catalogs and find one on short reed goose calls, I do know that Tim Grounds has one however I have not heard it so cannot either recommend it or not. They do work very well after you learn to use them.
Good Calling and Good Hunting!
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I have recently been in a few calling competitions here around home. I need to sharpen my skills; for 90 seconds, how and what routine do you use, for example 2 or 3 high balls,then lonesome hen , or chaukle, what is the proper procedure and timing? Mark Denomy |
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Mark, contest calling is a very difficult discipline, duck calling contest in particular because of the extreme air control and the fact that mistakes such as squeals are obvious and will eliminate you. When I called in contest I did one ringing hail call and the next two were not as long and I stressed getting real ducky at the end of those. I always thought the judges were looking for a lot of duck in the call, so when I started the close-in stuff it was real duck like. I use to and still do listen to wild duck tapes and wild ducks to get as close to that as possible. Comeback was very demanding then clucks quacks and lonesome hens.
I would suggest you start with listening to wild ducks and then maybe some tapes of other champion callers. Design your own routine with some unique aspects. Once you do this at 90 seconds then practice endlessly. What you will find is that during the actual contest you will always have a shorter routine due to pressure. I have not blown a contest routine in 10 years but I bet I can blow a 90 second routine right now because I practiced it so much, just like riding a bike you never forget. Another good suggestion is to tape yourself.
I hope this has been a help and good luck.
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I often find while hunting my call works well until it gets wet. The problem worsens when the temperatures are cold. Is there any way of dealing with this? - Jeff Helsdon |
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Jeff your problem is not unusual nor is it anything you are doing wrong. I do not know what call you use but I would wager it is a arkansas type call and maybe it is one of the plastics or acrylic, they seem to be the worst. I have talked to people that use Rain Dance or Rain X on the reed and tone channel and they say that helps. Also there are some calls out there that are less likely to stick, double reeds seem to be better at not sticking. I would suggest that if that is the route you would like to take then call the maker and ask about sticking before you purchase. I hope that this has been of some help and if you have further questions about brands that tend not to stick email me and I will give you some suggestions. Thanks for your question and good hunting! |
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Hi, Peter,
I would like to know the main difference (beside the obvious) between wood and acrylic calls. Is one better than the other? Single reed vs. double reed?
Thanks, Darell Eidson
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Darell,
Wood calls are not only more traditional but, generally speaking, depending on the wood used are softer sounding. Acrylic calls came on the scene mainly for volume and were used in contests, being harder they do not absorb sound. Having said that, acrylics are almost care free in that there is no swelling which can change tone, etc. There are now some fine acrylic hunting calls. Some call makers are combing the two using a wood barrel and an acrylic end piece which is a nice combination. I love wooden calls for my collection in that they are the old tradtion and I have a weakness for beautiful wood. I am concerned that the wood call my disappear from the landscape, which would be a sad loss.
Good question, I hope this clearly answers it and good calling!
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"Could you please explain the Cajun squeal. How did it develop, where is it mainly used and how effective do you think it is? I am wondering if it is worth the trouble of learning."
Mitch Nicholson
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"The Cajun squeal is a little higher pitched sound at the end of each note of a greeting call or comeback call. I don't know whether it is more effective, but boy does it sound good. You do hear ducks call like this and for sure it puts realism in your calling. All those folks down South sure like it and go to a lot of trouble to learn it. Let me know how it is going.
Thanks for the question and good calling!"
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"When calling ducks, which call do you feel is the most important? Would it be getting their attention with the hail, or soft quacks when they are closer?"
Derek Dutton
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"Actually, Derek, both are important. Certainly there is no hope if ducks are not flying in your space so getting their attention and bringing them into your area is the first step. The "close in" stuff is most important in closeting the deal. Fewer mistakes are tolerated and it becomes very critical to do the right thing at the right time. By the way for close in work don't forget the comeback call and short greeting calls along with the quacks and clucks. Remember soft when coming towards you and overhead and more aggressive looking at tails.
Thanks for the question and good calling!"
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"What advice can you give waterfowl hunters for storing their calls during the off season? Since calls are made of a variety of materials, I'm assuming some are more susceptable to variations in temperature and humidity than others."
Chris Vandergoot
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"First, I hope you will not store your calls for the off season. As I have said in the past, it is very important that you practice calling on a regular basis and the off season is an excellent time. Put your favorite call in your car or out in your shop and practice daily. Calling tends to annoy some folks so have a private place to practice, but be sure you spend this valuable time getting better. Listen to live duck tapes and work at it."
Storing calls that you are not going to use is simple. I actually hang my calls in my gun cabinet or any other place where they will not get hot or be exposed to the sun. All wood calls will dry out and the cork wedge will need to be replaced each fall. Acrylics are the easiest to store. Be sure you do not leave your practice calls in the car where they will get too hot and possibly warp the reed."
Practicing is enjoyable and will keep up your enthusiasm for next season.
Thanks for the question, and good calling!"
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“I have searched everywhere to locate a video on calling gadwall. I did not hunt the opening of the season and missed some great gadwall hunting. I recently visited Gander Mt., Cabelas and BassPro shops in Michigan where I purchased a gadwall call but no tape. I have asked many hunters about gadwall sounds and haven’t gotten much help. I would like to know the calls so I can practice for the upcoming season. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks !!”
Arlie Ashley
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Dear Arlie,
The only tapes I know of that deal with Gadwalls are the Duck Commander “how to” tapes and some of Phil’s hunting tapes. Let me say though that Gadwalls are very susceptible to mallard hen calls. They go nuts sometimes with just mallard calling. Mix it up with a Gadwall grunt and you should have no trouble. Thanks for the question and good calling.
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“Peter, I just got into duck hunting last year. I haven’t tried calling, I’ve just left that up to the guides, but I’m starting to learn how to call for ducks. Could you please give me some pointers and tips on the basics. Thank you. “
Clay
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Dear Clay,
Welcome to the excitement of duck hunting and calling. The first and most important thing that I would recommend you do is to purchase a tape cassette of live wild ducks. Listen carefully to cadence, rhythm and sounds then mimic them in your calling practice. Also, there are some excellent hunting/calling instructional tapes. Among the many are the Duck Commander, Primos, Haydell and Gardner. But remember to use the wild duck tape as a constant reference.
Good hunting and good calling!
Peter
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“I always hear people use the feed call in videos and competitions, but always have been taught that it’s really not an important call to use. The only time I’ve heard ducks doing it is right before they land. What are your thoughts about it?”
Sean Tacie
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Sean,
Concerning the feed call in a hunting situation, there are several points to be made. One, the feed call, if done properly, rarely will scare ducks. I use feed calls and clucks occasionally mixed in with lonesome hen quacks as sort of a filler when ducks may be quite close or straight overhead. I do this while waiting to give come back calls or greeting calls as the ducks are leaving or when I want to turn them. The only situations that I have seen feed calls to be effective in turning ducks or having an almost immediate reaction to the call, is occasionally in a dry feeding situation in a corn field that ducks are using. They feed call a lot when they are circling to go into those fields and it does seem to be a little more effective then. However, I would never use the feed call exclusively in that it does not seem to have the effect of other calls. I hope this has been of some help. Practice all your calls and good hunting!
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