Need to get a new set of duck calls. Im starting from scratch with no experience blowing calls. But YouTube and time are ny friends with learning. Im gonna be hunting the marshes, ACE basin ext, santee cooper, and some ponds and swampland. What are few good calls to start out with and get a hang of? Like what brand call and for what? I know primarily its wood ducks, but not sure if i need a drake or hen woodie feeding call or what. Im teaching myself how to duck hunt so help me out!
Thanks for any help guys!
dont see much need in wood duck call they just go where they want and you can use your mouth. as far as real duck calls to each his own I personally blow a ricky dunn echo call have 2 plus and rnt. still have one of butch and johns first calls when they did it by hand. for me i need a loud call as hunt mostly in north dakota. when i hunted mostly arkansas i was blowing rnt and was using a kirk mcolough cut down. zink makes a good call i use jeff foils calls for geese. i know hes falling out of favor lately but his goose calls are second to none. rnt daisy cutter is a good beginner raspy easy to tune and doesnt require a lot of air. just pick one then practice your ass off in your car then zero it in on where you want to hunt(different calls for different areas of country). seems to me if you hunt in south carolina just learn the hail or highball call and you will fit right in with all the rubbernecks who call themselves duck hunters.
just start real simple and cheap until you learn how to blow a call correctly a simple mallard call is all you need. you will find that less is more and timing is the key when to blow and when to shut up. let the ducks tell you what to do I know that sounds crazy but it is the truth. all you want to do is just get their attention and let your decoys do the rest. the best call in the world wont put ducks in the deeks if your spread is off. number 1 rule get the hell away from everyone else a set of deeks every 150 yards is like going to a car lot with dirty cars nothing looks good.find you some back hole no body hunts and set up and remember ducks 99% of the time lAND FACING THE WIND NOT WITH IT. try to put the sun at your back and never call into their face always wait until they are turned away. again less is more the closer they come the quieter you call if they make a swing to come back you got them on a string but always remember call to their sides or their backs. hope this helps but nothing I say will teach you as good as being on the water and seeing how they react to what you are doing. Good Luck hope this info helps I hunt G-Town Murrells Inlet and all areas around You ever this way look me up and I will try to help as much as I can and I may have a spot in the boat need anything feel free to call anytime Fast Birds and Falling Feathers Thanks Tony 843 240 9485
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Obviously i didnt shoot all those ducks just wanted to take a pic and see how heavy they were. We have a pretty big group we hunt with in north dakota not just us but a lot of the ranchers sons. anyway we eat everything we shoot always have and always will. thats the reason i will not shoot a merganser or a hollywood mallard but im sure some may like the way they taste or cant tell the difference in flight. to each his own. don’t judge a book by its cover
and yes your right if i had shot all those by myself that wouldn’t be real cool
Thanks swamp Donkey!
There’s nothing i value more than local knowledge when learning something, whats a good store round here to get calls and a decoy spread… AGT, Rod and gun?
I should have put this in my original: Also i need to get a decoy spread, but Im totally out of my league when serring it up as far as birds go in the spread, feeding/resting drakes/hens haha. Do you need one that has movement or is that overkill? I have one friend we can out and shoot woodies on his club, but its a swampland and thats all that’s in there, and they don’t know nothin about birds.
Thanks for the help all, if you ever want fishin advice thats more in my ballpark!
don’t over kill on woody deeks you can get as many birds with 4 woody deeks as you can a with a hundred. calling most people over call. a simple low pitch whistle will get it done remember in a swamp the sound carries forever woody’s are not like mallards you cant keep working them with a call. Don’t over think it a wood duck is one of the most stubborn ducks on earth either they commit or they dont most times silence is the best call you own. Good Luck
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Yentzen or Sure Shot single reed wood to get you started. Once you practiced that for a couple of years start working on double reeds in wood or plastic. I’ve got a bunch but I still like my old Sure Shot double. You can get a pretty good woody call but they usually are going where you are or not…
“The good fisherman is surprised when he doesn’t catch fish: I am just the other way around.”
Gene Hill, Passing a Good Time.
yak there is a local guy that has won national acclaim with his call. Marc acerman with swamp thing mallard calls makes some great calls and is super informative on how and when to use them. he is out of cottageville but you could probably get in touch with him and set something up!
cannot get on there for some reason, guess they are smarter than this admin! Anybody used any duck commander gear, or is that taboo? I'm trying really hard not be that rubber head who's got the drake sticker on his Z71 but its kinda when everybody's so tight lipped about advice
Y72 The DC calls are just what they advertise - they sound like a duck and will call ducks. They are not duck contest calls but good value for the money. I have a yellow DuckPicker and like it. Really good in close call. They are decent sounding calls IMO. It’s way more important to know when/when not to call and what note to go with than the quality of the sound IMHO. Better to hide your face - have your spread right - do the right call- etc… PS- go to online stores that have recording of the call so you can listen to it to make up your mind or try a hunting buddys call out before you buy.
I have several calls- Yentzens - Hadells - Buck Garners- DC - Olts - and RNT. I don’t think I paid over $35 for any of them. I’ve called a bunch of ducks with them. I do have favorites for different situations. If money was no problem I would have a Hobo ICU2 or a Zink NBG or one of those Calif. strat calls. They sound super but, I’m way to tight to shuck out $150+ for a duck call. Would I kill any more ducks - maybe -maybe not. Best tip: to learn how to call a duck - take your calls and go to a refuge with a bunch of birds and listen and mock them - listen some more! The obv tower at Cantey Bay is a good place. BTW - forget calling a woodie! They usually know where they are going. If they like your spread they may plop down and lite. 90% of the time a passing shot with or without woodie deks. The nasal whistle they do on the water resting- the squeal they are flying away.
Alright guys, I picked out some calls from the Haydels website. A woodcut hen and drake, a GWT and a BWT pack, Mallard Pack, and a duck pack(different mallard and gadwall). Overkill? Not enough? What am I missing, what can I cut out? I’m going to a couple shops tomorrow to talk and buy some f
Gear. Do I need to focus more on my decoy spread, calls, or blind? I got very limited funds here so I’m doing what I can!
like I said keep it simple don’t over think it go with a few people and learn as much as you can good and more important the bad let them call and watch the reaction of the birds focus on what you are doing at the time and make that the most important thing you do. you will get most of your answers through practice over and over.been hunting birds over 40 years and still try to learn new things and spots every time im on the water even the ride out and back will teach you a bunch just pay attention to whats going on around you at all times seems to be the best advise I can give anyone hope this info is a help Thanks Tony !!!
Lose the rusty water ring on your boat in minutes call Enviro/Clean 843 240 9485
Overkill on the calls. Get one mallard call and practice, practice, practice! Every duck will respond to a well blown single reed mallard call since they are the socialite ducks. You can even use a mallard call to bring in divers. It’s hard for me to explain but a guide taught me how. Most of the time he didn’t use a call but could mouth call any duck you wanted to take a poke at…even those hard headed Catahoula gadwalls. You might be a natural but chances are you are going to sound like a duck that’s already been shot. Listen to a few tapes, go to a refuge or wherever you can find some wild birds, listen and then go record yourself and compare. Hails, comebacks, chuckles…they all have their place and until you know when to blow you won’t need to know how. Truth is almost everyone, including myself, tend to call too much. You will usually be able to tell by the ducks first reaction to your call whether or not you are doing it right.
Pocket spreads and open water spreads, both early and late season variations, wind directions and blind setups, all these things could be more important than calling. If ducks don’t like the way your decoys look or if they have to fight the wind because your landing zone isn’t downwind then calling, most of the time, is a waste. Before you blow through your budget, slow down and build some experience over a couple of seasons. A good “learners” call, breathable waders and some kind of natural looking portable blind is a good start. A good book on the basics wouldn’t hurt either, although every book seems to have the authors slant on what are the basics. You can add all the stuff you can handle as you get better.
There are enough yahoos put there with all the latest and greatest shotguns, blowing expensive calls, wearing the latest “Drake” gear that can’t set a spread or call a duck. These guys don’t know what it’s like to get a duck to lower his landing gear but like the proverbial pig that finds an acorn, they do once in a while sky bust enough times that they bag a bird a
Allen Bliven Calls for my mallard calls and when i hunt in the late season or the salt I only use a six in one whistle. late season ducks are usually extremely weary of a mallard call
