Home Forums Birds & Dogs Waterfowl What's your favorite call?

Just curious as to what preferences are on duck and goose calls. need to expand my selection.

And on a side note why are duck/goose calls so dern expensive? A good turkey or predator call can be had for $30 or less. Waterfowl calls seem to range from $125 upward. Don't get it.

O

Its all in the material. Polycarbonate (less expensiven)and acrylic (more expensive).
For my goose calls I use Bill Saunders Red Zone and a traffic.
For Ducks a Saunders Coupe and a Buck Gardner spit tech tall timber.

I use an old wooden OLT, for 3 decades, that has seduced many a duck to their demise. Also, I use a Duckman cutdown call for long range attention calling. Both work well as long as I do my part.

Leaving tonite. Won't be around a computer for a week. don't take my lack of response for lack of interest. I really do want to know what works.
O

Art, women, duck calls,�it�s really all subjective and personal taste.

One of The Brother's is this Haydel�s. First drive he doubled on Suzies, so I did a pic and made him a motivational poster�

My favorites are also my old wooden PS Olt duck calls, have the DR115 and the MKV Duck, been using them both for mallards, etc., in the swamps and on the rivers for at least 30 years. My goose calls are an assortment of whatever was in stock when I needed one; looking over my lanyards I see an Olt Honker A-50 (plastic), an HS Snow & Speck (white plastic of some sort), and a Haydel's H81 Honker, clear plastic - all have worked just fine when needed. I also have some more wooden calls (one is a wood duck call and one a Canada Goose call) that are unmarked and yet work fine, can't tell you who made them anymore. I prefer the wooden calls because they are easier on my lips, especially when they are chapped from the cold.

Single reed, double reed, open water, flooded timber, wood, poly, acrylic, � lotsa variables.

Can�t really go wrong with most though. Learn to call, and more importantly when not to.

Here�s a cheesy audio sample of my artwork.



Calling is just a supplement, and only that�

thanks for the response,guys. maybe i don't need a $150 call to call in ducks.

O

I drive Jeff Foiles stuff but am far from good at it. Those that can call ducks on my calls tend to really like how easy they work.

Currently driving this screwdriver flavored RNT Original.

Quite easy to work with, power and control on both high and low ends. I�m far from great, but apparently good enough.

I generally take my Johnny Marsh call I got from Mr. Marsh back in the late 1960's. It seems to work just fine. I have about a dozen reeds that I can tune if the present reed gets bent. I am sure there are lots of good calls out there that can do the job if the caller knows what he is doing.

Everyone thinks they aren't great. But, it's like bullets that 'fail' but still drop deer. At the end of the day stuff dies.

O

I've been using an old Olt Sonderman 66 duck call forever, I have three, one in each of my different hunting outfits. My next and a call I don't want to be with out is a Tim Grounds Finisher combo malard drake/widgeon wistle.

It's nice to see that there are some others that use the Olts yet. There is a fellow that is reproducing the Olt wooden calls yet.

erich

I got a Duck Commander Sarge this year and used it alot.

Not real expensive, but sounds great and doesn't soak up like many other higher priced calls I have used.

Thanx for all the info, guys.

everything i'm seeing right now is running $120-$130 bucks. a tyro just doesn't need a handcrafted call guaranteed to be made from the wood from Ark of the Covenant.

O

My son and I use RNT's , Winglocks and Hunter's Specialities calls.
None of them cost more than $40, and all work.
I do have a Winglock that was about $70, but it doesn't bring in any more geese than the cheap ones!
I think your spread , how , and when you call makes a bigger difference in how well the birds respond.
Cat

There are a lot of companies making some very good sounding polycarbonate duck and goose calls now a days. Most range from $20-$65. Take a look at some Buck Gardner, Bill Saunders, Echo, Mick Lacey, and the list goes on.
Go out buy one and start to practice. I am not a great caller but have some friends who are and actually compete in contest and these boys can take a $10 call and make it sound really good. So I guess if you can master the language it really helps. Just remember waterfowl are like humans we all dont sound a like when we talk and neither do waterfowl.

I think my favorite one is a Haydel's call but cant remember which one. Also use a Primos Wench and an RNT acrylic. I like the higher raspy sound of the RNT but i have a hard time blowing it after i blow my other calls since it takes way less air. I always stick the reeds blowing to hard.

A Haydel's redleg will set you back about thirty bucks. Not fancy, but I've killed hundreds upon hundreds of ducks using it.

Is there a web site you guys use where some of these less expensive calls can be purchased? Everything I'm aware of is pretty high dollar.

thanx
O

Try this...

http://www.mackspw.com/ItemList--Duck-Calls--m-143

Pas..,

Thank you, sir! I see myself spending a lot of money here!

O

The whole idea that you have to spend $125+ each for a good duck or goose call is a myth. Sure, a turned acrylic call will ring and range more than a polycarbonate call, but you can call in ducks and geese all day with a molded polycarb call and not be into 25% of the money on one up front.

My favorite polycarbonate duck calls are the Buck Gardner Double Nasty and the Zink Power Hen II. They will both give you all the performance you'll need or even want without putting the squeeze on your pocketbook. Another good one to have on your lanyard as your backup is the Haydel DR-85. It's about as cheaply made as anything you'll find, but there is a reason they can be hard to find during duck season and why so many hunters use them. They flat out work.

If you absolutely want a high-dollar turned acrylic call, go with the RNT Timbre or Short Barrel calls.

SPH..,

No, I difinately don't want a high dollar duck call. It just makes no sense. Saw a whole bunch, under glass, yesterday. But I bought a Primos NAG for $17. It was the first reasonably priced call I've found. Have never seen a Haydel for sale anywhere, but I'll buy the first I see cuz so many guys have mentioned them.

O

Outcast,

The reason high-dollar calls cost so much is due to how they're made and the labor involved. Turned acrylic calls simply cost more to make than do polycarb calls, which are essentially injection molded. Their prices haven't gone up very much at all compared to 10 years ago, when I first looked at an acrylic call. They were $125 then.

I've used them both, and like certain models of both types of calls. I resisted ever buying one of the Haydel DR-85 calls until about 2 years ago, and I gotta admit, I really like having it around. It's easy to blow and I've never had the reeds stick on me, which is an inherent problem with nearly every Arkansas-style duck call you'll find. The DR-85 won't usually be on display under glass, either. They will be hanging on display racks in plastic packaging and red labelling with all the other $20 calls in the store. In fact, this is what the call itself looks like:

Haydel's DR-85 Deceiver Duck Call

Thanks for the tip.

O

WINGLOCK!
Great duck and goose calls. All the calls are hand made and can be tuned to your preference. Lots of rasp for me!

I use a Big Guys Best that I have tinkered with. Also an Olt woodie call and a deep raspy old olt wooden call that I have yet to find another that sounds like it but wish I could. It works wonders in the timbers and beaver ponds.

My favorite duck call is a RNT Daisy Cutter. My favorite poly call is a Buck Garner Tall Timber II.

Favorite goose call is probably a Saunders Traffic or a Winglock.

The old style Olt D2 with the keyhole endpiece and fatter cork is my favorite. I have tuned many for friends over the years. New cost was about $8-10. They beat anything I have ever used and I have many.

They are no longer made and if I had to go out and buy something else it would be that cheap Haydel's DR-85. I have one and have blown several.

In the timber, as for a duck call being just a supplement, I disagree. Without a good sounding call, many mallards will just pass you by. My only supplement is a shotgun and we generally light the ducks just cause it is so much fun it see them come thru the trees. Brimfish

Used nothing but a Olt DR-115 since about 1979. I bought a few NIB extras off of flea-bay, so I will never be without one.